Another fairly famous substack writer had a column today alluding to this. I could only read a few sentences because the author makes clear his contempt for half of working class America. This would be one of those people who writes about labor issues then says we need to vote for Joe Biden.
What's striking is the Democrats hardly ever talk about the poverty of the masses. Only during election season. I don't know why it pisses me off so much that they can't even be bothered to SAY anything anymore.
So thanks for this. People need to know they're not alone!
We must not stop talking about things like badly paid jobs, unfair distribution and and the living conditions of the working class. Mainstream media and politics work in favor of an ever-dwindling power elite against working people with opinion management and thought-blocks, thereby creating political taboos that prevent the development of appropriate alternative solutions to the ever-increasing social and ecological emergencies that the current economic order produces. We need ideas for our coexistence that put the common good at the center of thinking instead of capitalist elite democracy. We can only develop these ideas if we name the problems and their causes and don't sweep them under the carpet. So, from the bottom of my heart, thank you for the article and the link to Oliver Anthony's song.
It all goes back to trusting Clinton in 1992, when he asked workers to “trust him” that sending all those jobs overseas would allow all of them to retrain as computer programmers and do-nothing service sector office paper shufflers.
It has taken thirty years, but now everybody sees that it was all a lie for the vast majority and the blue-collar jobs aren’t coming back anytime soon, if ever.
I did notice that Oliver Anthony’s song is being portrayed in media as a Right Wing rallying call. Unfortunately, he's got the main part right... he just slipped in a slap at welfare 'queens' and that was enough for the purveyors of the culture war to jump on it to make sure that the sides stay at war.
Of course, that one unfortunate attack (unfortunate as it's on fellow poor, and it just feeds the cultural divide) has been part of the culture war for some time. The working class has long been primed to see all welfare recipients as 'cheats'... stealing their hard earned pay. After all it was Bill Clinton who helped in that stigmatization, with his declared intent to "end Welfare as we know it".. Raw meat for the troops, I suppose.
So Anthony, even as he has part of the story right, allows his programming to help the very people he really was targeting in the main- the rich who benefit from underpaid labor of the peons. Again, this isn't surprising- however missed an opportunity it was to help build solidarity with other victims of Reverse Robin-Hoodism.
While I agree that it gave the critics a bone to gnaw, I disagree that he was wrong to include it. My family has worked in the grocery business for 50 years and the majority of the long time welfare recipients are just as he portrays- overweight people who have made a great living off of welfare, using their WICK money to buy filet and lobster (seriously), and their government paper money to buy vodka and soda. I am not being mean here, this is observed fact. The people who truly need assistance in the short term are not the ones Oliver or I are referring to but these life long abusers. My nephew’s girlfriend, 40 years ago, would not marry him after she got pregnant because she would lose her benefits and that was all her family had known was living off of government handouts.
I suggested that line was regrettable, despite having little doubt that there is plenty of abuse of the welfare system, just as there have always been some who've abused unemployment insurance, worker's compensation, and for that matter, any public program involving monetary benefits. I recall, for example, a visit to the UK many years ago, for instance, and met a young fellow who was happily 'still on the dole', despite knowing there were opportunities for paid work out there.
I know or have met a few others on welfare; one who was developmentally handicapped; barely able to live independently much less get or hold any job. She and others I've met have no way of surviving except long-term public assistance. What other alternatives would there be? Let her get pushed out onto the streets to join the rest of the growing homeless population?
This is not to say that the system is perfect, or anywhere near ideal. I don't know how rampant abuse is... i.e. what % of recipients are fully capable of supporting themselves but addicted to the ease of getting all their bills paid without responsibilities; but I do know that for many there is simply no humane alternative, given actual disabilities (including so much severe mental illness!).
Anyway, the main point I was trying to make is that there is in fact a class war, one that has been going on a long time. Wealth has steadily flowed to and concentrated at the top (as the wealth and income gap growth over time has clearly demonstrated.) Those at the top don't want anyone to notice this or try to change it, of course... but rather like to encourage everyone to believe they, too, can make it to the elites' club if they toe the line, and if they can out-compete (and look down at) all the others at the lower rungs of the ladder. There may be plenty of abuse of the so-called 'social safety net'... but removing it is not really going to do anything to help those who already so far down the ladder from those who are calling the shots.
Yes, I know a few families as well with debilitating disabilities that make work impossible. Those are not the ones Oliver was speaking to. I think that those who use that as a cudgel willfully do so knowing that.
Oliver Anthony makes a lot of sense here, especially as he criticizes the stuffed shirts on the Republican debate stage who postured (poorly) about being for the working classes.
"The USA is a failed state because its economy is paralyzed and we’re in a debt deflation, an economic polarization, that is just transferring all wealth and income away from labor, away from industry, into the financial sector....The Finance, Insurance, and Real Estate sector.
Since the Clinton administration, the Democratic Party has been solidly behind de-industrializing the United States, and that’s going back to the 1960s and early 70s when economists were celebrating what they called, a post-industrial society.
Why did the United States decide to de-industrialize? ......it was done as a combination between two parties. You had the Democrats with a pro-financial anti-labor policy, and the Republicans with a pro-financial, pro-landlord, pro-1% policy, wanting tax cuts; and the real objective of de-industrialization from Clinton on, was an anti-labor policy, because de-industrialization meant essentially lowering employment, and thereby lowering the demand for labor, and lowering the wages"
Is the US a Failed State? by Professor Michael Hudson
i have said this before, and will say it again. And again and again until i am either proven wrong or silenced.
The Problem is not THE MONEY.
Nor is it the POLITICIANS bought and sold with, by, and for that Money.
Nor is it the RICH who use that money to own and operate, and thus command and control those Politicians.
Nor is it the MEDIA, the prime beneficiary of all that Money, particularly come election time.
Nor is it the VOTERS, who keep putting those Politicians in office and keep keeping them there.
All of these are not The Problem. They are but elements, factors, and players in it; signs and symptoms of the Disease that infects American Politics.
And that Disease is the established, accepted, and acted upon belief that the proper function and purpose of this system of government and governance is the meeting of the Human Needs and the satisfaction of the Human Wants of SOME of the Citizens, even when and as that requires the violation of the Human Rights of the rest of the Citizenry, and the ignoring of the Human Responsibilities of all of that Citizenry.
It is a system of government and governance created and operated of, by, and for all those “Special Vested Interests” competing via “Donations” to those Politicians for access to that government’s political and legal power, administrative authority, and most importantly, its spending capability, so as to satisfy the individual, group, organizational, and/or institutional donors’ agendas of those VSIs.
And as a result, the Human Needs of a significant portion of Americans ~ Health, Prosperity, Security, Literacy, the Pursuit of Wants, and Peace ~ are not met; and the Human Rights ~ Life, Liberty, Property, Privacy, and the Pursuit of Happiness ~ of an even greater portion of Americans are ignored and violated.
THAT is The Problem. And as long as that Problem ~ America’s system of government and governance focused on meeting the Needs and satisfying the Wants of some of the Citizens ~ is permitted to continue to operate, finding “new” faces to run as candidates and to become those elected Politicians will change absolutely nothing. Just the specific beneficiaries and victims of the system.
What is called for is a Revolution: the First American Revolution. What happened back in 1776 was not a “revolution.” It was never the intent of the American Colonists to overthrow the British King and Parliament in London, and then assume command and control of the British Empire. Their intent was to throw the King’s governors, tax collectors, and particularly, his soldiers the hell out of the American Colonies, and to create and bring into operation a completely new system of government and governance.
In short, it was a Secession; and not a Revolution. And it is a Revolution that is called for today, here and now; again, the First American Revolution.
And its mission would be to overthrow America’s Ruling Political Class and replace what it has created and operates with a new system of government and governance that optimizes the possibilities for successfully meeting the Human Needs and satisfying the Human Wants of the Citizenry without violating any Citizens’ Human Rights, and by facilitating the fulfillment of every Citizen’s Human Responsibilities.
ps: One inevitable conclusion that this all leads to is that, even if a brand new face with a completely different worldview and vision, proposed policies, and plans was somehow elected President, unless and until enough similarly oriented and focused individuals are also elected to Congress, nothing is going to change. And electing a Congress like that is not going to happen anytime soon.
Too many individuals, groups. organizations, and institutions are benefitting entirely too much from the current setup and system for them to be changed, also anytime soon.
Knowing and seeing both rich and poor in my 20 years as a City Firefighter in a medium sized city (105, 000 +) in the burbs. of Boston I'd much rather hang out with the poor than the rich... I've seen both and mostly as there is an exception to every rule, but the poor are more genuine, authentic, and truly giving than most any rich person that I've ever met. Once again I'll say how amazed I was at our "Fill the Boot" Campaigns for Muscular Dystrophy rem. "Jerry's. Kids"--when in our poorer sections the East Side of my City's. donations were almost double that of our more affluent givers on the West side of Town...!
Preach it.
Another fairly famous substack writer had a column today alluding to this. I could only read a few sentences because the author makes clear his contempt for half of working class America. This would be one of those people who writes about labor issues then says we need to vote for Joe Biden.
What's striking is the Democrats hardly ever talk about the poverty of the masses. Only during election season. I don't know why it pisses me off so much that they can't even be bothered to SAY anything anymore.
So thanks for this. People need to know they're not alone!
Rachel, I'd like to read the article by that "fairly famous" writer if you have the link/name. Thanks.
Very well written.
We must not stop talking about things like badly paid jobs, unfair distribution and and the living conditions of the working class. Mainstream media and politics work in favor of an ever-dwindling power elite against working people with opinion management and thought-blocks, thereby creating political taboos that prevent the development of appropriate alternative solutions to the ever-increasing social and ecological emergencies that the current economic order produces. We need ideas for our coexistence that put the common good at the center of thinking instead of capitalist elite democracy. We can only develop these ideas if we name the problems and their causes and don't sweep them under the carpet. So, from the bottom of my heart, thank you for the article and the link to Oliver Anthony's song.
It all goes back to trusting Clinton in 1992, when he asked workers to “trust him” that sending all those jobs overseas would allow all of them to retrain as computer programmers and do-nothing service sector office paper shufflers.
It has taken thirty years, but now everybody sees that it was all a lie for the vast majority and the blue-collar jobs aren’t coming back anytime soon, if ever.
I did notice that Oliver Anthony’s song is being portrayed in media as a Right Wing rallying call. Unfortunately, he's got the main part right... he just slipped in a slap at welfare 'queens' and that was enough for the purveyors of the culture war to jump on it to make sure that the sides stay at war.
Of course, that one unfortunate attack (unfortunate as it's on fellow poor, and it just feeds the cultural divide) has been part of the culture war for some time. The working class has long been primed to see all welfare recipients as 'cheats'... stealing their hard earned pay. After all it was Bill Clinton who helped in that stigmatization, with his declared intent to "end Welfare as we know it".. Raw meat for the troops, I suppose.
So Anthony, even as he has part of the story right, allows his programming to help the very people he really was targeting in the main- the rich who benefit from underpaid labor of the peons. Again, this isn't surprising- however missed an opportunity it was to help build solidarity with other victims of Reverse Robin-Hoodism.
While I agree that it gave the critics a bone to gnaw, I disagree that he was wrong to include it. My family has worked in the grocery business for 50 years and the majority of the long time welfare recipients are just as he portrays- overweight people who have made a great living off of welfare, using their WICK money to buy filet and lobster (seriously), and their government paper money to buy vodka and soda. I am not being mean here, this is observed fact. The people who truly need assistance in the short term are not the ones Oliver or I are referring to but these life long abusers. My nephew’s girlfriend, 40 years ago, would not marry him after she got pregnant because she would lose her benefits and that was all her family had known was living off of government handouts.
I suggested that line was regrettable, despite having little doubt that there is plenty of abuse of the welfare system, just as there have always been some who've abused unemployment insurance, worker's compensation, and for that matter, any public program involving monetary benefits. I recall, for example, a visit to the UK many years ago, for instance, and met a young fellow who was happily 'still on the dole', despite knowing there were opportunities for paid work out there.
I know or have met a few others on welfare; one who was developmentally handicapped; barely able to live independently much less get or hold any job. She and others I've met have no way of surviving except long-term public assistance. What other alternatives would there be? Let her get pushed out onto the streets to join the rest of the growing homeless population?
This is not to say that the system is perfect, or anywhere near ideal. I don't know how rampant abuse is... i.e. what % of recipients are fully capable of supporting themselves but addicted to the ease of getting all their bills paid without responsibilities; but I do know that for many there is simply no humane alternative, given actual disabilities (including so much severe mental illness!).
Anyway, the main point I was trying to make is that there is in fact a class war, one that has been going on a long time. Wealth has steadily flowed to and concentrated at the top (as the wealth and income gap growth over time has clearly demonstrated.) Those at the top don't want anyone to notice this or try to change it, of course... but rather like to encourage everyone to believe they, too, can make it to the elites' club if they toe the line, and if they can out-compete (and look down at) all the others at the lower rungs of the ladder. There may be plenty of abuse of the so-called 'social safety net'... but removing it is not really going to do anything to help those who already so far down the ladder from those who are calling the shots.
Yes, I know a few families as well with debilitating disabilities that make work impossible. Those are not the ones Oliver was speaking to. I think that those who use that as a cudgel willfully do so knowing that.
Oliver Anthony makes a lot of sense here, especially as he criticizes the stuffed shirts on the Republican debate stage who postured (poorly) about being for the working classes.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/aug/25/rich-men-north-of-richmond-oliver-anthony-republicans
More on Oliver Anthony. He seems like a sensible guy who knows of what he speaks--and sings.
In a word, authentic.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3tQ5Pz0fUI
"The USA is a failed state because its economy is paralyzed and we’re in a debt deflation, an economic polarization, that is just transferring all wealth and income away from labor, away from industry, into the financial sector....The Finance, Insurance, and Real Estate sector.
Since the Clinton administration, the Democratic Party has been solidly behind de-industrializing the United States, and that’s going back to the 1960s and early 70s when economists were celebrating what they called, a post-industrial society.
Why did the United States decide to de-industrialize? ......it was done as a combination between two parties. You had the Democrats with a pro-financial anti-labor policy, and the Republicans with a pro-financial, pro-landlord, pro-1% policy, wanting tax cuts; and the real objective of de-industrialization from Clinton on, was an anti-labor policy, because de-industrialization meant essentially lowering employment, and thereby lowering the demand for labor, and lowering the wages"
Is the US a Failed State? by Professor Michael Hudson
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/57727.htm
THE PROBEM
i have said this before, and will say it again. And again and again until i am either proven wrong or silenced.
The Problem is not THE MONEY.
Nor is it the POLITICIANS bought and sold with, by, and for that Money.
Nor is it the RICH who use that money to own and operate, and thus command and control those Politicians.
Nor is it the MEDIA, the prime beneficiary of all that Money, particularly come election time.
Nor is it the VOTERS, who keep putting those Politicians in office and keep keeping them there.
All of these are not The Problem. They are but elements, factors, and players in it; signs and symptoms of the Disease that infects American Politics.
And that Disease is the established, accepted, and acted upon belief that the proper function and purpose of this system of government and governance is the meeting of the Human Needs and the satisfaction of the Human Wants of SOME of the Citizens, even when and as that requires the violation of the Human Rights of the rest of the Citizenry, and the ignoring of the Human Responsibilities of all of that Citizenry.
It is a system of government and governance created and operated of, by, and for all those “Special Vested Interests” competing via “Donations” to those Politicians for access to that government’s political and legal power, administrative authority, and most importantly, its spending capability, so as to satisfy the individual, group, organizational, and/or institutional donors’ agendas of those VSIs.
And as a result, the Human Needs of a significant portion of Americans ~ Health, Prosperity, Security, Literacy, the Pursuit of Wants, and Peace ~ are not met; and the Human Rights ~ Life, Liberty, Property, Privacy, and the Pursuit of Happiness ~ of an even greater portion of Americans are ignored and violated.
THAT is The Problem. And as long as that Problem ~ America’s system of government and governance focused on meeting the Needs and satisfying the Wants of some of the Citizens ~ is permitted to continue to operate, finding “new” faces to run as candidates and to become those elected Politicians will change absolutely nothing. Just the specific beneficiaries and victims of the system.
What is called for is a Revolution: the First American Revolution. What happened back in 1776 was not a “revolution.” It was never the intent of the American Colonists to overthrow the British King and Parliament in London, and then assume command and control of the British Empire. Their intent was to throw the King’s governors, tax collectors, and particularly, his soldiers the hell out of the American Colonies, and to create and bring into operation a completely new system of government and governance.
In short, it was a Secession; and not a Revolution. And it is a Revolution that is called for today, here and now; again, the First American Revolution.
And its mission would be to overthrow America’s Ruling Political Class and replace what it has created and operates with a new system of government and governance that optimizes the possibilities for successfully meeting the Human Needs and satisfying the Human Wants of the Citizenry without violating any Citizens’ Human Rights, and by facilitating the fulfillment of every Citizen’s Human Responsibilities.
ps: One inevitable conclusion that this all leads to is that, even if a brand new face with a completely different worldview and vision, proposed policies, and plans was somehow elected President, unless and until enough similarly oriented and focused individuals are also elected to Congress, nothing is going to change. And electing a Congress like that is not going to happen anytime soon.
Too many individuals, groups. organizations, and institutions are benefitting entirely too much from the current setup and system for them to be changed, also anytime soon.
Knowing and seeing both rich and poor in my 20 years as a City Firefighter in a medium sized city (105, 000 +) in the burbs. of Boston I'd much rather hang out with the poor than the rich... I've seen both and mostly as there is an exception to every rule, but the poor are more genuine, authentic, and truly giving than most any rich person that I've ever met. Once again I'll say how amazed I was at our "Fill the Boot" Campaigns for Muscular Dystrophy rem. "Jerry's. Kids"--when in our poorer sections the East Side of my City's. donations were almost double that of our more affluent givers on the West side of Town...!