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In reply to the discussion: You guys can't keep doing this. Working class white man here. [View all]Baitball Blogger
(46,700 posts)Though poor whites may have had a past history of voting the Democratic ticket, I think we have seen a shift in voting patterns when Unions stopped being a factor with job security. The factor that is changing everything is an over-reliance on the so called trickled down system. It creates an environment where small businessmen must rely on the patronage system in order to survive. That's my observation from living in a good ole boy community.
The trickle down effect in small towns creates a very strange relationship between white residents, based on class. White males who are scraping to make a living find a way to hitch their wagons to the wealthy, hateful authoritarian types. Look at it from their small businessman's point of view. He knows that he's getting a steady check for one reason. He has passed his employer's purity test. The two have a political perspective that they agree on. And they reinforce those beliefs by spewing every hateful stereotype about minorities and Democrats. That's a reality in a small red town.
It's really hard, not to get defensive when you know that jobs are being dispensed in a way that reinforces a lifestyle that is intended to block you out of every basic right that you are entitled to in this country. There is no limit to their hubris because the legal authorities will do nothing to stop it. So, rank discrimination goes unchecked and the price of living the American dream in these communities is that you get victimized, not just by the old guys who use their military, ex-officer positions to justify their entitlement, but their grandchildren as well. There is no end to their hubris and, as a homeowner, you will be excluded in ways that defy the written law. There's nothing you can do about it because the system that exists in the community, is stacked in their favor.
So, if anyone can find some way to find a term that separates poor white males who are aligned with this political patronage, from poor white males who would walk away from a job where the employer expects a white purity test, please let us know what it is. I will use it.
Keep in my mind, that my section of the county is mostly white and Republican. Things might be different in more diverse neighborhoods.