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TygrBright

(20,733 posts)
Tue Nov 22, 2016, 01:12 AM Nov 2016

Excuse me... this "working class" thing. Where can I meet some?

WaPo today, in (I'm sure) the interest of attempted detente, featured an opinion piece from a "Fellow of the American Enterprise Institute" and former speechwriter for Whistle-ass, lecturing "a crowd of wealthy, out-of-touch Manhattan liberals (who can afford $849 tickets to “Hamilton”)" for booing Mike Pence while the cast "lectures him on diversity."

His "point" being, such as it is, that "the Left," you see, is "imploding," and unless/until they learn to connect/understand/kowtow to/whatever, something called "the working class," they'll be permanently irrelevant.

Well, that sounded scary, so I figured I should investigate.

Let's start with this "working class" thing.

I freely admit, I'm all at sea, here.

Because-- and I know this is weird-- with the exception of a very few retired folks, every single adult and most of the youngsters I know, work.

They work really hard, most of them. Oh, I know a few people lucky enough to be able to work a little less than hard, and a few people who love what they do SO much they don't even think of it as "working," but... mostly, everyone I know (and I'd have to admit, my circle of acquaintance is probably at least an 80/20 mix of folks whose orientation, policy-wise, would have to be called "left" versus "right",) works.

They work at jobs that are grindingly hard, many of them. Some work at two or three jobs. A few juggle even more-- a few hours clerking at the Dollar Store, a few more hours stocking shelves at the grocery store, some paid babysitting, cleaning vacation rentals, and a little off-the-books ride shuttling, now and then, that kind of thing.

Even the ones who don't get paychecks from employers work their asses off. They grow things for the Farmer's Market, look after their children, take care of an elderly relative or two, and cobble together bits of art or handiwork on the side, to sell at flea markets and church sales.

See.... I *thought* these were "the working class," because, hey, the "working" part fit, and the whole "class" thing is pretty fluid, as far as I can tell. I know people who claim descent from Spanish nobility, people whose parents or grandparents immigrated and worked double and night jobs for decades to send them to college, people whose families have never, EVER crossed a picket line as long as there have been Unions, people whose parents could afford to give them a sports car for a High School graduation present, people from all kinds of backgrounds, families, whatever the fuck "class" is supposed to mean, they're in there...

...and they all WORK.

Some of them live in rural areas. Some of them live in cities in "flyover country," some of them live in small towns, some of them live on the coasts.

I'm white, I grew up in a largely white city in a largely (back then) white state, and so, yeah, the people I know and hang with are probably disproportionately (in terms of the national demographic profile) white, and I'm older, so they're a little skewed older, too. And they work their asses off, and I think I know them pretty well.

And they almost ALL voted for Hillary, and every one I've talked to since the Nuclear Cheeto got all bent about his buttboy getting dissed at the Thee-Yah-Tah has said something to the effect of "I'd have booed, too!"

So, this "working class" that Mister Concern Troll is saying is going to make me and people like me permanently irrelevant unless I peer deep into their souls and have a melty-heart, dewey-eyed, OMG, I'm so fucking SORRY I misunderstood y'all, let's smooch and I'll tell you how RIGHT you are about EVERYTHING moment... who are they?

Could it be...

...just motherfucking POSSIBLY...

...that this whole "working class" buncha people-of-the-land--you-know,-morons is a MYTH? That someone is trying to spin the noble-sounding "working class" meme into a DOG WHISTLE for the ones in the basket?

The white ones, with penises and guns and booboo lips about brown folks and wimmins disrespecting them?

naaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhh....

I'm way too cynical, aren't I.

So... there's this powerful, shadowy group of people who... what... call themselves? Are known to the few cognoscenti as...? "The Working Class"...

Because it can't be a rock band, even the Rolling Stones or whoever is the current hot group isn't powerful enough to render the entire Left permanently irrelevant just because I didn't buy their last album.

curiously,
Bright

4 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Excuse me... this "working class" thing. Where can I meet some? (Original Post) TygrBright Nov 2016 OP
And of course the Publican party marybourg Nov 2016 #1
Great post gwheezie Nov 2016 #2
They have to make at least 75k a year BainsBane Nov 2016 #3
Most of these Beltway types are paid to TALK.... Spitfire of ATJ Nov 2016 #4

gwheezie

(3,580 posts)
2. Great post
Tue Nov 22, 2016, 03:01 AM
Nov 2016

On the flip side, I talked to a few trump supporters that claimed they voted for trump because jobs! Obama wrecked the economy! Because immigrants took all the jobs! Blah blah blah.
Well none of these people lost their jobs during the recession, none of them lost their home, shoot some of them have a government job and some are living comfortably with social security & a pension.
Now some folks I know went through financial disaster during the recession but they didn't vote for trump. Most folks I know treaded water & grateful Obama saved the country so they could get back to work, they didn't vote for trump either.

BainsBane

(53,003 posts)
3. They have to make at least 75k a year
Tue Nov 22, 2016, 03:31 AM
Nov 2016

have voted for Democrats once in their lives following a disastrous GOP presidency and then assume Clinton isn't as honest as Trump because Trump "tells it like it is" (translation, says racist and misogynist stuff), whereas Clinton is a girl and therefore can't be trusted.

If you are a a woman, person of color, or live in a city and work your fingers to the bone, you just don't count. If you make under $75k a year, you just don't count. If you voted for Clinton, you just don't count. You have to live in a formerly blue state with GOP governors and Secretaries of state who restricted access to the ballot box in poor communities so that those white, male, over $75k a year votes will count more than everyone else's.

 

Spitfire of ATJ

(32,723 posts)
4. Most of these Beltway types are paid to TALK....
Tue Nov 22, 2016, 03:51 AM
Nov 2016

They also think of themselves as geniuses.

They dress up in suits that cost more than what the typical American makes in a month to impress other people in identical suits. They can tell what brand a suit is and if it's last year's model. They attend cocktail parties where they talk about their latest book deal. They attend gala dinners where they hand each other awards for their ideological purity.

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