Poisoning the Working Class

[DonViejo]

Donald Trump is a false idol for working-class whites no longer living the American Dream.

By Michael Cooper Jr. | Contributor

Sept. 9, 2016, at 6:00 a.m.

This election was never about Trump. It's about his voters. Not the alt-right characters that snuck into the debate, but about the people who let them in through their own pain. The live in Rust Belt and Appalachian towns that built America into the envy of the world, but displaced now by trade and new technology they're left to envy a world that passed them by.

We've spent a year trying to understand these poor white Americans, often attributing their fears to race and even blaming them for their own demise. But the folks I know in southern Appalachia are no worse than citizens of New York who caused the economic collapse. We're grieving over what we lost, and it's time to talk about how we build our communities back, because it's how you stop the next Trump from rising.

The first step is addressing Trump's base. Not white nationalists on the fringes or partisan Republicans scared of losing the Supreme Court, but a forgotten working-class. After all, the greatest indicators of support for Trump are whites with no high school diploma, and those who report "American" as their ancestry on the census or who live in an "old economy" based on construction, manufacturing and trade.

These voters live in places like Youngstown, Ohio that "benefited disproportionately from America's economic advantage in the post-World War II era," says Yuval Levin, the founding editor of National Affairs and the author of "The Fractured Republic: Renewing America's Social Contract in the Age of Individualism."

-snip-

http://www.usnews.com/opinion/articles/2016-09-09/trump-cant-fix-the-problems-of-the-working-class?emailed=1&src=usn_thereport

[Coyotl]

1. K & R for #GoldenBullshit

[Person 2713]

2. Actually trump is polling a higher percentage of all whites in most states( than Clinton)

I don't know but he doesn't have a lot of good answers for jobs just how to carry the hate they have for others or things they think will make them safer and freedom's expense whether or not their finances are down.

Maybe I missed his job plans he has for his unemployed / underemployed voters, but they are not all unemployed . Poll showed more investors are for trump than Clinton .
Plenty of upper class republicans make up his base in states to give him an overall higher percentage of white voters His rally fans often look quite middle class or better based on attire.

and what about POC that are American and were hit by the old economy?
What percentage is thier unemployment and what kind of jobs are there for POC still in poverty ? Or never even getting out of the below poverty generational cycle?

Only at the end of the link does this attorney who wrote this qoute someone who will address that the problem is not others

"I think people are waking up to the real struggles and I think compassion and understanding go a long way," says Vance. Trump is going to lose. And this election will be ultimately be defined by what his voters do next, and whether they can learn to take ownership of their lives even though the deck is stacked against them.

They deserve a second chance but not at the expense of new Americans and instead of revenge they must learn to seek renewal. "You can believe that someone is screwing you but you've got to still try hard anyway," says Vance. "Their frustration and hurt are real but they shouldn't lose hope because they can still control their destiny."

Oh and the WWII post economy is over . Want that again ? WwWWIII may be needed for a repeat boom
Maybe that is his plan idk

[duncang]

3. To me part of the repub base which stays with him

Is not that they would agree or disagree with what he actually says. It's how both Hillary and dipshit address things.

I am a retired a blue collar worker. But it was what would be considered technical blue collar. I was a industrial electrician. I worked on everything from simple stuff to communications, controls, back up power etc. After I went to fix something I would be asked what happened. According to who I was talking to the answer would change. If talking to someone who had electrical experience I could go in to detail and explain which card went bad, what readings I got from different equipment, if there was a programming error, needed calibration, etc. If I tried the same thing to someone who wasn't it had to be different explanation. A simple card went bad, wire bad, etc. would be the explanation. If I went over that the eyes glazed over and their brain shut down.

Some of the repub coworkers and friends I have known weren't stupid. Some may not have had a high school diploma or only have a high school diploma, but they were smart. I have seen some pretty amazing math in the head done by people with out any college education. I have seen people who can easily talk about metals composition, stress factors, tolerances, etc with out degrees. Not having a degree doesn't mean dumb.

One problem in reaching some people is they don't follow politics or keep up with issues like some do. They want to hear that "I fixed" statement. They probably react the same way as when I tried to explain what happened in detail. The media normally wants that detail. Some voters want that detail. Other the eyes glaze over and just want the "I'll fix" It will be a tough needle to thread for her to try to make that connection. Only thing I can think of is a simple statement coming out first. Then maybe a more involved one if time allows. She will have a tough time no matter what.

[jalan48]

4. Constantly referring to white people as "privileged" as seen here on DU doesn't help either.

It may be true but is counter productive when trying to win an election in which ALL citizens are voting.