As usual, great insights Joe. It is frustrating why the media apologists don't look at these poverty issues in the underclass with more thoughtful inquiry. And the dismissal by many of these same reporters of the white "deplorables" similar challenges might help explain why the television is tuned to Fox in every working class bar or restaurant I walk into.
Here it is. The Democratic neo-liberal line. It was all inevitable. Clinton and Blair couldn’t reverse the policies of Reagan and Thatcher, they just had to accept them, they needed the corporations who sold out the American worker for cheap labor overseas to pay for their campaigns. Besides, all the new college-educated bourgeois boneheads wanted cheaper toasters.
The workers who got displaced should have accepted it too, should have gone to college, should have been happy with jobs at McDonalds, should have been happy in the soulless anything for a buck dystopia neo-liberalism created. Should have been happy in the ghost towns de-industrialization made of their homes. Instead, they were poor sports and become resentful, gee whiz. Instead, they took drugs because the man from hope made their lives hopeless. Their fate is all their own fault. How could they vote for a clown who promised to bring their jobs home instead of the new perfectly virtuous democrats who call them deplorables and racists, misogynists and transphobes. Why couldn’t they be happy that the workers of the third world went from being desperately poor to just being poor. Why couldn't they just be happy for Jaime Diamond and Jeff Bezos, and Bill Gates. Why couldn’t they just keep their mouths shut and vote for the people who held them in contempt and wanted boys to share their daughter’s locker room.
And now that Biden is continuing Trump’s policies we must go slow, we wouldn’t want Klein’s stocks to go down in value.
You can burn your little straw man. As it happens, during the critical ‘80s, the Democrats nominated as their candidates the most pro-Labor pols they could find - Mondale in ‘84, Dukakis in ‘88. They both got creamed, largely because the working class voted on culture rather than economics. Tip O’Neil, for whom the plight of the working class was an obsession spent kids of political capital trying to protect workers from Reagan onslaughts. In 1992, Paul Tsongas ran a campaign centered on industrial revitalization and was blown away by a chap named Clinton - a story that Joe told better than anyone else.
The story that the Democrats abandoned the working class is as untrue, and damaging, as the story that Blacks have made no progress in the last 60 years - convenient for cynics and nihilists who want to burn everything down in some weird economic Ragnarok.
You make some good points, but you leave some things out. Such as the fact that Dukakis and Tsongas had the charisma of a carp, Mondale was hurt by the failure of the Carter Administration and your champion of the working man Tip O'Neil rubber stamped everything Ronald Reagan proposed. You also left out Gary Hart who was caught on a boat with a woman not his wife. But the most important thing you left out was that Bill Clinton was the greatest liar to hold the office of President. He was actually better than Trump, no one believes Trump.
Joe, your subscription app doesn't work. I tried to subscribe but was unable to complete a payment. And no way to chase down what I did. I'll sit back, watch anf try again later.
With all respect, how do you know that few are interested in US history? My experience is that most people love history, if it is presented the right way. Many will resist history that challenges their world view, to be sure, but that simply requires a more subtle approach. What does NOT work is a pedantic firebrand approach that asserts that everyone is guilty as sin. Our forefathers made a lot of mistakes and committed a lot of sins, but few are those whose ancestors are entirely innocent. Out of curiosity, what is the name of your publication?
By presented the right way, I mean history as the mass of contradictions it inevitably is. The Pilgrims were both seeking freedom and incredibly intolerant. The founding fathers were both brilliant democrats and racist slaveholders. The Green Party has done unparalleled damage to the planet. Almost every attempt to create utopia ends in disaster.
White men have held a lot of power and done a lot of bad and a lot of good over the years. When black men have held power, they have done the same, read the histories of Africa and the Caribbean if you dare. Even black women have inflicted hideous damage in the past, google up Queen Ranavalona of Madagascar sometime. The challenge is finding the right balance: wallow too much in the darkness and one creates bitter, angry people icapable of making the compromises that makes democracy work. Sugarcoat everything (as Florida seems inclined to do) and one creates myopic MAGA types capable of horrific crimes. I am convinced that inadequate teaching of history is the source of a lot of our political tensions today and improving that is essential to rebuilding our civic foundation.
Sorry, but I didn't say all liberals are obsessed with culture/ identity issues but too many are. The identity politics of the left--making distinctions according to race and sexual identity, rather than trying to de-tribalize American society--has been a disaster. I also didn't say that "everyone" on the left is academic, but those who are tend to be arrogant and condescending. I write here because, over 50 years of reporting, I've found that the orthodoxies of left and right don't reflect the complexities of life. This clearly makes you uncomfortable, which is probably good for your soul. But you accuse me of racism, which is no way to win an argument--and it's an indication that you didn't read this newsletter very carefully. I appreciate your comment, even though it is very insulting.
Wow. If you've been reading Sanity Clause, you know I've written endlessly about the history of white racism. I've also written about the impact that our particularly brutal form of slavery has had on black sociology. And, unlike Democrats, I've celebrated the progress made by blacks, women, immigrants and the gay community in our lifetimes. But apparently you haven't been reading, or reading very carefully. You haven't acknowledged the remarkable progress of the past 60 years. You didn't even mention what I wrote about Jacksonville in the post above. By the way, the Democrats have been into book-banning, too: Do you really think that Huckleberry Finn, perhaps the greatest American novel of the 19th century, should be banned simply because the most sympathetic character in the book, Jim, is called the n-word? And stop making assumptions about my experience with non-white males. You know nothing about me, and where I live, and who my friends are. Your angry arrogance makes you sound inexperienced and limited.
Well, I'm sorry. I'd hope this space would be conducive to measured conversation, but you're ranting without addressing my two main points: that there has been historic progress for the black middle and professional class...and that the condition of black underclass hasn't been addressed adequately because of a refusal to deal with the inter-generational culture of poverty. I think, like Trump, you're projecting: the arrogance, grandiosity and self-righteousness you're talking about is your own.
When people call out Lin Manuel because the Sharks are not black enough in the new West Side Story, that is obsession. When some Jews call out Bradley Cooper for using a prosthetic nose to portray Leonard Bernstein in an upcoming film, that is obsession. Most Americans have multiple identities - racial, geographic, ethnic and, yes, sexual. We all need to calm down and resist the temptation to view everything as a zero sum game. Whisper words of wisdom, Let It Be.
As usual, great insights Joe. It is frustrating why the media apologists don't look at these poverty issues in the underclass with more thoughtful inquiry. And the dismissal by many of these same reporters of the white "deplorables" similar challenges might help explain why the television is tuned to Fox in every working class bar or restaurant I walk into.
Here it is. The Democratic neo-liberal line. It was all inevitable. Clinton and Blair couldn’t reverse the policies of Reagan and Thatcher, they just had to accept them, they needed the corporations who sold out the American worker for cheap labor overseas to pay for their campaigns. Besides, all the new college-educated bourgeois boneheads wanted cheaper toasters.
The workers who got displaced should have accepted it too, should have gone to college, should have been happy with jobs at McDonalds, should have been happy in the soulless anything for a buck dystopia neo-liberalism created. Should have been happy in the ghost towns de-industrialization made of their homes. Instead, they were poor sports and become resentful, gee whiz. Instead, they took drugs because the man from hope made their lives hopeless. Their fate is all their own fault. How could they vote for a clown who promised to bring their jobs home instead of the new perfectly virtuous democrats who call them deplorables and racists, misogynists and transphobes. Why couldn’t they be happy that the workers of the third world went from being desperately poor to just being poor. Why couldn't they just be happy for Jaime Diamond and Jeff Bezos, and Bill Gates. Why couldn’t they just keep their mouths shut and vote for the people who held them in contempt and wanted boys to share their daughter’s locker room.
And now that Biden is continuing Trump’s policies we must go slow, we wouldn’t want Klein’s stocks to go down in value.
You can burn your little straw man. As it happens, during the critical ‘80s, the Democrats nominated as their candidates the most pro-Labor pols they could find - Mondale in ‘84, Dukakis in ‘88. They both got creamed, largely because the working class voted on culture rather than economics. Tip O’Neil, for whom the plight of the working class was an obsession spent kids of political capital trying to protect workers from Reagan onslaughts. In 1992, Paul Tsongas ran a campaign centered on industrial revitalization and was blown away by a chap named Clinton - a story that Joe told better than anyone else.
The story that the Democrats abandoned the working class is as untrue, and damaging, as the story that Blacks have made no progress in the last 60 years - convenient for cynics and nihilists who want to burn everything down in some weird economic Ragnarok.
You make some good points, but you leave some things out. Such as the fact that Dukakis and Tsongas had the charisma of a carp, Mondale was hurt by the failure of the Carter Administration and your champion of the working man Tip O'Neil rubber stamped everything Ronald Reagan proposed. You also left out Gary Hart who was caught on a boat with a woman not his wife. But the most important thing you left out was that Bill Clinton was the greatest liar to hold the office of President. He was actually better than Trump, no one believes Trump.
Joe, your subscription app doesn't work. I tried to subscribe but was unable to complete a payment. And no way to chase down what I did. I'll sit back, watch anf try again later.
It will in a few days. For now, all you can do is pledge.
Good one. Looking back helps when you're trying to look forward. Democrats would do well to learn this.
With all respect, how do you know that few are interested in US history? My experience is that most people love history, if it is presented the right way. Many will resist history that challenges their world view, to be sure, but that simply requires a more subtle approach. What does NOT work is a pedantic firebrand approach that asserts that everyone is guilty as sin. Our forefathers made a lot of mistakes and committed a lot of sins, but few are those whose ancestors are entirely innocent. Out of curiosity, what is the name of your publication?
By presented the right way, I mean history as the mass of contradictions it inevitably is. The Pilgrims were both seeking freedom and incredibly intolerant. The founding fathers were both brilliant democrats and racist slaveholders. The Green Party has done unparalleled damage to the planet. Almost every attempt to create utopia ends in disaster.
White men have held a lot of power and done a lot of bad and a lot of good over the years. When black men have held power, they have done the same, read the histories of Africa and the Caribbean if you dare. Even black women have inflicted hideous damage in the past, google up Queen Ranavalona of Madagascar sometime. The challenge is finding the right balance: wallow too much in the darkness and one creates bitter, angry people icapable of making the compromises that makes democracy work. Sugarcoat everything (as Florida seems inclined to do) and one creates myopic MAGA types capable of horrific crimes. I am convinced that inadequate teaching of history is the source of a lot of our political tensions today and improving that is essential to rebuilding our civic foundation.
Those who are obsessed with culture/identity issues and, well, pronouns.
Sorry, but I didn't say all liberals are obsessed with culture/ identity issues but too many are. The identity politics of the left--making distinctions according to race and sexual identity, rather than trying to de-tribalize American society--has been a disaster. I also didn't say that "everyone" on the left is academic, but those who are tend to be arrogant and condescending. I write here because, over 50 years of reporting, I've found that the orthodoxies of left and right don't reflect the complexities of life. This clearly makes you uncomfortable, which is probably good for your soul. But you accuse me of racism, which is no way to win an argument--and it's an indication that you didn't read this newsletter very carefully. I appreciate your comment, even though it is very insulting.
Wow. If you've been reading Sanity Clause, you know I've written endlessly about the history of white racism. I've also written about the impact that our particularly brutal form of slavery has had on black sociology. And, unlike Democrats, I've celebrated the progress made by blacks, women, immigrants and the gay community in our lifetimes. But apparently you haven't been reading, or reading very carefully. You haven't acknowledged the remarkable progress of the past 60 years. You didn't even mention what I wrote about Jacksonville in the post above. By the way, the Democrats have been into book-banning, too: Do you really think that Huckleberry Finn, perhaps the greatest American novel of the 19th century, should be banned simply because the most sympathetic character in the book, Jim, is called the n-word? And stop making assumptions about my experience with non-white males. You know nothing about me, and where I live, and who my friends are. Your angry arrogance makes you sound inexperienced and limited.
Well, I'm sorry. I'd hope this space would be conducive to measured conversation, but you're ranting without addressing my two main points: that there has been historic progress for the black middle and professional class...and that the condition of black underclass hasn't been addressed adequately because of a refusal to deal with the inter-generational culture of poverty. I think, like Trump, you're projecting: the arrogance, grandiosity and self-righteousness you're talking about is your own.
When people call out Lin Manuel because the Sharks are not black enough in the new West Side Story, that is obsession. When some Jews call out Bradley Cooper for using a prosthetic nose to portray Leonard Bernstein in an upcoming film, that is obsession. Most Americans have multiple identities - racial, geographic, ethnic and, yes, sexual. We all need to calm down and resist the temptation to view everything as a zero sum game. Whisper words of wisdom, Let It Be.