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The Guardian is a very left leaning rag even for the UK. Amazing to see they actually get why Trump's supporters get Trump. Hint: It's not because they are bigots, White or stupid.
The Guardian is a very left leaning rag even for the UK. Amazing to see they actually get why Trump's supporters get Trump. Hint: It's not because they are bigots, White or stupid.
Aside for the fact that the Guardian is far from being a rag, unless the criteria is a journals political leanings, if you think that trade issues are the primary reason for the vast majority of Trump supporters then I suppose the Thomas Frank's opinion piece did capture why the motivation of Trump's support, if you believe that.
1) Thomas Frank is an American and not an employee of The Guardian.
2) It's an opinion piece.
Other than that, I agree, it's pretty good.
But then I liked What's the Matter with Kansas?, Frank's book about the puzzle of why blue collar people had switched from voting for Democrats, to voting for Republicans who oppose labor unions, minimum wage, disability payments, unemployment compensation, industrial safety measures....
Also, WK, you have once again rather comically cited an article that disses Trump -
"The man is an insult clown who has systematically gone down the list of American ethnic groups and offended them each in turn. "
"This gold-plated buffoon has in turn drawn the enthusiastic endorsement of leading racists from across the spectrum of intolerance, a gorgeous mosaic of haters, each of them quivering excitedly at the prospect of getting a real, honest-to-god bigot in the White House."
"So much easier to scold them for their twisted racist souls, to close our eyes to the obvious reality of which Trumpism is just a crude and ugly expression: that neoliberalism has well and truly failed."
Also, WK, you have once again rather comically cited an article that disses Trump -
I did see it and thought it was worth posting anyway. The article probably wouldn't have made it into the Guardian without it. However that's hardly the point. Regretfully, even thought you said the article was good, you chose to focus on this nonsense instead.
I did see it and thought it was worth posting anyway. The article probably wouldn't have made it into the Guardian without it. However that's hardly the point. Regretfully, even thought you said the article was good, you chose to focus on this nonsense instead.
All I did was point out that it is manifestly *not* a "Pro-Trump article". Which seemed to be quite on point.
Frank has been writing about blue-collar workers and their uncomfortable economic condition for about a decade. I see no indication that Trump ever spared a thought for them until very recently. This is a man who outsources manufacturing jobs overseas, boasts about being able to buy politicians, and consciously tries to live like royalty. Unless a blue-collar worker wins big at one of Trump's casinos, s/he will not be able to afford to stay in his hotels or play on his golf courses.
Blue-collar workers do indeed have major problems that neither party is adequately addressing. Trump won't address them either - he just wants to be president, and he's going for their votes.
The part about working class being voiceless up until now is interesting. I knew very few blue collar people when i was growing up. It was the yuppie 80s, my dad was building a law practice, and we mostly hung around with other families who were part of the legal profession. I met a couple when i was working a summer job in college. I had a girlfriend whose parents could be considered rural working class. I still dont understand them. I dont understand the lack of long-term planning in terms career, finances, etc among many of the working class members. There is definitley a disconnect between professional class and working class in this country.
Even if trump wins, we still have a firmly entrenched knowledge economy in place. His supporters will be let down- it is going to almost impossible to reverse this trend. The working class wont only have to compete against international trade, but against automation and robotics as well. Time to join the new economy.
The part about working class being voiceless up until now is interesting. I knew very few blue collar people when i was growing up. It was the yuppie 80s, my dad was building a law practice, and we mostly hung around with other families who were part of the legal profession. I met a couple when i was working a summer job in college. I had a girlfriend whose parents could be considered rural working class. I still dont understand them. I dont understand the lack of long-term planning in terms career, finances, etc among many of the working class members. There is definitley a disconnect between professional class and working class in this country.
Even if trump wins, we still have a firmly entrenched knowledge economy in place. His supporters will be let down- it is going to almost impossible to reverse this trend. The working class wont only have to compete against international trade, but against automation and robotics as well. Time to join the new economy.
This is interesting, I grew up in an area of blue and white collar families and there was no issue. This is still the case. Your parents should not have insulated you from a young age. Obviously you don't empathize with those who have had to struggle a bit more that you have.
There are not enough jobs for everyone who wants one, new or old economy, white or blue collar. People graduating from law school now are having a difficult time. Maybe they can be retrained as plumbers.
The Guardian is a very left leaning rag even for the UK. Amazing to see they actually get why Trump's supporters get Trump. Hint: It's not because they are bigots, White or stupid.
Trump’s words articulate the populist backlash against liberalism that has been building slowly for decades and may very well occupy the White House itself, whereupon the entire world will be required to take seriously its demented ideas.
Yet still we cannot bring ourselves to look the thing in the eyes. We cannot admit that we liberals bear some of the blame for its emergence, for the frustration of the working-class millions, for their blighted cities and their downward spiraling lives. So much easier to scold them for their twisted racist souls, to close our eyes to the obvious reality of which Trumpism is just a crude and ugly expression: that neoliberalism has well and truly failed.
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