• toomanypancakes@crazypeople.online
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    4 days ago

    So the big argument seems to be that the nebulously defined here “working class”, or rather people who explicitly consider themselves such, don’t want things that the GOP has been demonizing for decades?

    This is just an argument for dems to be more right to appeal to Republican voters. One of the citations is a link to an essay written by the senior editor of the American conservative.

    What a worthless article.

    • stylusmobilus@aussie.zone
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      4 days ago

      That’s how I interpreted this as well.

      Either that, or it reads that working class Americans aren’t very good people.

      • stoly@lemmy.world
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        4 days ago

        I used to think that but have come to the conclusion in recent years that people act the way they do because their lives are genuinely terrible and there is no possibility of them becoming better because there is nowhere for them to go. For those with great motivation, great intelligence, or great connections, there are plenty of things to do. For the average person brought up in and living in an average way, though, there is nothing but generational pain.

        Sadly, most people don’t have enough imagination to consider how things could be better for them or everyone.

        • themaninblack@lemmy.world
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          2 days ago

          This is also my takeaway. Moving to fascistic leaders is just an expression of overwhelming pain.

          It’s similar to Weimar Germany. Shame and economic dislocation are enormously powerful motivators.

          If you’ll give me some rope, I think the Democratic Party has lost their constituency because they have made two errors:

          1. Following Reagan, they tried to chase Republican voters by abandoning working class policies, disenfranchising workers and increasing inequality. Now, older people run the Democratic Party and they fail to see how much the landscape has changed since they were initially elected.
          2. There are not many Democrats that harness anger. Anger is addictive and enthralling. The party instead promotes loyalists, policy wonks, technocrats, and extremely ineffective consultants. This has not paid off but their donors demand this sort of management.

          Dang.

          • stoly@lemmy.world
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            2 days ago

            I also think that the Democratic party is lead by people who are among the elite and have no real connection to the average person. The GOP doesn’t either but they tell a story that will compel those with enlarged amygdalas.

        • EndlessNightmare@reddthat.com
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          4 days ago

          For the average person brought up in and living in an average way, though, there is nothing but generational pain.

          And despite this, they seem hell-bent on perpetuating said generational pain.

          • kreskin@lemmy.world
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            4 days ago

            Well what do they have to lose? And maybe with accelerationism something will change for them. Theres more hope there than in limping the status quo along. I keep hearing people on lemmy say you are either voting Dem or voting republican and theres nothing in between. But not voting in an attempt to hold the dems hostage for once is a possible choice too, and its as calculated and strategic as lesser evili-sm is.

        • stylusmobilus@aussie.zone
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          4 days ago

          You could be correct with that. Certainly, what you say about there being nowhere for people to go in terms of life improvement certainly seems to be the case. I’m not even sure if intelligence or motivation is enough for some in the worst positions over there.

          I just can’t see these gaps between left moving Democrats and Americans wanting better lives. I certainly, from the outside at least, don’t see a gap where the healthcare question is concerned. My scope here is limited; I’m restricted to what I see on socials plus general articles on the topic.

          The article just doesn’t seem right, it seems constructed to produce a particular view.