Working and middle class white voters are being increasingly forced into larger and more liberal ideological stances than their immediate predecessors. What do I mean? It turns out the "greatest generation" and its offspring, the boomer generation mostly operated on the same set of principles as most Americans have since the founding of our country. Namely, that white people are undeniably supreme and all immigrants and people of color are inferior and further, rich white people sit at the apex of power. Of course, white immigrants can eventually be assimilated, as long as they show proper fealty to the reigning orthodoxies.
Now, in the era of Black lives Matter and the increasing concentration of wealth by a few mega rich families, younger generations are starting to question the validity of the assumptions which undergird our society. As Paul Krugman points out in today's NYT, we might not be an oligarchy yet, but the rich wield outsize power in our country. His example of the dissonance between our beliefs and actual lived experience is the "grand bargain" Obama almost made with congressional republicans in 2011.
Republicans were as usual when democrats hold the presidency, braying about the deficit exploding. It is funny how this only happens when a dem is president, but I digress. Obama offered cuts in Social Security and Medicare in return for modest tax increases on the wealthiest among us. The deal foundered only because republicans rejected any increase in taxes. Meanwhile, polls show overwhelming majorities support increases in social safety net programs and increased taxes on the rich.
The gulf between the wealthy and the rest of us has not been this great in over 100 years. Meanwhile, the pressure from POC for equal rights has never been greater. It is time for working and middle class white Americans to say enough and support those who would bring social and economic justice to all in our country.
No comments:
Post a Comment