Working class culture is not well understood. It is much more based on emotion than middle class culture is. Trump excels in appealing to emotions, especially those related to victimhood...fear, anger, resentment...and those emotions are often at the center for the working class, especially when times are tough. When the working class wa…
Working class culture is not well understood. It is much more based on emotion than middle class culture is. Trump excels in appealing to emotions, especially those related to victimhood...fear, anger, resentment...and those emotions are often at the center for the working class, especially when times are tough. When the working class was well paid and a path to the middle class was clear, those negative emotions were replaced by feelings like pride, hope, trust, and friendliness. The subtle, but real shift into permanent low status they have experienced since the 80s, has left the working class prone to those more negative feelings and the man who seemed to share their angst. D's could focus on ways to raise the fortunes of the working class by offering things like supports for childcare, more federal support for ACA insurance, more affordable housing including rental as well as buying options, raising the minimum wage. But, critically, anything they offer must be presented in a manner that appeals emotionally. Feelings need to be emphasized, not ideas, the heart needs to be reached, not the mind. Acknowledge their pain, refurbish the path to the middle class. Give them some hope again. Biden tried with his constant refrain of "good, union jobs", but that ignores the reality that unions are reviled in large parts of the country and do not exist in the number they used to where they are welcomed. This is doable!
Working class culture is not well understood. It is much more based on emotion than middle class culture is. Trump excels in appealing to emotions, especially those related to victimhood...fear, anger, resentment...and those emotions are often at the center for the working class, especially when times are tough. When the working class was well paid and a path to the middle class was clear, those negative emotions were replaced by feelings like pride, hope, trust, and friendliness. The subtle, but real shift into permanent low status they have experienced since the 80s, has left the working class prone to those more negative feelings and the man who seemed to share their angst. D's could focus on ways to raise the fortunes of the working class by offering things like supports for childcare, more federal support for ACA insurance, more affordable housing including rental as well as buying options, raising the minimum wage. But, critically, anything they offer must be presented in a manner that appeals emotionally. Feelings need to be emphasized, not ideas, the heart needs to be reached, not the mind. Acknowledge their pain, refurbish the path to the middle class. Give them some hope again. Biden tried with his constant refrain of "good, union jobs", but that ignores the reality that unions are reviled in large parts of the country and do not exist in the number they used to where they are welcomed. This is doable!