I think it’s worth considering what it means that Americans without college degrees are increasingly supportive of the Republican Party. For a moment, I want you to attempt to think about this development without trying to consider why it’s happening. Instead, just focus on the fact that the left is not attracting votes from the underclasses.
And, I know many of you will instinctively protest that the Democrats still dominate with racial minorities and among women, but they’re losing support at the same rate among non college-educated members of these groups, too.
- White voters without degrees moved seven points toward Republicans this year, while college-educated ones moved three points
- Black voters without degrees moved eight points toward Republicans this year, while college-educated ones moved four points
- Latino voters without degrees moved 10 points toward Republicans this year, while college-educated ones moved five points
- Men without degrees moved seven points toward Republicans this year, while college-educated men moved one point
- Women without degrees moved eight points toward Republicans this year, while college-educated women moved seven points
My understanding of the left is that it represents the broad masses, basically employees, as well as the unemployed and unemployable. People with hardships and difficulties who are at an inherent disadvantage when matched up against the ownership classes who set the rules, control the media, and have the most influence in politics.
Obviously, class and education aren’t the only considerations. The left also represents people who suffer violence, discrimination and political oppression due to their physical or mental disability, race, gender, religion, or sexual orientation. The common thread is that people and groups who are weak and vulnerable need to band together and use their numbers to even the playing field and create a fairer and safer society. This includes children and the elderly.
The right is supposed to act as a counterbalance that keeps the left from getting out of control. The ownership classes have legitimate interests, too, and they provide structure, jobs, economic growth and needed investment and innovation.
In the middle are the entrepreneurial classes. They need the left to protect them against barriers to entry and the monopoly power of top capitalists which left unchecked will destroy all opportunity, but they need the right to look out for onerous regulation and rules which leave them less profitable.
Really, the left is supposed to move regular people into the entrepreneurial class. That’s basically what the American Revolution was about, making it possible for people who weren’t born into the aristocracy to become successful and influential. This is such a fundamental American principle, that even the American right has traditionally understood it.
But the right has never been primarily a party for the underclass until now.
My thesis is that irrespective of why this has happened, the left can’t allow it to stand. Of course, finding solutions requires to actually look at the causes, but sometimes you have to leave that aside until you can agree on the need for action. If you can’t identify the problem, you won’t be serious about fixing it.
We cannot find the answer if we are just focused on the US. It’s a global problem among developed democracies. The only country where it isn’t really happening is Portugal. You can see it in Spain, France, The Nordics, Germany, and the UK (although UK is having its own issues and Tory Party might destroy itself, Nigel Farage and his band of merry UKIP Pranksters are always waiting in the dark). You could argue Modi and Bolsanaro, but I’m not sure the same patterns track and the contexts are too different (Modi is probably like a Teddy Roosevelt figure in India).
Anyway, I don’t know the solution because I think a lot of this is about our media structure and how we consume media. Note that increased internet access is increasingly correlated with distrusting one’s leaders and governments, and increase in “populism”. Could it be that they’re choosing this because now they have more information about their leaders, and understand that they don’t actually agree? Fewer and fewer gatekeepers, “freedom” and “choice” to seek out right wing media that satiates a desire not for what is most correct but what confirms predisposed prejudices, and push button notifications that seek to drive engagement through hate and fear.
The Democratic Party has taken the bait on social issues and dropped the ball in actually enunciating economic issues as the most important issues to vote upon.
I’m not saying Republicans are better for the working and middle class. I’m just saying that the Republican Party can make a semi-credible argument that the Democratic Party only cares about which pronouns you use to describe people, and that’s enough to win them votes. And I mean, I’m not just making that argument up, Republicans are screaming that 24/7/365 to anyone who might listen to them.
In my opinion, the Democratic Party is getting ahead of itself. Trans people must be protected, but if that is the most visible issue, than some lower and working class voters are going to take notice and vote for pseudo-populist fascists, regardless of the fact that Democrats are objectively better for lower and working class people.
It’s an optics issue. And the fact that the mainstream media only cares about “BothSidesDoIt” needs to be taken into account and dealt with…crying about that fact is a waste of time and energy, it is and has been, so deal with it.
I need to sleep on this but my first reaction is something like: So you like that kool aide eh? It is about to kill you but go ahead blame Biden or what ever you last drank. Umm good. .
So what you gonna do if they wants them some dumb asses to lead the way? Not like this is new right. We have all kinds of folks lining up behind the fascists. I suspect some of them will recognize it is nonsense and come back to the democrats.
I think using “left” and “right” in the context of contemporary politics is utterly misleading. The Democrats are now a sort of conservative party, working to preserve traditional American values like democracy and fairness. Meanwhile, the Republicans have gone full metal populist, willing to burn anything and everything to the ground to satisfy the petty resentments of their base.
As ever with American politics, there is no real left at all. What’s new is that there is no major party that represents conservatism as we always understood it, before the southern strategy turned the GOP insane.
It’s unsurprising that the underclasses would drift toward the decidedly not-conservative populist movement.