Paul Krugman on "existential despair"

[MBS]

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/09/opinion/despair-american-style.html?

IMHO, Krugman (as he often does) really nailed it this morning. He managed to put his finger on what makes me so anxious about the 2016 elections and beyond. This kind of despair and fear, unless it can be redirected onto a more constructive path , has potentially dangerous political consequences for the future of our democracy. Here are the concluding paragraphs:

. . .Well, it’s not that simple. We are, after all, talking about the consequences of behavior, and culture clearly matters a great deal. Most notably, Hispanic Americans are considerably poorer than whites, but have much lower mortality. It’s probably worth noting, in this context, that international comparisons consistently find that Latin Americans have higher subjective well-being than you would expect, given their incomes.


So what is going on? In a recent interview Mr. Deaton suggested that middle-aged whites have “lost the narrative of their lives.” That is, their economic setbacks have hit hard because they expected better. Or to put it a bit differently, we’re looking at people who were raised to believe in the American Dream, and are coping badly with its failure to come true.That sounds like a plausible hypothesis to me, but the truth is that we don’t really know why despair appears to be spreading across Middle America. But it clearly is, with troubling consequences for our society as a whole.

In particular, I know I’m not the only observer who sees a link between the despair reflected in those mortality numbers and the volatility of right-wing politics. Some people who feel left behind by the American story turn self-destructive; others turn on the elites they feel have betrayed them. No, deporting immigrants and wearing baseball caps bearing slogans won’t solve their problems, but neither will cutting taxes on capital gains. So you can understand why some voters have rallied around politicians who at least seem to feel their pain.

At this point you probably expect me to offer a solution. But while universal health care, higher minimum wages, aid to education, and so on would do a lot to help Americans in trouble, I’m not sure whether they’re enough to cure existential despair.

[longship]

1. Another great Krugman article. R&K nt

[erronis]

2. Great comments on the NYT thread. I'll copy the top one as an example:

"You load 16 tons, what do you get? Another day older and deeper in debt." Tennessee Ernie Ford.

What we're seeing is the growing realization across White America that the average worker has no realistic hope of a better life for themselves and their children, regardless of how hard they work and/or study. We all owe our souls to the company store - or the check- cashing places that act as legal loan sharking outlets. The promises of a better future tomorrow in exchange for agreeing to massive student loans, or more tax cuts for the wealthy have proven to be empty, and we've been raised to think that our current sorry state was either due to our own personal failures, or Those Others who are taking our jobs.

At some point, people will realize that the current system of no social safety net in exchange for lower taxes isn't a good bargain unless your parents are very rich, or you get very lucky.

[MBS]

3. Thanks. n/t

[Enthusiast]

6. That is a good one!

[nxylas]

7. I'd dispute the "lower taxes" bit

America's tax burden is similar to those of the UK or Canada, but most of it goes to the Pentagon or the banksters, rather than to essential public services.

[tecelote]

4. This is why we have to say "No" to status quo.

[Enthusiast]

5. Stop sending our jobs out of the country!

[Doctor_J]

8. there are a

lot of comments from Sanders supporters at the article. Maybe the Clinton supporters are wrong when they say that du is the only place where Bernie's popular

[Blue_Tires]

9. Michael Douglas in "Falling Down" was soooo far ahead of its time...