Something that I've pointed out a number of times. There are several stories that converge on this point this morning. I'm just going to lay out the dots, and you can connect them.
First, Nicole Bell's post on this speech by Sen. Bernie Sanders:
Oligarchy is really the only way to describe this. The Republican platform benefits such a small percentage of Americans. And that's the way they prefer it. Social programs are democratizing and give voice to the unwashed masses, which only get in the way of the elite. That's why there's been a systematic dismantling of social programs since Reagan.
Meanwhile, the Republicans keep just a high enough percentage of authoritarian-minded voting against their best interests by preying on their worst instincts--fear of the Other, where the other is alternatively people of color, women seeking reproductive rights, gays, undocumented workers, or any other variation on a theme. The oligarchy points to these fellow-victimized groups as the ones to blame for the poor condition of your life, rather than admit that it is their policies: free trade, union-busting, corporations off-shoring, and the dismantling of social safety nets that hurt you.
And they just flat out lie to you. Other countries manage to offer systems that enable there to be a thriving middle class, social programs like universal healthcare, paid college educations, public transit, child care, and job training. But you'll never hear the truth about how well these programs work, because that might clue in the masses at just how much is kept from us.
This segues quite neatly into this post at Mahablog:
I’d also say that while the issues of racial discrimination and entrenched poverty do overlap, a lot, they aren’t exactly the same. I agree also with John that the real issue is closer to what Shirley Sherrod was saying about class v. race.
But whatever it is, it’s a real issue, and it is not at all helpful to react to discussion of the problems of white poverty with knee-jerk declarations that “This isn’t about white people; it’s about privileged white men.”
No, it’s about white poverty, and about the cultural marginalization of rural whites. I don’t think Webb addressed the topic as well as it needed to be addressed, but I know where he’s coming from, because it’s pretty close to where I came from.
I've had a taste of that myself, when I was growing up. I'm not sure, however, that the idea that "it's about privilege white men" is necessarily a knee-jerk reaction, nor that it's incorrect.
The connection, I think, is in the Andrew Breitbarts of the Republican party. Remember, the scandals that Breitbart has trumpeted have all involved, in the conventional wisdom, race. He's delilberately avoided the mention of the real issues, most tellingly brought home in the speech by Shirley Sherrod that he didn't want to report all of, when she mentioned her realization that it's not about black versus white, it's about the haves versus the have nots. It's about the deliberate employment of tactics designed to keep the electorate at each other's throats while the upper crust makes off with the loot.
Among the most vivid revelations of just how deeply ingrained this sense of privilege has become over the past couple of generations is the reaction of Wall Street to the financial crisis: it's simply that they don't understand why their failures should be penalized, because they don't see them as failures. They did what they were supposed to do: they made a lot of money for themselves, and don't understand why the people they screwed over don't see it that way. Things are supposed to run the way they want because they're rich, which by definition means they're better than the rest of us. And their minions, the politicians a pundits they've bought, will keep finding ways to be sure it stays that way.
Update: In that vein, this quote from Howie Kurtz says it all:
As for Boehner... don't take his heartless agenda-- limitless war, limitless tax breaks for the wealthy, no breaks for the middle class-- personally. His sister, Lynda Meineke, says Boehner has two brothers and two brothers-in-law back in Ohio who are out of work. He told reporters after he voted against unemployment insurance last week that three brothers had lost jobs during the recession and he wasn't sure which if any had found work. He did remember that one is named Bob Boehner though.
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