BarkellWH -> RE: Divisive ignorance (Nov. 9 2016 16:19:28)
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The pundits will earn their pay over the next few days attempting to explain Trump's victory and why it was such a shock. As someone who will remain unpaid, I would like to offer my thoughts herewith. There are several reasons for the election results, not the least of which is the baggage Hillary carried with her. But I think one of the main reason's for Trump's victory and Hillary's defeat is the rebellion of the white working class. It had a much larger effect on the election than anyone imagined. I come from a WASP background. (Yes, we WASPs existed in Arizona. All are not produced on the East Coast!) Nevertheless, although not a member of the white working class, I have noted that for a long time the intellectual and cultural elites in the United States have looked down upon the white working class, trashing their culture, values, and beliefs. There is much more behind the revolt of the white working class than just “Neoliberalism” or the fact that the Democratic Party is not sufficiently Leftist. Looming large was a cultural component that liberals, intellectuals, cultural elites, and others on the Left are loathe to acknowledge. Liberals, intellectuals, cultural elites, and those on the Left have very often exhibited a smug attitude toward the white working class, sneeringly referring to them as “clinging to their guns and religion,” as Obama did, or as a “basket of deplorables,” as Hillary Clinton did. One does not have to agree with white working class attitudes and beliefs to at least debate them in a civilized manner without shutting them down as ignorant and deplorable. What we are witnessing is, in part, the rebellion of a class of people in America who are tired of being put down by a smug segment of American society who makes no bones about the fact that they think they are superior, and that the cultural mores and beliefs of the majority of the white working class are unworthy. I think members of the white working class are tired of this smug attitude that writes them off instead of trying to understand their concerns. We saw the same thing when much of the white working class voted for Ronald Reagan in 1980. They were called “Reagan Democrats” then, and they bolted the Democratic Party for many of the same reasons, cultural and otherwise, that they bolted today. The smug, sneering attitude of the intellectual and cultural elites in America toward the white working class is now reaping what it has sown. One hopes we learn from it. Bill
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