What changed in 1980?

[edhopper]

Last edited Mon Apr 12, 2021, 11:25 AM - Edit history (2)

It's rhetorical, we all know the answer.



The real question is why do voters continue to support a Party that takes money out of their pockets and gives it to the Rich?

[blm]

1. 1980 is when RightWing propaganda began in earnest.

RevMoon, the Korean cult leader, developed his profascist Washington Times and other media outlets. His ‘news sources’ were well established by the time FOX news started broadcasting in the mid90s the ‘news’ planted in the Moonie Times.

[blm]

3. And CSpan elevated Moonie Times to the same legitimacy

as Washington Post and Baltimore Sun.

[True Dough]

2. I get your message

and I agree with it, but, always prepared to be on the defensive, I know some Trump-humpers who would look at that graph and point out how much median family income moved upwards during three years of Trump's term.

What would you say to that?

[edhopper]

4. You mean the upward trend

that started with Obama after the Bush Presidency crashed the Economy? That move upward?

Also, this graph ends in 2019, I would think 2020 does not look so good for the lower part of the spectrum.

[True Dough]

9. Oh, I'm not denying for a minute that Obama got the momentum going, and going strong

But the graph provides fodder for Trump supporters who will say that Trump took the ball and ran with it. I know the MILLION things Trump has done (hopefully some will be proven in court soon) that are outrageous, but the pro-Trumpers who say he was the best thing for the U.S. economy have a very narrow field of vision and they will exploit that graph.

[edhopper]

16. And they will ignore the 40 years

of GOP policy robbing them.

[True Dough]

21. Yes, yes they most definitely will

They are blind by choice.

[blm]

6. The rich doubled their wealth while working families

continued to struggle. The added wealth for the financial elites increased the average, not the stayed the same wealth of the working class.

Show your Trump humper friends how math works. WWKPD?

What Would Katie Porter Do?

[marked50]

5. Ronald Reagan-n/t

[PSPS]

10. That's really the proper succinct answer to questions like this.

Reagan's slashing of the taxes on the rich by 2/3 played the major role. It instantly turned the US from the world's largest creditor nation into the world's largest debtor nation. Add to that his dedication to the destruction of the federal government. All of his appointments to lead federal agencies were people dedicated to their destruction. It was a phenomenon referred to as "agency capture" at the time. James Watt wanted to log all federal forests bald. Why? Because, he said, we wouldn't need them anymore since "the rapture was coming anyway." Abolishing the fairness doctrine allowed the quick establishment of a propaganda and disinformation industry. The list is endless, really.

[jimfields33]

14. It's stunning to me that Reagan took away fairness doctrine as if it can

never be brought back. Did he add in the bill or whatever that nobody can ever bring it back?

[appalachiablue]

18. The FD gets shot down over the

fact that it regulated news opinion on the public airwaves-- radio and standard TV-- and not programming on cable and internet. Naysayers also claim that radio is a 'dying industry' so no need to reform..

All as if the Doctrine couldn't be updated. Others add that the FCC and Sherman Anti Trust Act would need to be involved esp. over the rapid consolidation of media into giant conglomerates since Reagan and the 1996 Telecomm Act.

If the news media in this country isn't significantly altered toward more truth, we can kiss democracy goodbye. It's almost too late to start after 40 years of dangerous indoctrination with RW propaganda and disinformation via hate radio, Fox, now Newsmax, Oann, and websites.

[colsohlibgal]

7. A Sea Change Began

The Old B Actor got elected, drastically reduced our top tax rates, made changes that begat right wing talk which begat Fox News, OAN etc. Which directly led to Dumb Orange Hitler redux.

[edhopper]

8. I did say

it's rhetorical.
What do you think about my question?

[Caliman73]

23. I think your non-rhetorical question was the key.

The why is more important than the how. Like you said, we know the how. The why is more complicated, but not impossible to discern. It has been going on since the founding of the country. It is a global phenomenon but took a special turn in the United States. I put a longer answer down thread.

[PSPS]

11. Here's one person's take on why this happens

[edhopper]

17. Perfect

[overleft]

12. The "Reagon" era started.

[we can do it]

13. Ronnie Raygun.

[Runningdawg]

15. We hired our first washed up actor to run the country.

[PlanetBev]

19. The Republicans invited in the Christian Right.

The GOP thought they could control these nuts while consolidating power. Nope. Wasn’t long before the tail was wagging the dog.

Proving once again the old adage about letting the camel stick his nose in the tent.

[moondust]

20. Deadly shift

from FDR's New Deal politics of equality to Reagan's neoliberal/predatory capitalist politics of unbridled greed and inequality.

Why the poor don’t vote to soak the rich

Ignorance and racism.

[Caliman73]

22. Same reason a bunch of White people who gained nothing from slavery, fought a Civil War.

Most of the people in the South did not own slaves and really had little stake in fighting and dying for the wealthy land & slave owners, but they identified with Whiteness more than they identified with being poor and financially disadvantaged. Like Lyndon Johnson said, “If you can convince the lowest white man he’s better than the best colored man, he won’t notice you’re picking his pocket.” The follow up line in that famous quote is, "Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he'll empty his pockets for you."

Now this did not only apply to the South, where arguably the most visible signs of White Supremacy persisted during Lyndon Johnson's time in office. White Supremacy is not a Southern problem, it is an American problem. Plenty of working class White men in Detroit, Los Angeles, Chicago, etc... identified more with the wealthy White business owners than they did with their Black co-workers on the assembly lines, foundries, and construction sites where they toiled.

Jimmy Carter gave America two options in his "Crisis of Confidence speech. We could embrace the best of our values, work together, sacrifice and show the world our leadership, or retreat into consumerism, etc... Ronald Reagan came along and told everyone that "just being American (White) was enough and we didn't have to do anything except get the moochers (Black people) off of welfare and kick the illegals (Brown people) out of the country.

It is easier to punch down, or sideways, then to punch up at people who have enormous amounts of wealth, control of the media, and a vested interest in keeping people economically anxious. It is easier to prey upon deeply rooted prejudices that have been baked into the American cake since its founding. It is easier to identify with wealthy people who look like you, but have nothing else in common, but to which you may aspire; than to struggle in union, with people who don't look like you but share your daily experiences. This is especially true when people keep telling you that those Black and Brown people are getting something extra that you aren't getting, even though those wealthy Whites are taking the majority of the benefits you labor for.

[bif]

24. Reagan made it okay to screw the poor

That's when everything changed.

[AwakeAtLast]

25. Not just OK

PATRIOTIC!