I don't know if I'm a devil or an angel around here right now. [View all]

[Tobin S.]

But here is something I've been looking at for a little while now. Hear me out please. Make sure you read through to the end. There are a lot of people who simply don't vote because they feel like they've been left behind on economic issues. The huge disparity in income stratification we have in this country is a very big problem. Along with climate change, this should be one of the biggest issues in America right now. There are wealthy and powerful Democrats who've been talking about this for a while: Robert Reich and Nick Hanauer to name a couple. Some very wealthy people are actually calling on us to tax them more right now, because they know this is getting out of hand. And when income stratification gets out of hand you start to get political instability. You start to get shit like Trump. It's not just for the benefit of the rest of us that some of these rich people are talking like this. It's also enlightened self interest.

This wonderful diversity we have going on in the party with minorities starting to claim a bigger stake in the political process is ultimately good for everyone. But for many Americans those just aren't their kind of issues. Nothing wrong with that stuff, but for low income straight white people, for example, it simply doesn't help them where they need help the most. So if you continue in that direction without addressing the issue of economic security and social policy that helps poor and working class people in every demographic, it's really not something you can build a long term strategy on for continued success into the future. It's good, but we need to address these economic issues along with that stuff. The issue should be front and center.

One third of the population living in poverty. Poor and working class people from all demographics making up the majority of the population. The middle class shrinking and people continually falling out of it. Even upper middle class people are not completely economically secure if they happen to develop a severe medical issue. These things absolutely have to be addressed or this country is just going to keep getting crazier.

The victories earlier this week are a welcome and refreshing sign. I also know that powerful people in the Democratic Party are aware of the problems I just spoke of, and want to address them. In my view, if the politicians we have keep speaking on these economic issues, more and more people will start to come back around to the Democratic Party. I want to urge you guys not to demonize ordinary people in any demographic including Trump supporters anywhere the Democratic Party is represented, including DU. I know I've done it, too, and I'm here to tell you that was wrong. It might make you guys feel better, but it ultimately doesn't help anyone, and actually hurts your cause. It's okay to cut down the regressive politicians, but work to lift the people up. Working class white men should be allies of working class black men. Most of them understand that. They really do. Some of them might not be up to par on your social issues, but when it comes to poverty and economic hardship they understand completely.

One of the most important lessons of Obama was that when he spoke of the American people he always spoke inclusively. He did his best to make it clear to us all that he valued every one of us whether we agreed with him or not. He was a true man of the people. He never cut down ordinary Americans even when it was clear about how hated he was by some of them. He is a shining example of what a Democrat should be. He served two terms despite the fact that the most powerful and wealthy people in America were working their hardest to defeat him, and despite the incredible gridlock his last 6 years in office. He won my home state of Indiana in the election for his first term. Yeah, lots to learn from Obama.

In my sig line you'll see a quote from Obama on what is my most important issue: climate change. I put that one ahead of everything including the issues that benefit me in a more selfish way. I deeply admire Obama. I'm 45 years old and he is clearly the best president of my lifetime even though he was hamstrung by Congress for most of his time in office. I'm a working class white man.

When I came out here with that thread the other day about how I felt you guys were slandering and scapegoating working class white men, that didn't come out of nowhere. It's been festering a long time. Then when I called you guys on it, over the first hour the thread was up it looked to me as if you guys had this impression that the Fourth Reich was coming for you guys and it was comprised of working class white men who had allegedly given you Trump. It was very painful, and after I exited that thread with my last comment in it, I haven't been able to go back and look in it even though it got all kinds of recs and ended up on the front page.

So one last time before I let it go. It looks like 33% of Trump voters were working class. Not all of them were men, of course. I don't know the stats for Hillary in that category, but I'm sure there's a significant amount of working class white men who voted for her, including me. Then when you consider that 40% of eligible voters didn't vote in that election, most of them probably poor and working class people...well, the working class white man Fourth Reich doesn't look like it's taken hold quite as strong as some of you might have been thinking, or gave me the impression that you were thinking.

Poor and working class white people have been maligned for a long time in this country by powerful, rich, and famous people. There are some incredibly offensive stereotypes about them that freely get floated around the internet and popular culture, that if they were said about any other group of people in this country by someone in the public eye it would permanently damage their reputation. But it gets a pass when they do it to us. I'll go get an example of it if you want me to that was generated by a wealthy east coast Democrat. When I see stuff like that, and I see it a lot, it hurts my confidence in you guys. The people on the right do it, too. Do you think Jeff Foxworthy and Larry the Cable Guy are doing us any favors? Do you know who is in the audience at their Blue Collar Comedy shows? It's not people like me. Even if I wanted to go I can't the free time or the cash together for a ticket. Those are caricatures that they present in their shows. They are not accurate representations of who poor and working class people are. But these guys got rich on us talking that shit at our expense. You might see working class guys who like them and think they are funny. It's in the same category of a thing like women voting for Trump.

Poor and working class white people are essentially powerless just like any other demographic in that income category, and they continually get hammered by social and economic forces. It's not something to be taken lightly and made fun of, and it certainly isn't their fault- even if some of them are so confused by what's going in the world that they'll vote for a Republican. These people are not your enemies, and they need your representation even if you don't get their vote. Obama knew that quite clearly. And being the most powerful man on the planet he had the kindness and compassion not to punch down on people even if they didn't support him, unlike some other guy currently residing in the White House. Obama still represented these people and was looking out for them.

You guys might have noticed that I write well. I have a bachelor's degree in business from Indiana University. It used to be a very marketable degree. I went back to school when I was about 40 to finish that degree. I took 3 classes a semester year round for 2.5 years while working 50 hours a week at my truck driving gig. People in America used to admire that kind of hard work, dedication, and desire to get ahead. Guess what? I graduated about three years ago and I'm still driving a truck for a living because I cannot find gainful employment anywhere else. I now have all this school debt hanging over my head, and I had to file for bankruptcy a few years back which of course did not absolve the school debt. This is where people like me are coming from. Old school economic issues. Not petty social vendettas.

I'll let it go now.