The Jobless White Working Class

[phantom power]

I'm reminded of studies about how people become "radicalized", which found that (surprise) high unemployment, lack of economic opportunity, etc, is a huge contributing factor. Those studies focused on the Middle East, where of course we also prefer not to talk about economic factors, since it is far more profitable for the plutocracy to pretend that the only solution is building more Freedom Bombs and dropping them on people.

It would be nice to not have to talk about a white working class in the United States. I would love to just talk about the working class, where it wouldn’t really matter if they were white, black, or Latino because they would have interests in common. But of course that is never going to happen. Even assuming that racial animosity could decrease, the histories and geographies of different races are simply too different. And thus we have a white working class problem, especially as many of them are finding Donald Trump appealing because he voices their frustrations and their hatreds. Of course some of those hatreds are openly racists, but the frustrations of not having any economic opportunities or any future is real too. Yet neither party has even started thinking of a jobs program for working-class people that is even marginally based in reality. Telling people to go to college or get retrained for largely nonexistent jobs is simply not a jobs policy. Yet even Bernie Sanders’ campaign, as useful as it has been on economic inequality, is very quiet on this sort of thing. These people are struggling, and the economic consequences are seen in growing educational disparities and health disparities. We need to pay attention to their stories and act upon them.

When you go into these communities and leave the small bubbles of success –Manhattan, Los Angeles, northern Virginia, Cambridge – and listen to people who work with their hands, you hear a uniform frustration and a constant anxiety. In a country of such amazing wealth, a large percentage of people are trying not to sink.

In Blossburg, Pennsylvania, Arnie Knapp walks five miles into town every morning, trying to keep his body in shape and not succumb to the various injuries he suffered working the mills. He started working at 14 and once they closed, he worked a series of lower-paying jobs. Unlike the characters profiled in the National Review article, he isn’t looking for a handout: “I haven’t asked for anything but work from anyone. Problem is, there aren’t a lot of jobs around here any more.”

In Appleton, Wisconsin, Tom Lawless, who has been driving long-haul trucks all his life and measures his success in millions of miles safely driven, is frustrated: “I am getting squeezed, my pay gets lower, and my costs go higher.”

In Ohatchee, Alabama, Larry, taking a day off work to take his son fishing, is gracious but frustrated: “I have worked in foundries all my life, since I was 15. Hard work, and I don’t got a lot of money to show for it.”

The frustration isn’t just misplaced nostalgia – the economic statistics show the same thing.

It’s hardly surprising that Kevin Williamson would turn on the very people he needs to vote in his political agenda. There’s never been anything but contempt from the rich toward poor whites. Now that those poor whites are voting Trump instead of Jeb or Walker or even Cruz, there’s no reason to even hide the hate anymore. And while we would like to think that these voters would “vote their interests” and support Democrats, and of course some do, the reality is that they see their own interests in a variety of ways. Some prioritize their white identity, some their evangelicalism or Catholicism, some their love of shooting things, some their economic class. Without leftist organizing in these towns and cities, there’s little reason to expect the white working class to organize to see themselves as workers primarily. That’s especially true when they barely know anyone with jobs to begin with. But regardless of this, if we want to blunt the force of Trumpism and fight to prevent future Trumps from demagoguing the frustrations of the white working class into scary political violence and eliminationist rhetoric, we need to give the white working class (as well as the other working classes) a reason to believe in this nation. The answer has to be jobs. We need a jobs program for people who do not graduate from college. People need to be able to live dignified lives with hope for the future. But with Carrier moving 1400 jobs from Indiana to Mexico, to use one of thousands of examples of the flight of good jobs from working people (not to mention their automation), the reason for working class people to have hope in this nation is declining, not increasing. Until we have a real answer to this–until we have a solid program or at least a solid set of demands for a comprehensive jobs program–we can expect more white working class support of racist and fascist candidates.

http://www.lawyersgunsmoneyblog.com/2016/03/the-jobless-white-working-class

[Brickbat]

1. K&R

[Katashi_itto]

2. Wait as we get more and more Trump followers

[MisterP]

3. kick 'em up the ass with neoliberalism, abandon them as a constituency by triangulating and

pandering rather than trying to encourage pushback against the hate from the left, and then pretend to be surprised when some racist-talking RINO encourages them to kick at the pols who've been tricking them into kicking everyone else (but you still get to kick everyone else)

[Katashi_itto]

21. Exactly. Then plan on open rebellion at some point down the line.

[passiveporcupine]

4. Well, he's wrong on this part

Yet even Bernie Sanders’ campaign, as useful as it has been on economic inequality, is very quiet on this sort of thing.

Bernie is talking about spending a lot of money on jobs (rebuilding infrastructure) and tuition free education which will also help people get better paying jobs. And he's talking about plans that take money from those who have it (trade transaction fees) and other taxes on the wealthy, that help to balance the income inequity. And of course Medicare for all, which will give everyone who is paying a lot for health insurance now a lot more money to spend, and spending in a consumer economy grows the economy and creates more jobs.

So Bernie is really offering some solutions.

[HeartoftheMidwest]

5. Also the minimum wage of $15/hour.....

which is LONG overdue and only a starting point.

[fullautohotdog]

8. But here's the thing...

When we had the stimulus pumping billions into infrastructure, you know what happened? Companies that already had employees got the jobs. Most of them didn't hire significant numbers and the employees that did get hired were ones who already had construction experience. You can't just toss people into a job running a road milling machine and expect to get the job done. It's like saying if we build 50 million windmills that we'll create jobs, but when a wind project is done in New York they have to bring in crews from Texas who know how to build 400-foot towers with virtually no local labor. Everybody likes to think construction jobs can be filled by any warm body, but they can't. You don't want a guy with 40 years of experience machining small parts building a hydroelectric dam.

I grew up near Blossburg. Building a new highway won't fix their problems (coincidentally, they just got one a few years ago). Nor will cutting them a welfare check. Which, coincidentally, they already get (more than 40 percent of students are on free or reduced lunches -- which is very low for the area, btw, with other towns in the same county at 70 percent or higher -- with many of those families already receiving other services). And tuition-free college won't work, as there's no jobs for college grads there any more than there are jobs for coal miners or mill workers. You can retrain everyone in Blossburg for solar panel manufacturing, but if the closest solar manufacturing plant is 300 miles away, it won't do Blossburg any good. Unless your plan, like the National Review, includes "rent a U-Haul." Or you want to train them how to run hydraulic fracturing rigs for natural gas (which right now is about all the area actually has).

So no. Unless Bernie has a plan to lure new businesses to these places to take advantage of their expensive retraining, he doesn't have a plan that will help them stay in their community and have productive lives.

And btw, the reason these areas vote for Republicans isn't because they're scared of gays and black people, they hate poor people or they want their gunz. It's because they see Democrats as anti-business -- and without business, in many cases just a single business because there's nothing else to diversify into for each little town, these communities die. Fix that (real or imaginary) perception and we'll have a chance there.

[AlbertCat]

9. When we had the stimulus pumping billions into infrastructure, you know what happened?

It was half-heartedly done.

That's what you get with half-hearted liberals and full-on conservatives.

[passiveporcupine]

19. You aren't seeing the whole picture

For one thing, building a lot of new infrastructure is not just providing construction jobs. It will create jobs for designers, engineers, contractors and grunt work, as well as paper pushers. All kinds of jobs. All kinds of infrastructure. And while those projects are going, it will drive peripheral business growth in those communities. And even if it doesn't create whole new construction companies (although it may), it will cause them to expand, hiring more people, if enough money is spent to build at one time...not just one project at a time, but many.

And building new infrastructure also creates new jobs after it's done. Say it's building a new highway on/off ramp system, that opens up a new area near the highway for businesses to grow. Those easy access areas often take off and develop with new shopping malls or other businesses, and that is new jobs too. Even if it's just old franchises opening new locations, like motels, hotels, gas stations, fast food, etc.

You talk about the poverty of one town that a highway won't fix. I can't say that Bernie's plans will fix every town. Of course they won't, but if the minimum wage is raised in those towns, then who knows what will happen to them. They might actually grow to the point that highway will be the way to get new businesses to start popping up.

And tuition-free college won't work, as there's no jobs for college grads there any more than there are jobs for coal miners or mill workers.

I've never heard of a college town with no jobs. That is absurd. There is no such thing as a town with no jobs. All college towns are magnets for business and growth. But does it matter if they all find jobs in that town? Many of the students may have come from other places. Once they have a degree they can go anywhere the jobs are. MY nephew is in college in Eugene. He's only there for college. His family all live in Portland or other places in Oregon.

And as others have mentioned, I only touched on some of the things Bernie is wanting to do or change. Go to his page and read up on his issues and what changes he is fighting for. There is a lot in there that would change things for millions of people in this country.

He can't do it alone, and people who just want to snipe at his issues as "impossible"...well sorry, it's attitudes like that that have gotten us where we are today. No more incremental change for this dying country. It's time for a revolution.

If you have any great ideas on how to build jobs, pass it on to Bernie. I'm sure he'd be glad to hear them.

[Avalon Sparks]

20. Nice informative post!

Really insightful, thanks!

~Ava~

[Rebkeh]

10. Right, also

Bernie's message doesn't use hate. It's hard to redirect that anger to the appropriate places and to better outlets once it's locked on a convenient scapegoat. These white working class people are getting screwed by the same rigged system that screws black folks and other poc. They should be natural allies but can't be because racism.

Divide and conquer. It works. Really well.

Racism is the problem here, imo. Not Bernie's outreach. He appeals to reason, using rational solutions but people respond to fear instead. I'm not sure what more Bernie could do.

[FLPanhandle]

6. The white working class has been ignored by both parties for too long

The republicans thought the poor whites would always vote for them regardless of their disastrous economic policies. Turns out that whole "trickle down" thing is no longer selling with the people who have lost jobs and are poorer than ever.

Democrats have always been vocal about helping minorities, but many Democrats are quick to disparage poor whites as stupid and racist. Which is crazy because with that demographic, the Democrats would be unstoppable.

[davidthegnome]

7. Repairing our infrastructure...

would create a whole lot of temporary jobs. Granted, it would not be a solution to the problem - but it would help, as do the census programs. I think the only way we're going to solve the jobs problem is by revitalizing old industries, and/or properly funding and motivating new ones.

For instance... the vast majority of Americans have no access to a reliable system of public transportation. That's a big problem, particularly with the costs of vehicle payments, vehicle insurance - and so on, when you consider the wage of the average worker - particularly among the poor and working class. You've got plenty of people too, who often just don't go places because they don't have and can't afford a car. This, I think, could be a huge deal in solving a lot of the problems of our economy. By itself it won't be enough, but with an increase in the minimum wage, workers benefits and rights... I think it would be a damn good start. Politicians tend to avoid this issue because of how expensive and labor intensive a proper system of public transportation would be.... I think they are largely missing the bigger picture. It would go hand in hand with repairing our infrastructure - and could provide millions of good, solid, lasting jobs...

We also have great potential in regards to alternative energy. Both Clinton and Sanders have commented on this and promoted the idea of greater use of solar and wind. I'm unaware of a lot of the specifics in this regard, but building solar panels, wind farms, mills, repairing them, upgrading them, improving the technology to get the most out of them... all of this, too, could provide a great many decent jobs.

All of that being said.... the article is pretty darn accurate about our lack of a comprehensive jobs program - none of the candidates have a solid one - and it will absolutely be needed to revitalize our economy and improve the lot of the poor, the working poor, the working class, the middle class... pretty much everyone who isn't already within the 1%.

Any sort of efforts to do so, however, will be immediately politicized and attacked by elements of both the left and right. Any plan which seemed even remotely positive would be mocked as something that could "never happen". Also... neither small business nor large ones are, overall, inclined to pay higher wages to their workers or offer better benefits. A new kind of new deal... I think, is essential in moving forward.

Another problem is going to be with how we get congress... or the senate, to vote in favor of anything useful, or helpful. The growing consensus (a pretty damned accurate one, sadly) is that most senators and congress members are too far away from even a basic understanding of what most people in this Country have to live with. These people vote to raise their own salaries, (and have damned good salaries to begin with) while already having high pay and some of the best benefits available anywhere on earth. Many of their campaigns are funded by super PACs and special interest groups - and for every corruption scandal we hear about - there are probably a dozen that we don't. Most of them simply aren't inclined to genuinely give a shit.

Some times I wonder if we're already simply too damn late to fix things. How many years have we dealt with a congress that is deliberately obstructionist? Even if democrats win back the senate, without the house being even remotely open to new and progressive policies... it's going to be a big damn barrel of demented monkeys going forward.

A comprehensive jobs program - whether put together by democrats or republicans, would require strong bipartisan support to actually be put into play. As would... pretty much all progressive legislation currently on the table. It's depressing.

[Not Sure]

18. You make some good points

But I think you underestimate the scale and scope of an infrastructure repair/replacement program. Just for highways, roads and bridges, there is many years of work waiting to be designed and built. Water, wastewater and stormwater infrastructure is also in need of replacement, as seen in the Flint, MI water crisis (Flint isn't the only town with outdated and dilapidated water infrastructure). Railway (most of which is privarely owned and maintained) and waterway and port infrastructure is another area in need of attention. There are also opportunities to repair, replace, upgrade and expand electric generating and transmission infrastructure. All this together is decades worth of work, even with an expanded workforce.

[elleng]

11. Mocked and forgotten: who will speak for the American white working class?

'When you listen to poor people who work with their hands, you hear a uniform frustration and a constant anxiety – but it’s not just about economic issues.'

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/mar/24/white-working-class-issues-free-trade-american-south

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1016148840

[phantom power]

13. that was a good article.

[elleng]

16. Yes; I think so too.

Good that the issue is being noticed, and good there's a candidate who gets it.

[Rebkeh]

12. I wrote about this if anyone's interested

I don't think it can be done without alliances.

Connecting the message of economic populism to social justice concerns

From Venn to Circle: Economic Populism and Social Justice for POC


(cross-posted from http://www.democraticunderground.com/1280132543)

Let me break it down for you:

The first priority of business is to make a profit.

The first priority of government is supposed to be to serve its people.

When big business “merges” with government, its priorities take over. People no longer matter, then democracy starts to become more perception than reality.

We know this. But, hang on…

PEOPLE ARE NOT COMMODITIES! Black people know this better than anyone, seeing that this is how most of us ended up here on the continent in the first place.

The wealthy class needs “others” to be a peasant class because that’s how we were taught. “I get mine, you get none” or the softer version, “I get more, you get less.”

But how have the people up top kept this trick going for so long?

Easy. They break our legs and then call us lame, and people believe them. They blame the poor for being poor, like they had nothing to do with it. Please. They use bigotry, in all its forms, to keep people down.

But now? Their wealth has expanded so much, there aren’t enough poor black folks to support it. Not enough poor white folks either, they need MORE. They need new “others,” so what did they do?

They broke up the unions.

Now blue collar middle class folks are part of the peasant class. They are getting a little taste of what poor blacks been feeling for generations and they don't like it. Nobody likes it.

See, structural racism secures this model that keeps people commodified, income inequality is a result of that model. Now that the pool of the people getting screwed has grown, we need to come together.

The working poor getting fucked and the poc that have always been getting fucked should be natural allies. They should have been allies a long time ago but now… we REALLY got to do this. Our government has been taken over by our “friends” in big business. Nobody is safe anymore, not even the semi-rich. They will be next if we don't put a stop to it. Everyone has a dog in this fight.

Bottom line:

The commodification of people – when business merges with government and profit comes before people – is a terrible model for everyone.

Long held patterns of exploitation of poc (from slavery to now) for profit is still exploitation.

Newer patterns of exploitation of middle class whites for profit is still exploitation.

It’s the exact same model.

[Lizzie Poppet]

14. Excellent!

[Thespian2]

17. K & R !!!

Right On...If the model doesn't get changed, America fails...eventually everyone suffers...

[whereisjustice]

15. Hillary's job is to keep our wages low, and CEO wages high. That's why she endorses sending

US jobs overseas. That's why they pay her, that's what she does for a living. Make sure workers get less, CEOs get more.

That's it. And she'll unleash the full force of the US Military to keep it that way, here or overseas.

But I've heard she's more or less supportive of some civil rights issues that rich people also enjoy so I guess that makes it all better.