But it’s simply going to be “i voted Democratic (or 3rd party) and all i got was screwed,” or, “i ***already ***voted Democratic (or 3rd party) ***before ***and all i got was screwed.”
These people aren’t young; they’ve seen it all, have no faith in either big party.
I think that some Trump voters are definitely driven by this, which is why Trump’s rampant uncouth behavior is actually a plus for some - it really marks him out as being well and truly NOT of the political establishment, because a Rubio or Hillary type would never say those things. We’ve all heard politicians from both parties run with populist Make America Great Again rhetoric, but no one actually effects that sort of change. Not that Trump would, but because he’s such a maverick, he’s not tied to the failures of the two big parties and is thus perceived as a new option to give a shot (even though he doesn’t actually seem to have anything new to say, policy-wise).
The thing is, the feeling is more like “Either way we vote, nobody gives a shit about us.”
The only reason they’re voting Republican as far as I can tell, is that the Democrats have made SO much noise about social issues that this excluded middle finds either irrelevant, repugnant or perplexing, that they perceive the Democratic party as less representative of what they believe and want, than the Republicans.
The perception is that the Democratic party is the party of minorities and the poor, not the party of the working man, like the perception used to be decades ago.
The Republicans aren’t much better, but there’s a sense that the party is not actively wanting to penalize those who manage to become wealthy, or standing in the way of becoming wealthy.
This is a pretty good article, actually:
Yeah well, the fact that they are so easily fooled into believing stuff like that is why it is hard to find sympathy for them. The reality is that the economy performs much better when Democrats are in charge, not just for minorities and poor but for everyone.
Here we go: “Those who don’t hold the same political beliefs that I do, are sheeple.”
Well we are talking about Trump supporters right? either way, we are far past the point when anyone can pretend Republican economic policies are viable in any way.
So working for a paycheck is an obsolete concept? Investing in productive enterprises is an obsolete concept?
I’m staunchly *against * Republican economic policies, mind you; but whether they are “viable” depends on your definition of that word. If, like the Koch brothers, you inherited billions of dollars, and you don’t care about the poor or about the environment, they might seem quite viable. Even if you didn’t inherit any money, but you want to have some chance (however infinitesimal) of becoming a billionaire and getting to keep almost all of your billions and pass them on to your descendants, they could seem viable as well. But if you’re like me, and you believe that the wealth of a society should be judged not by the wealth of its elite but by the quality of life for its poorest members, then no: definitely not viable.
Problem is, we can’t empirically or logically “prove” which worldview is “correct”. You just have to feel it.
Neither is unique to nor really has much at all to do with Republican economic policies.
Thanks for the article, Velocity. Good to see someone digging a little deeper.
Yeah, that doesn’t sound condescending or anything. :rolleyes:
One of the people I volunteered with today at the library is an usher at a local civic auditorium. They hosted a Trump rally a few weeks ago, and she said it was the scariest event, on many levels, that she had ever witnessed. 
Ok, so what happens when someone in another country is willing to work for less of a paycheck than you are? Or the enterprise where you work is no longer as productive as competition overseas?
Now here is a follow up question - Do you think that people like Donald Trump or the Koch brothers share the interests of the people who work for those enterprises or the people who own them?
QUOTE=DigitalC;19172166]Yeah well, the fact that they are so easily fooled into believing stuff like that is why it is hard to find sympathy for them. The reality is that the economy performs much better when Democrats are in charge, not just for minorities and poor but for everyone.
[/QUOTE]
The reality is that the economy performs much better when Democrats are in charge, not just for minorities and poor but for everyone. Those who don’t see that might not be sheeple, but neither are they anywhere close to right about this.
I think that could be debatable when it comes to the Koch brothers or the owners of a bunch of coal mines. It’s true that the overall economy seems to do better under Democrats, and I believe that’s because Keynesian economics has much more validity than supply-side economics. But certain people like them might do better under Republicans, because they will get a fat tax cut and they will benefit from lax regulation and a disinterest in promoting alternative energy.
That of course sounds like a nightmare hellscape for pretty much everyone else, but I did think it was only fair to point out this caveat.
Almost always, they lift themselves out of dire poverty. And people, in poverty, in the United States, get to buy goods at lower prices.
What takes away more jobs? Jobs moving to China, jobs moving to Mexico, jobs moving to the European Union, or jobs moving around the United States? I don’t know. Does anyone? I do know that Mexicans and Chinese are easier to demagogue.
What about US cities and states giving tax breaks to take jobs away from other cities and states? The US government has the power to greatly reduce that.
Stopping imports, except in minor ways, would violate treaties AKA international law and cause a debilitating trade war. Stopping preferential tax treatment of businesses moving around the country would IMHO be much more effective at addressing job loss trauma because it won’t cause a depression. Of course, it isn’t easy to demagogue against something Americans are doing to themselves.
You and I know that. The problem is the guy whose factory closes doesn’t see the overall benefit to the entire economy. They see the more visible localized problem of their job disappearing.
I wish that I made enough money to vote Republican!
But, don’t even the uberrich derive some significant benefit from getting to live in a healthy and prosperous society and a clean and sustainable environment? I think they do.
I just wish they could learn that.
“The Depression was not a fun time to be rich.”
– To Sail Beyond the Sunset, Robert A. Heinlein
And yet they still won’t learn . . .