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View Full Version : Thomas Frank On The Election, The Democrats, And Income Inequality



Mark III
04-11-2016, 03:55 PM
http://www.salon.com/2016/04/09/thomas_frank_democrats_just_arent_that_concerned_a bout_income_inequality_partner/


We are going through what seems to be one of the craziest presidential elections in American history. All of the rules seem to be breaking down, and the pundits cannot backtrack from their predictions quickly enough. Why are things so weird this time around?



It’s still “the economy, stupid,” nearly 25 years after James Carville coined the phrase. For working people, the ones our politicians used to salute as the salt of the earth, the situation never improves. Their lives are going nowhere, and sometimes are actively ruined by decisions made in distant places. But it’s easy to see that for certain other classes, this is a golden age, a heaven on earth. For them, the McMansions are a-building, the artisans are crafting, the Teslas are rolling.


What this has meant is a series of hard-times elections, one after another, getting more and more bitter as the situation drags on. However, talking about social class is extremely uncomfortable for American pundits, and so you have the situation you describe. Everything is a surprise. Nothing makes sense.


Does Bernie Sanders’ campaign bring you any sense of renewed hope in the ability—or willingness—of the Democratic Party to tackle income inequality?



Very much so. Not because anyone thinks he’d be able to put his proposals into effect right away if he became president, but because he’s putting ideas on the table that more conventional Democrats abandoned many years ago. These happen to be very popular ideas, and now we’re remembering why. Sanders has also shown us the weak point in the armor of the plutocracy–the way in which a traditional liberal politician can indeed compete in this age of mega-donors.


Does the Democratic Party have a vested interest in perpetuating income inequality? Does their welfare—no pun intended—rest on perpetuating an incendiary issue that supplies them with a righteous brand of political power/grievance?



I wouldn’t put it that way. I think it’s more accurate to say that, while they know inequality is bad and while it makes them sad, they aren’t deeply concerned about it. And that’s because, as a party, they are committed to the winners in the inequality sweepstakes: the “creative class,” the innovative professionals in Silicon Valley and on Wall Street. The people who are doing really well in this new gilded age. That’s simply who the Democrats are nowadays.



On the other side of the coin, they are not structurally aligned with the organizations of working people any longer, and as a result they aren’t terribly concerned with working people’s issues.

Mark III
04-11-2016, 03:57 PM
Hits the nail on the head pretty much.


I think it’s more accurate to say that, while they know inequality is bad and while it makes them sad, they aren’t deeply concerned about it. And that’s because, as a party, they are committed to the winners in the inequality sweepstakes: the “creative class,” the innovative professionals in Silicon Valley and on Wall Street. The people who are doing really well in this new gilded age. That’s simply who the Democrats are nowadays.

Mark III
04-11-2016, 03:58 PM
The implication is that the Democratic Party cares more about the academic class, and the tech innovators, and generally what we used to call "yuppies", than they care about working people. I think there is some truth to that.

Green Arrow
04-11-2016, 07:30 PM
That's precisely why I decided not to join the Democratic Party. As long as they are committed to embracing the elite, I will take my support elsewhere.

Mac-7
04-11-2016, 07:40 PM
The democrat and republican establishment class are doing ok.

along with politicians, high tech wonders and academics there are the government workers who thanks to unions and civil service laws make an above average income and are basically immune from dips in the private economy.

that explains why washington dc and the surrounding area is so affluent while the rest of America is suffering.

Subdermal
04-11-2016, 09:35 PM
This is what you get when you demand a Government that is capable of controlling everything.

Tahuyaman
04-11-2016, 09:37 PM
More fodder for the blind partisans.

Boris The Animal
04-11-2016, 09:41 PM
That's precisely why I decided not to join the Democratic Party. As long as they are committed to embracing the elite, I will take my support elsewhere.
Oh, so that's why you support the Communist party.

Captain Obvious
04-11-2016, 10:34 PM
Who the hell is Thomas Frank? Not Bawney Fwank's boyfriend I hope.


Does the Democratic Party have a vested interest in perpetuating income inequality? Does their welfare—no pun intended—rest on perpetuating an incendiary issue that supplies them with a righteous brand of political power/grievance?

Here's the thing, pundits and voters alike confuse the issue with textbook DNC and reality DNC. Textbook DNC suggests that democrats are for the working man. Reality DNC shows that democrats are bought-and-paid-for special interest whores who will simply pander to and support the ultra wealthy (their not shitting on their dinner plates, no ma'am) and buying votes with entitlements and government spending.

The biggest problem is - idiots keep guzzling this kool-aid. They can't get enough of it.

So nothing changes. Support Hillary or Bernie all you want. Or whoever the GOP nominates, you're getting the same shaft either way.

Mac-7
04-11-2016, 11:13 PM
Who the hell is Thomas Frank? Not Bawney Fwank's boyfriend I hope.



Here's the thing, pundits and voters alike confuse the issue with textbook DNC and reality DNC. Textbook DNC suggests that democrats are for the working man. Reality DNC shows that democrats are bought-and-paid-for special interest $#@!s who will simply pander to and support the ultra wealthy (their not $#@!ting on their dinner plates, no ma'am) and buying votes with entitlements and government spending.

The biggest problem is - idiots keep guzzling this kool-aid. They can't get enough of it.

So nothing changes. Support Hillary or Bernie all you want. Or whoever the GOP nominates, you're getting the same shaft either way.

The problem is libs who can't tell the difference between trump or ted cruz and hillary or bernie.

to say they are all equally bad is a cop out