Real Americans vs. coastal elites: What right-wing sneers at city dwellers really mean

[NurseJackie]

I'm not really sure what to make of all this divisive talk about the Democratic Party being the party of "elites". This article/essay gave me some additional background info that I'd not thought about before.

http://www.salon.com/2016/11/20/real-americans-vs-coastal-elites-what-right-wing-sneers-at-city-dwellers-really-mean/

“Real Americans” vs. “coastal elites”: What right-wing sneers at city dwellers really mean
Red state voters don't hate the actual elites — just ask the Trump family! It's the intellectual mind they loathe
by: David Masciotra

The American people are tired of the “elite,” and in order to demonstrate their revolt against elitist governance, they have elected to the presidency a billionaire real estate mogul who lives in Manhattan and flies to resorts all over the world in his private jet with his supermodel wife at his side.

(...)

Then, there is the popular expression “coastal elites” — an all-encompassing term for any educated professional who lives in a major city in California or along the Eastern seaboard. Many of the “coastal elites” are just ordinary people conducting undramatic lives, with no outsize influence or authority in their city or country, but by bizarre virtue of pedigree and geography, they fall into the same category as Wall Street executives and the president of the United States.

(...)

The juxtaposition of the “real America” with “elitist America” exposes the actual meaning of all the endless denunciations of the elite. It is not anti-elitism. It is anti-intellectualism.

(...)

Given that 28 percent of Americans do not read a single book in any given year, and only 29 percent read a newspaper (print or online), anti-elitism is not advocacy of Lincoln’s oft-quoted vision of government “by, of, and for the people,” it is the defense of intellectual mediocrity.

(There's more at the link... CLICK IT!)

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

1. This confirms what I've always said

It's intelligence these people find elitist. They don't like any point of view that contradicts their own.

[Nwgirl503]

38. Or when they're called out for their backwater societal views and beliefs

The money....they like that. They aspire to it. They covet it. They think money makes the man, and they hope they'll eventually get a piece of it.

But arguments they can't win with points they can't defend. They don't like that so much. Or facts. They really hate those and anyone spouting them.

[JI7]

9. but not politically

In terms of party.

[JI7]

17. I'm referring to those cities . in other parts they have more

Conservatives which is why state as a whole isn't as liberal.

[PatrickforO]

55. I think so, too.

Look at the difference in how people dress on either coast. You go out to LA or San Fran and a few people might be wearing suits but most are pretty informal. East coast? Not so much.

Plus, in light of the back and forth, politically, they both might trend toward the Democratic party, but there's a continuum there. I mean, you have people like me who are unabashedly on the left hand side of that continuum and others who are...not. There's room for all of us, though.

As to the main post, this anti-intellectualism began way back when in 1952 when Ike ran against Adlai Stevenson, who was promptly dubbed an 'egghead.'

It's crazy how far that has gone. My gosh, think about the president for a minute as the pilot of a giant, USA-sized 747 jetliner. So, instead of picking someone who has an actual pilot's license, i.e. who has some experience governing, and some knowledge...

NOPE...

We don't want us no insider! We want an outsider.

So, here we are now, having elected a plumber, complete with a huge ass crack, to fly our giant national jumbo jet.

Hey, what could go wrong?

[Jonny Appleseed]

58. Well it's pretty hot over there innit?

[alfredo]

56. East Coast old money, West coast new money.

[alfredo]

72. Your ethos?

[alfredo]

82. The Dead set n Detroit was wild enough for me.

But that could have been the MDA.

[alfredo]

86. We survived, I think.

[butdiduvote]

65. Uptight is a good word to describe why I've always felt I belong more in NYC than LA

I live in neither...too poor...but I've always longed to be in NYC and could never put my finger on why I just wouldn't feel the same sense of being where I "belonged" if I moved to somewhere like L.A. despite still being in a "coastal city" atmosphere. I'm not even talking my politics; I'm just an uptight personality in general. I wish I had a reason to put on a suit and high heels every day.

[zentrum]

32. I agree.

East Coast is much more conservative---socially liberal and certainly neo-liberal, Democratic, but very loathe to take on truly new ideas and approaches. Not just in politics either. Even their local NPR stations are more conservative than the West coast.

But cultured and articulate.

[BeyondGeography]

3. So they elect a rich New Yorker who surrounds himself with more rich New Yorkers

I think they're confused.

[mountain grammy]

5. I know, right?

Talk about elitist! He's the king, gold toilets and all! Who's kidding who here?

[BeyondGeography]

6. And then they can't believe it when he takes stuff away from them

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/01/opinion/sunday/in-trump-country-shock-at-trump-budget-cuts-but-still-loyalty.html?smprod=nytcore-ipad&smid=nytcore-ipad-share

...but they still support him anyway.

[mountain grammy]

18. Even as government programs have improved their lives.

They are loyal conservatives to a fault. "if I lose this job, I'll sit home and die" but still supports her president.. and the rape victim. No connection to a man who brags about assaulting women. Stunning.

[annabanana]

80. "He's a poor man's idea ofa rich man" and

"A dumb man's idea of a smart man" etc.. (Not mine; read it somewhere)

[JI7]

12. a bigoted one which is the main issue for them

They hide behind certain terms but their issue is pretty much the diversity .

[BeyondGeography]

20. The NYT article on his OK supporters and their reaction to his spending cuts

proves that yet again. They want him to cut things that affect people other than them, like "Obama's" phone subsidies "for poor people." Except that's a telecom program...

[Nevernose]

28. They used to be called "Reagan Phones"

Because that's when the program started. It's hard to get a job and get off welfare when a person doesn't even have a phone. They've been referred to as _____ phones ever since, depending upon who the current president was.

Let's make sure to refer to Trump Phones as often as we can. It'll drive them nuts.

[babylonsister]

14. The mind is still boggling. nt

[melman]

4. ffs

New lows in Bernie bashing. So lame, so dishonest.

[mountain grammy]

7. and so unnecessary. We have real enemies.

[Cha]

22. Please tell that to Senator Sanders whose comment

on Friday called for a Democratic party that is not "of the liberal elite".

[NurseJackie]

23. That was unnecessary, wasn't it?

It was very offensive and divisive. We have so many talented leaders and dedicated front line workers and volunteers.

[Cha]

45. Yes, and I'm sick and tired of the Divisive and Offensive

Rhetoric! Damn.

Mahalo, NJ

[NurseJackie]

8. How so?

[JI7]

11. this is about trump supporters and what they have been saying long before before sanders primary

[Wounded Bear]

21. He's referring to the fact that Bernie tosses the "elite" term around quite a bit...

I think he uses it properly more so than Trump did, of course. It is probably the source of some confusion, including that in which a Bernie supporter could vote for Trump because they were both against the "elites."

[Warren DeMontague]

31. Oh, I get it, this is another thread about Bernie Sanders.

I should have known. Explains a lot.

Okay, carry on. Enjoy!

[Wounded Bear]

41. Not really...

The OP was more general. The poster above took it as a Bernie bashing thread. Mistakenly, IMHO.

[George II]

16. That's a bizarre take on the OP - neither it or the linked article even mention Sanders.

So how do you come to that conclusion?

[NurseJackie]

73. Habit? (That's my guess.)

Seeing as you're not likely to get a direct response, I thought I'd do something to keep you from waiting in suspense forever.

Have a great week, George II!

[NastyRiffraff]

76. Conditioned response.

The "elite" is a Sanders meme. Hence an OP that never mentioned him must be ALL ABOUT him.

[NurseJackie]

77. Conditioned, automatic, Pavlovian, unthinking... those are all synonyms, right?

I think you may have hit the nail on the head.




PS: I hope you have a great week!

[NastyRiffraff]

84. Yep. All pretty much the same thing

Back atcha re a great week!

[Cha]

53. lol

[NastyRiffraff]

75. I read the OP again

and nowhere can I find a mention of Bernie Sanders. Not everything is all about him, as much as some people seem to think it is.

[sharedvalues]

10. It's anti-intellectualism but also pure tribal identification

The GOP donor class needs votes to cut taxes on the rich.

In pursuit of that goal, GOP strategists will use any way rural voters are different from Democrats.
Abortion, wealth, sushi eating, French speaking, Swiss cheese eating, biking, intellectualism, embracing people who are gay or foreign or black or Muslim or different in any way.

The goal is tribal identification -- Urban people are *not like us*.

People are tribal. Psychology is tribal. So politics is tribal. There is no deep theory. The GOP is just looking to sow division in pursuit of political advantage.

[babylonsister]

15. We've managed to avoid tribalism for the most part,

until now.

Now some people feel they're allowed to show their true natures.

Disturbing, to say the least.

[BainsBane]

24. I disagree

I think American politics is overwhelmingly tribal.

[BainsBane]

30. That's depressing

I hate to think it's human nature.

[Wounded Bear]

43. People naturally collect into groups...

usually based on how comfortable one is with the others in the group.

Liberals try to not sort their groups by color or ethnicity.

[NRaleighLiberal]

49. It is interesting being a non-joiner when most are joiners

On Facebook, I keep getting added to groups - and remove myself
As a garden writer, I go to events and little cliques form everywhere
In our neighborhood, it is mostly about circles of people - and with that comes expectations - hurt feelings - cattyness.
And don't get me started about churches.

My friend (similar to me) jokes and says we are both part of the group that doesn't like to be in groups - so no matter what, one ends up with a label of some sort!

It does seem that we end up fighting our nature - our basic genetics - the propensity to group.

[Wounded Bear]

70. We are kindred spirits then...

I've never been much of a joiner, either. I figure some of us are here to bridge the gaps that divide us, while some of us are here to plumb the depths of those chasms.

[NRaleighLiberal]

71. it's interesting - I am a natural extrovert - when I am out doing gardening workshops, I get so

energized. Then afterward I crawl into a quiet little place of peace - go into my "zone" - music, just sitting and watching the birds with my wife, few words spoken.

[babylonsister]

34. It's never been so 'in-your-face' or nasty before.

I could be biased.

[radius777]

25. Exactly, tribal, but also a false narrative.

Last edited Mon Apr 3, 2017, 05:45 AM - Edit history (1)

The "coastal elites" vs "working class Americans in flyover country" is a strawman narrative that is peddled by populists on not only the right but increasingly on the left as well.

Since the 60's, the Dem party has indeed become the more metropolitian (and cosmopolitian) party, but not just on the coasts. Virtually every major metro area across the country is blue. And most of those voters are working and middle class Americans, just as much as those in flyover country.

[BeyondGeography]

42. Paul Ryan post-2012: Obama won because he did extremely well with urban voters

Conan O'Brien at the 2013 WHC dinner: After making that comment, Paul Ryan was asked how he liked his coffee. A: Urban.

[sharedvalues]

52. Right. It's largely urban vs. rural, and largely economic

To a first approximation, urban areas are the ones that have added jobs, because most new jobs in the economy are tech or biotech or other innovation jobs (or service jobs around those fields).

And many rural areas have stagnated.
http://m.motherjones.com/politics/2012/02/mac-mcclelland-free-online-shipping-warehouses-labor?page=4

So the divide is mainly urban blue vs non-urban economically depressed red. And the reason the red areas vote for the GOP who wants to hurt them instead of Democrats who want to help them a little is because of identity and tribal politics.

Democrats should really be pushing for job retraining and labor unions to help the red areas directly, but that won't make the media manipulation and identity stuff go away.

[Initech]

19. It's simpler than that: they're scared of people smarter than them!

They want someone who you can "have a beer with". But they elected and endorse someone who doesn't drink. How do you explain that one?

[mcar]

26. Good read!

[Panich52]

33. Pride in their willful ignorance

Saw news story about rural Georgian(?) kids tutored in chess. All were happy to gloat that they took the championship trophy from the intellectual snobs they played against.

[babylonsister]

36. I saw that, too; they were substantially

younger, and were trying to beat the schools who had been at it for awhile. This was their first year, and they lived in Mississippi. I was amazed at the teacher who inspired these kids. 60 Minutes last week.

So I guess we interpreted that differently.

[Panich52]

48. I was proud of them & teacher, but even he grinned as he

gloated.

[klook]

37. Mah hoss gone take yo preacher

An' by the way, it's called barnin', not castlin'.

[Duppers]

59. Mississippi

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/kids-fight-stereotypes-using-chess-in-rural-mississippi/

The most disadvantaged deep southern state.

Giving them pride in any intellectual ability is at the core of busting their cultural hatred of anything that smacks of intellectualism. It's a start.

[oberliner]

35. A lot of it is Christian vs. Secular

I think that's a big piece.

[Mr.Bill]

39. This thread is a good read.

Lots of interesting comments, and I agree with just about all of them. But the elephant in the room here has nothing to do with elitism, geographical location, wealth, or other demographic data.

White people who hate brown people voted for a white man who hates brown people. I know that's over-simplifying, but it's largely the story of many Trump voters even if they don't realize it themselves.

[JHan]

50. Careful, you'll get called an elite or something.

[PsychoBabble]

40. Found this telling:

In the “real America,” people don’t read the New York Times at all. One who rejects the pursuit of knowledge will not place much emphasis on intellectual rigor when voting for president.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

44. +1 for identifying anti-intellectualism. RW compartmentalize thinking, binary-think, & rationalize.

[L. Coyote]

46. We are all real Americans. Some are more educated and liberal, some are poorly educated,

some are uneducated. The amount of correlation isn't always causation. Some conservatives are very educated, in the law or business for example, and are clueless about botany. The world is complex and on average Americans don't deal with complexity very well. People try to understand the world in simpler terms than the complexity that confronts them.

What I'm trying to say, to be less complex about it and to satisfy the tendency to simplify, this topic is a lot of bullshit and lack substance.

[SleeplessinSoCal]

47. Bob Gray uses this against Jon Ossoff.

Calling him the elitist and picturing Ivanka as "of the people" on twitter

Link to tweet

[JHan]

51. Gawd, so predictable . Thanks for sharing , sigh.

[SleeplessinSoCal]

57. I've been trying to tweet back in Russian.

Using translator

Боб Грей бежит, чтобы совершить убийство.

Trying to say Bob Gray wants to make a killing. Or make Russia great again.

Maybe just: "Turns out, tRump is the puppet."

[JHan]

60. Gray's got some nerve though..

given what we're paying for the Trumps and their self indulgences.

[SleeplessinSoCal]

64. You are so right.

Think I'll go back on Twitter and hammer home that point with selected photos.

[Lifelong Protester]

54. K & R

[betsuni]

61. K&R

[HoneyBadger]

67. Some of it has to do with driving

In NYC and SF, you do not need to drive a car. You get driven. Many people spend over a thousand dollars a month on Uber. Which appears elite to a coal miner.

[lindysalsagal]

68. The non-news 29%. Faux viewers. GOP die-hards. Nuff said.

We have to plan to govern aound them. There is no "reaching out" to them.

We have to plan to win and govern around them.

[HAB911]

69. I love words and dictionary definitions

elite
a singular or plural in construction : the choice part
b singular or plural in construction : the best of a class
c singular or plural in construction : the socially superior part of society
d : a group of persons who by virtue of position or education exercise much power or influence


Antonyms for elite

bad, inferior, poor, second-rate, common, low-class, lower, lower-class, ordinary


Which are Trumpers? I know.

[NastyRiffraff]

74. Wow! I'm a coastal elite!

And since I live in the Washington, DC area, I must be a part of the political elite!

Pretty good (and very strange) for a woman living largely on Social Security.

[forjusticethunders]

78. Overthinking it.

Coastal Elites are people who don't accept their hateful social views.

[ismnotwasm]

79. I am always surprised which category I get stuck in

During Bush years, it was "radical feminist". Now I am apparently the "status quo", and if I am not part of the actual west coast--Seattle in my case--elite, I support their agenda--or something.

So my story is this: raised by unstable working class racists uncomfortable with my home situation to put it mildly, I hit the street as a teenager, I have been homeless, hungry, dirty and addicted. I've been on welfare and food stamps, lived in housing projects. I managed to clean up, go to school and get my nursing degree. My beloved husband is on disability because of multiple sclerosis.

So what, I ask, makes me "elite"? Because I have an aversion to bullshit? Because I am literate and try to research to find truth? Because I care deeply about my fellow human beings? Because I abhor bigotry, and I know the open secret of white people like me is I have to guard against it, because it is part and parcel of whiteness? Because I believe women's rights are human rights and human rights are women's rights?

I love people who think, who don't get stuck because of bigotry they are too frightened too root out. Those are my peeps. Is it my fault they are all liberals and Democrats? Hell no it's not.