Catherine Rampell: Why the White Working Class Votes Against Itself

[CBHagman]

For anyone who hasn't read this, here's something to take with you going into those end-of-the-year discussions. It encapsulates the resentment and indeed spite that goes into a voting decision.

[url]https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/why-the-white-working-class-votes-against-itself/2016/12/22/3aa65c04-c88b-11e6-8bee-54e800ef2a63_story.html?hpid=hp_no-name_opinion-card-f%3Ahomepage%2Fstory&utm_term=.53170df3d9f4[/url]

Here’s the problem. These Democratic policies probably would help the white working class. But the white working class doesn’t seem to buy that they’re the ones who’d really benefit.

Across rural America, the Rust Belt, Coal Country and other hotbeds of Trumpism, voters have repeatedly expressed frustration that the lazy and less deserving are getting a bigger chunk of government cheese.

In Kentucky, consumers receiving federal subsidies through the Obamacare exchanges complain that neighbors who are less responsible are receiving nearly free insurance through Medicaid.

“They can go to the emergency room for a headache,” one woman told Vox’s Sarah Kliff.

In Ohio, white working-class focus group participants decried that women who “pop out babies like Pez dispensers with different baby daddies” get “welfare every month” and “their housing paid for, their food.” These women seem to live large, one participant said, while people like herself are “struggling to put food on the table.”

[John_Doe80004]

1. i can debunk everyone of thos points

made in the article about those receiving government benefits. it is all propaganda and lies perpetrated by the right to take away those safety nets from the people and hand those funds over to big business in the form of huge tax breaks and subsidies.

this is what the white working class does not realize. once those safety nets are gone their taxes wont go down nor will their wages go up, big business will simply get a larger chunk of the economic pie while the working class and poor get screwed once again!!!

oh and those people who have lost their benefits will now be homeless, crime rate will explode and the economy will be thrust into another great depression which will make the first one look like a vacation at the beach!!!

[deist99]

7. Perception

Perception is reality. I have friends who work at our local welfare office, and this is all I hear them complain about. That there are all these unwed mothers that have 2,3,4 kids from just as many daddies. They are getting food stamps, housing, etc. Now mind you these are almost all women talking about these other women, a couple that are single mothers themselves. I am also sure that these women are telling a lot of other people besides just myself.

I keep reading on here that all the Drump supporters are racist, misogynists, uneducated, etc. And I am not saying that a significant portion of them aren't, but in my little corner of NE Ohio that is not who I have run across. I don't think we will ever pull the first group away from the repubs but the second group we can. We just need a better message to reach them.

[Igel]

20. Best to distinguish between reality and beliefs and actions based on those beliefs.

I like the word "veridical" for this kind of thing. One can say something that's not veridical and yet not a lie, just incorrect.

On the other hand, this thread, and those like it, have two big problems.

The first is that arguing with perceptions is a dangerous business. They're built on isolated facts, are often overgeneralized, and often closely held. In some cases, daring to say a perception is wrong is decried as classist/sexist/racist or some other -ist. Often the more you fight them the more entrenched they become. That's a human thing, not a white trash thing. (As the scion of families with a history of wallowing as white trash, that's the term I choose to use.)

The second is that underlying this kind of thread is what I call outsplaining. It's like mansplaining to a woman, whitesplaining to an African-American. It's somebody from outside the group explaining a person as to their real motives and what they're really feeling or thinking. "I know what's really going on inside your mind even better than you do." It's blatantly offensive and shows utter contempt for the person or group you're outsplaining to, and really telling them how stupid they are for not accepting what you have to say.

De-winning hearts and minds one person at a time.

[deist99]

21. Confused

Are you saying that is what I am doing? Or what the people I'm talking about are doing? Or what will happen if we try to change the people I was talking abouts perception?

I'm not trying to be difficult I am generally perplexed. I also not trying to say the other people's experiences or perceptions aren't accurate where they are. I'm only saying that I am not seeing what everyone else on this board is either seeing or perceiving.

[PotatoChip]

28. Good post.

I've been seeing a lot of that going on lately.

[Squinch]

31. But do you disagree with the analysis? It isn't necessarily "outsplaining" (useful concept!)

if the person explaining is not trying to convince the "inner" people, but rather simply trying to analyze the event.

I don't think the analysis is off. But no, I'm not going to try to "outsplain" to those who the analysis applies to. Sadly, they'll die by their own ignorance and there's little we can do about it.

Understanding the truth of this analysis though, is useful. It proves that we should not waste time trying to get anywhere by "outsplaining" to people who will never hear what we are saying. It tells us that we need to look elsewhere for the votes we need.

[standingtall]

24. Subtle racism coming from your friends

'That there are all these unwed mothers that 2,3,4 kids from just as many dadiws.' They are getting food stamps,housing, etc." That is a stereotype that has been attached to a particular minority group for decades if not centuries and maybe extended to others minorities as well.

Maybe you haven't been exposed to enough racism to read the signs. Seriously though people who work at the welfare office complaining,because people are receiving welfare benefits jeez!
Seems to me that the job they are doing exist,because people receive welfare benefits. Wish I could say that surprises me,but it doesn't.

[duffyduff]

35. It is sexism more than racism

These women are so stupid, they don't understand that they think women should prostitute themselves in marriage in exchange for financial support.

Which is why women as a group are impoverished. The system is heavily rigged against women to be financially independent of men because women are underpaid across the board. That is to ensure women remain financially dependent on men so that men get sexual access in return.

[Orsino]

12. But can you debunk it 24/7, reaching all those Bullshit Mountain media subscribers?

Because there are billionaires who can, and do, and did. If you are competing only with facts and figures, you lose.

[Girard442]

2. TL;DR Whites voted for Trump because they want to stick it to Obama and "his people"...

...and Hillary as his heir apparent.

Those folks might want to ask the Germans how those political movements fueled by hate turn out.

[whathehell]

6. I find your post interesting..

but I don't who you are addressing -- Who is TL;DR?

[dionysus]

9. Too long' did not read. Isnt it awesome when someone declares your post too long to

Read then proceeds to comment?

[whathehell]

10. I'm sorry, but

unless you've mistaken me for another poster, it seems we got our wires crossed somewhere,

as I honestly don't know what you're talking about.

[dionysus]

16. I dont either. Whoops. Lol

[Squinch]

30. You asked what Girard's abbreviation "TLDR" means. Dionysus explained that

TLDR means "too long didn't read."

Dionysus then made a comment about how obnoxious it was for Girard to proclaim that he didn't read the OP but then insisted on commenting on it. I agree with Dionysus on that.

[whathehell]

38. Thanks.

It was more than a little. Cryptic .

[libtodeath]

3. I want a government that helps people and makes lives better.

Repukes want one that kills.

[JI7]

4. yes. people turned against govt programs once non whites begin to benefit

[Yavin4]

11. When Blacks could sit any where on the bus...

White people de-funded public transportation.

[treestar]

15. this country would have the biggest social safety net

in the world if it were all white. Not one right winger has any real problem with it.

[whathehell]

5. The idea that anyone "lives large" on a welfare check

is a sick joke...I once had to apply for welfare. -- Even in the mid-eighties, $41 a week in a large east coast city was non-livable.

[dawg]

8. In other words ...

racism.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

13. Bingo!

They can't get out of the way of their own hate.

[JCanete]

19. in other words, total and complete ignorance at the hands of shitty government, schools and

MEDIA. Racism yes, perpetuated and sold for the sake of dividing and conquering. Fight the means of production, not the product.

[Squinch]

29. EXACTLY!!! We need to just STOP twisting ourselves in knots trying to figure out

how we have wronged these assholes.

There are plenty who are not racist, sexist morons who didn't vote in this election. That is who we need to go to.

These people can die by their own circular firing squad, and may they.

The one silver lining in the next administration will be to watch the horrified understanding dawning on their idiotic faces.

[duffyduff]

37. Nope. Sexism. The poor are almost always women and children.

It is the fact these women reject marriage that drives these assholes crazy.

The majority of people on public assistance are white.

[treestar]

14. why is it their business who other women's children

are fathered by? If I have four kids, I can have 1-4 baby daddies. That's my business.

Who would go to the ER for a headache? If covered it would be a lot easier to go to Urgent Care or the doctor. BS.

[JI7]

25. yup, just look at Trump and his kids by 3 different women

[YoungDemCA]

17. When given the choice between the ultimate DC insider and an unashamed con man who all but admits it

whom do you think they will choose?

And remember, DC insiders (in both parties) are despised by these people (and many others, for that matter). In many ways, they are not wrong in those feelings.

[CBHagman]

18. Ah, but the incumbents enjoy the advantage of routine reelection...

I'm not disputing your observation about how people feel, but for all the complaints against incumbents, those complaints come from the throats of the same voters who fill out a ballot or pull a lever for the same guy/gal election after election. "Vote for the devil you know" is what I heard when I lived in South Carolina.

[Takket]

22. this article reminds me of a joke......

a liberal and a conservative are in a room with a tray holding 100 cookies.

A billionaire walks in and scoops 99 cookies into a sack, and as he tuns to leave whispers to the conservative "Watch out for the liberal, he wants your half of the last cookie".

hence the problem. while the rich are funneling more and more into their own wallets, they keep the base in a rage about "handouts" that are pennies on the dollar compared to what the top 1% if robbing from us.

[oasis]

23. That's a story worth remembering. Thanks.

[world wide wally]

26. Face it. Americans are a vindictive people.

They prefer to see someone starve than to see them helped out. If that means going hungry yourself, that is fine as long as the other guy starves to death.
Not a healthy society at all..

[pansypoo53219]

27. BUTBUTBUT democrats help LAZY poor people. i ain't poor.

and fetuses. gotta punish loose women.

[Docreed2003]

32. The GOP has been extremely successful in dividing...

The GOP has been extremely effective at division for years. Pitting poor white against poor black and marginally poor against those in poverty, non-union against union...etc. All of this in an attempt to dismantle the Social Security/Medicare/Medicaid/affordable care act/and any other program in this country that was built to protect and care for all citizens. The GOP and opponents to these programs have been using the same tired arguments since the 1930's. Thom Hartman does a great job of highlighting these historical fights, most recently in a segment highlighting JFK's proposal for what would become Medicare and his takedown of its critics.

Between Fox News and the mainstream media, which have become more entertainment sources and less news agencies, corporate consolidation of print media, and bought and paid for politicians who are the modern heirs of the John Birch society, people have been groomed to hate those that they seem to think are getting more than them from the government. Ayn Rand's vision for American is winning. Now what are we going to do to fight that? Because once fundamental changes to SS/Medicare and Medicaid/ACA/Food stamps/welfare are inacted, we may never be able to restore them. I pray our leaders are up for the challenge, and if they refuse to fight for us, that we find fresh blood that will fight for us.

[duffyduff]

36. Dismantling the safety net has never been the GOP's goal.

They talk a good game, but they fucking well know that if they did it their party would be history. There is NO way in fucking hell they are going to do it.

Be realistic: It was Democratic presidents who fucked around with programs and institutions benefiting people. Bill Clinton and AFDC. Barack Obama and his ruinous public education policies.

The Republicans play the dividing strategy as a way to divert attention from the fact the GOP wants to pick these peoples' pockets in order to further enrich their filthy rich backers.

The only issue the GOP actually has is "tax cuts," which invariably send the economy in a tailspin, with those tax cuts almost always going to the very top of the one-percent.

[Docreed2003]

33. Another point....

The GOP has normalized the Ayn Rand view of the world. Thom Hartman had a former S.E.A.L/Trump supporter on on Thursday to discuss healthcare and Trumps approach to replacing the ACA. When pushed, the Trump advocate essentially said "Why is it my responsibility to pay for someone's healthcare who can't afford it?" As if there is some itemized list of the way your tax dollars are being spent. I was shocked at how heartless this guy's comments were. This is the mindset we are fighting.

[Garrett78]

40. A piece worth reading:

http://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/its-ayn-rands-america-now-republicans-have-stripped-country-its-morality

On top of all that is the fact that tens of millions of Americans subscribe to patently false beliefs: http://www.democraticunderground.com/12512659983.

[Docreed2003]

41. Thanks for sharing..can't wait to read this!

[zonkers]

34. The fourth estate is diabolical and masterfully manipulative.

[Garrett78]

39. What, it's about racism?!? The hell you say.