# What's the deal with the rich angry white dude (usually conservative or right wing) archtype? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Tags:** trump\ **Created:** [August 29, 2025, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-the-rich-angry-white-dude-usually-conservative-or-right-wing-archtype/1022589 "2025-08-29T21:43:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2025, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-the-rich-angry-white-dude-usually-conservative-or-right-wing-archtype/1022589/101 "2025-09-19T13:33:34Z")
> [@DMC](#): > > I’ve had good and bad bosses while being financially successful. I’ve NEVER had a boss as demanding as many fast food workers face on a daily basis. I worked in fast food restaurants when I was in high school. I can’t say that any of them were particularly demanding or abusive compared to some of the shitty managers I’ve worked with over the course of my career. ---
**Author:** ![DMC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dmc/32/18049_2.png) [@DMC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMC)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2025, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-the-rich-angry-white-dude-usually-conservative-or-right-wing-archtype/1022589/102 "2025-09-19T13:47:00Z")
I’m going to guess that a year or two has passed since you were in high school. Hourly employees today are almost universally treated more poorly than salaried, even though technically am employer can take advantage of salaried employees. In many jobs, hourly employees work in the same office as salaried, such as for customer support jobs. I can say that even my worst boss didn’t record the times I spent in the bathroom. That was recorded and monitored for the customer support team at many of my prior employers. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2025, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-the-rich-angry-white-dude-usually-conservative-or-right-wing-archtype/1022589/103 "2025-09-19T17:33:50Z")
> [@DMC](#): > > Hourly employees today are almost universally treated more poorly than salaried, even though technically am employer can take advantage of salaried employees. That is kinda variable though, maybe somewhat industry-specific. Generally I’d agree there is usually a hierarchical difference between salaried professionals and hourly employees, but it sort of depends on individual position/standing as well. I’ve seen a lot of very junior white-collar salaried professionals get treated like slave labor, while the skilled hourlies like trades workers are dealt with a lot more warily and circumspectly. People will generally fuck quite a bit more with a junior or assistant engineer under them as opposed to that grizzled electrician. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2025, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-the-rich-angry-white-dude-usually-conservative-or-right-wing-archtype/1022589/104 "2025-09-19T17:58:00Z")
Put the poor peon on a hiring panel and they qualify for the executive exemption from overtime. Perhaps why, instead of a job interview with one person, nowadays job candidates are grilled by a squad of interviewers all with sour looks. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2025, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-the-rich-angry-white-dude-usually-conservative-or-right-wing-archtype/1022589/105 "2025-09-19T21:21:13Z")
> [@DMC](#): > > While I think @HMS_Irruncible is probably correct about the status anxiety for some of them, I think most rich angry white dudes are basically poor angry white dudes that got lucky financially. They were always going to be angry, either way. I think there is a liberal bias that assumes because people are jerks, they must also be incompetent. Perhaps out of a desire to see good behavior rewarded and bad behavior punished. I don’t think Andrew Take or Jordan Peterson “don’t have any marketable skills”. They clearly were able to find markets for their particular skills. And I don’t think THEY believe they don’t have any skills and just “got lucky”. In fact, much of their rhetoric promotes discipline, hard work, honor, etc. I also tend to believe that they, like a lot of wealthy people, actually do believe they deserve to be exactly where they are. A lot of rich people tend to believe their own hype and inherently look down on those who are less fortunate. ---
**Author:** ![DMC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dmc/32/18049_2.png) [@DMC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMC)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2025, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-the-rich-angry-white-dude-usually-conservative-or-right-wing-archtype/1022589/106 "2025-09-20T03:15:31Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > I think there is a liberal bias that assumes because people are jerks, they must also be incompetent. Perhaps out of a desire to see good behavior rewarded and bad behavior punished. Naw, plenty of perfectly competent jerks out there. I don’t think Tate or Peterson belong to that group, as their core competency is marketing to a specific target. I guess that makes them as competent as Laura Loomer, but I’m not sure I’d consider that aspirational. I’m perfectly willing to acknowledge that it might not be status anxiety. I still stand by the claim that the group in question would still be angry if they were poor. Around here, almost all MAGA folks are angry, no matter their job or wealth status. ---
**Author:** ![jjakucyk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/3d9bf3/32.png) [@jjakucyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjakucyk)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2025, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-the-rich-angry-white-dude-usually-conservative-or-right-wing-archtype/1022589/107 "2025-09-21T01:20:52Z")
> [@DMC](#): > > On the conservative side, I see plenty of poor angry white dudes espousing the exact same sentiments as the wealthy. That may be from the media acting as a proxy for the rich angry white dude. [![](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/E_RdmF-VkAEZnZB.jpg) ](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/E_RdmF-VkAEZnZB.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![DMC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dmc/32/18049_2.png) [@DMC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMC)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2025, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-the-rich-angry-white-dude-usually-conservative-or-right-wing-archtype/1022589/108 "2025-09-22T05:31:47Z")
While I understand the individual words, I’m not sure what you are trying to say. In what way is the media a proxy for the RAWD? It’s not like they need proxies as they are typically in plain site. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2025, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-the-rich-angry-white-dude-usually-conservative-or-right-wing-archtype/1022589/109 "2025-09-22T13:12:16Z")
> [@DMC](#): > > I’m perfectly willing to acknowledge that it might not be status anxiety. I still stand by the claim that the group in question would still be angry if they were poor. Around here, almost all MAGA folks are angry, no matter their job or wealth status. Again, I’m not a psychologist so I can’t speak to the underlying psychology of it. But I suspect a lot of people are simply just stupid jerks. That is to say they are selfish, greedy, egotistical, demanding, and/or predatory. If not outright stupid, they may be simpleminded such that they tolerate anything new or different from what is in their comfort zone. And even if they are intellectually “stupid” and academically lazy, they may possess a superficial charm, networkability, and/or “low cunning” that enables them to position themselves into a position of wealth and power (even if they don’t really know how they got there). I don’t think there’s a lot of introspection there. Even if they aren’t specifically racist, I think they are legitimately disgusted with people they perceive as poor, weaker, or less attractive than they are. ---
**Author:** ![DMC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dmc/32/18049_2.png) [@DMC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMC)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2025, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-the-rich-angry-white-dude-usually-conservative-or-right-wing-archtype/1022589/110 "2025-09-22T15:48:50Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > Again, I’m not a psychologist so I can’t speak to the underlying psychology of it. But I suspect a lot of people are simply just stupid jerks. That is to say they are selfish, greedy, egotistical, demanding, and/or predatory. If not outright stupid, they may be simpleminded such that they tolerate anything new or different from what is in their comfort zone. And even if they are intellectually “stupid” and academically lazy, they may possess a superficial charm, networkability, and/or “low cunning” that enables them to position themselves into a position of wealth and power (even if they don’t really know how they got there). I have no disagreement here. > [@](#): > > I don’t think there’s a lot of introspection there. Even if they aren’t specifically racist, I think they are legitimately disgusted with people they perceive as poor, weaker, or less attractive than they are. I’m disgusted by the people that are angry racist fucks, but my life is pretty damned good so I don’t have much cause for anger, except on behalf of others. As for the angry MAGA types around here, you’d be hard-pressed to find anyone poorer (I live in one of the poorest counties in FL), weaker (obesity is a huge issue here), less attractive (and meth), more racist (and it’s the whitest county in the state), or less intelligent (did I mention MAGA rules here?) than them. You normally couldn’t pay me to live in a place like this, but it’s horse country, so what are you going to do? I’m pretty sure that this group is much larger than the group you described, and some of them do end up with money through various means. TLDR, I don’t disagree with your description of some rich angry white conservatives, I’m not convinced that it is the larger contingent. I think the ones driven primarily by racism is much larger. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2025, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-the-rich-angry-white-dude-usually-conservative-or-right-wing-archtype/1022589/111 "2025-09-25T17:47:49Z")
🤷‍♂️ Personally, don’t know any rich angry white dudes. Now I don’t socialize a lot, but I really don’t. I’m not rich I suppose, but quite well off (house paid off, cars paid off). My Wife is retiring in 15 days, I retire in about 80. We would be fine without social security. Working our asses off has paid off. Now Trump seems to me to be a rich angry white dude if that’s what you are talking about. But he has some serious emotional issues (could make a list really). I would never associate with such a man, or any person like that. There is simply no way he can be fixed. I wonder if his anger comes from basically being laughed out of NY’s social and business circles. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2025, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-the-rich-angry-white-dude-usually-conservative-or-right-wing-archtype/1022589/112 "2025-09-25T17:50:46Z")
> [@enipla](#): > > Now Trump seems to me to be a rich angry white dude if that’s what you are talking about Mark Levin is always angry. (and he’s rich I think) Same with Sean Hannity. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2025, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-the-rich-angry-white-dude-usually-conservative-or-right-wing-archtype/1022589/113 "2025-09-25T17:54:45Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > Mark Levin is always angry. (and he’s rich I think) > > Same with Sean Hannity. Maybe the question simple ties to being an asshole. Rich asshole, poor asshole etc. Rich assholes will sic lawyers on you a poor asshole may take a more direct approach that often involves led. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2025, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-the-rich-angry-white-dude-usually-conservative-or-right-wing-archtype/1022589/114 "2025-09-25T18:20:20Z")
> [@enipla](#): > > Personally, don’t know any rich angry white dudes. Thinking about the rich white dudes I know, they seem pretty miserable but have no problem projecting a facade of happiness, and when they get angry they privately take it out on their wives and children. But I bet people who aren’t on the inside have no idea about their rage. And I don’t really know what causes it, whether it’s a general sense of entitlement or deep insecurity or something else. I think it’s largely a function of what was modeled to them growing up. Probably the most honest one I’ve met so far is a billionaire, and he often says he’s miserable but he’s learned how to be happy with being miserable. And I think that’s very Zen, and kind of respect it. However, I have no idea what goes on behind closed doors. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2025, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-the-rich-angry-white-dude-usually-conservative-or-right-wing-archtype/1022589/115 "2025-09-25T19:54:33Z")
We just moved to a pretty affluent neighborhood. It’s not a gated comunity, but some folks have classic cars to tinker on. I know another guy that races BMW’s (takes it to the track). Expensive hobbies. All seem very nice. One guy throws a 4 of July street party every year. Must cost ~5k. Those two are working men. Something to do with construction. I do have a relation - BIL that must be better off than any of us for the looks of it. Grand piano in the living room rich. New cars every year rich. Very nice guy with one very serious flaw, he is or at least was a Trump supporter. Not a surprise I suppose. He’s in Texas/Oil. But, while he is retired, he does all the own work on his ‘ranch’ 80 acres. Hard working dude, he made every penny (maybe his wifes side of the family helped, don’t know). I guess I just chimed into say, not all of them are angry (just the assholes IMHO) ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2025, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-the-rich-angry-white-dude-usually-conservative-or-right-wing-archtype/1022589/116 "2025-09-25T20:56:01Z")
No, they aren’t all. My Aunt-in-law’s husband comes to mind. She married him because he _wasn’t_ like her ex. He’s a really good dude. They are both fantastic people, and after what my Aunt suffered in her first marriage, it’s just so nice to see her happy with him. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2025, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-the-rich-angry-white-dude-usually-conservative-or-right-wing-archtype/1022589/117 "2025-09-25T21:58:09Z")
> [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > No, they aren’t all. My Aunt-in-law’s husband comes to mind. She married him because he _wasn’t_ like her ex. He’s a really good dude. The guy I mentioned above, moved his family and job a thousand miles when his wife got breast cancer. To make sure she was as close as possible to good care. Being rich does not mean your an angry white dude or an asshole (political affiliation not withstanding). I truely believe this is why my SIL survived. It sad that money comes with privileges for only people that have $ though. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-the-rich-angry-white-dude-usually-conservative-or-right-wing-archtype/1022589.md?page=5)