Filed under: Rants
Laura and I were talking to day and she asked me to blog something that I’d said about why Republicans will have an advantage on the populist front.
If you’ve ever been talked into ordering a combo meal at a fast food restaurant when all you wanted was a burger, this will make perfect sense to you. Thomas Frank describes how social conservatives ended up being folded up into the trickle down economics crowd because they felt so strongly about issues like abortion and their only recourse was to start voting Republican.
These poor people are looking for a political party that will represnt their views on issues like abortion, marriage, teaching evolution, etc. but I’m not entirely convinced that they really want to go against their economic interests. In many places (e.g. Frank’s Kansas) the working class were once well-represented by their unions. These good people are sitting to a burger they want and drink and fries that they don’t.
To be honest, the drink’s not so bad, you have to drink something anyway. But it’s the damn fries that are just intolerable. Sitting there getting cold and nasty, and yet you have to choke them down anyway. That’s where we are a a country right now. Stagnant wages come with the meal, so we choke down the bullshit with the things we wanted.
Progressives get the same processed straight to your ass nutrient-free “meal” from Democrats too, it’s just not a combo that’s particularly appealing to populist sensibilities. In fact Progressivism is at its best when it is a populist message, that’s when it’s most honest. Whereas a realistic iteration of conservatism is when the rich elitists are straight up about how they’re interested more in their well-being than in anyone else’s.
Grace and Peace,
Jared
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