Overall, lower-class household wealth going up is a good thing, as is supporting that pension plan. The big green-energy act was also a net benefit for poorer communities, which were benefitting most from those investments. And I agree that that should have been clearer to the electorate.
However: overall economy increases often don't mean much to the lower classes, and neither do typical white-collar middle-class concerns (which they are, even if they shouldn't be) like LGBT rights, renewable energy, or overall economic growth (which often doesn't translate to all income groups). And I was specifically talking about the lower classes deliberately, cause they benefit most from leftist economic policy, which isn't the same as leftist social/moral policy. To expand further on that point, I'll quote two more posts:
My thinking here is that you can tell people that Brexit is a bad idea, but after 40 years of neoliberal policy that does nothing for the below-median-income population, a message of 'don't vote Brexit and preserve the status quo' isn't a winning argument. And neither is basically anything that Labour has focused on, more or less since Blair (who still came out just the other week saying that a left turn on the economy is a bad idea for Labour), or the US Democrats since the 80s.
Obviously, I'm not saying that anything that that the US Republicans (or Reform or the Tories in the UK) are saying or doing will help the lower classes. But the so-called left has been leaving a huge gap on economic policy for decades now, leaving everyone who (as I would argue) needs that sort of policy up for grabs to the right - even if the right of course mostly just offer populist nonsense, cause they traditionally don't offer viable solutions for the lower classes.
I know, the situation is more complex in the US, because things like the strange electoral system and how it's being exploited through things like intentional polarization and gerrymandering complicate the landscape. But overall, I would really argue that the supposed left should start speaking directly to and working directly for lower-class concerns before we all start complaining how the lower classes don't care enough about progress about white-collar middle-class concerns and vote against their best interests. (Again, I know those should be everyone's concerns. For example, the dismantling of US climate and environmental protections will hurt the lower classes first. For example, it's them who are getting noxious data centres on their doorstep first. Example of Boxtown, TN: article 1, article 2.)
The Democrats suck at messaging, while the Republicans and their entire media apparatus are in campaign mode whether it’s an election year or not. They are relentless.
It can’t be overstated how much goodwill and credibility the Democrats lost by rolling out a corpse and then gaslighting people that were doubtful about his ability to do the job. Biden showing some humility and stepping aside in time might have been the difference, but he was too arrogant.
The US president is personally elected and has permission to decide on quite a lot of issues. The person matters a lot there.I’ve always found it mad the way so much importance is placed on the figurehead of political parties, when it’s the policies of the party and the team supporting the main person that matters so much more.
It's crazy that they bounced off all that and ran towards this clusterfcuk..... but here we are....That’s not really true though, is it?
https://www.americanprogress.org/article/the-biden-administration-handed-over-a-strong-economy/
Note that the stats mention improvements in equality, not just the economy as a whole.
And that summary doesn’t mention progress made on making healthcare more accessible.
The really crazy thing is the Dems seemed to get the most shit from potential voters for their support of Israel. Which looks pretty fecking stupid in hindsight, now we’re seeing what completely unfettered support for Netanyahu’s insane schemes actually looks like.
Remember when there was some legitimate scrutiny on the genocide in Gaza? Good times. Compare the traffic to the Redcafe thread on Gaza under Biden and now under Trump. It’s died on its arse. From the most pressing issue for the POTUS to deal with to a side note in history.
A solid job in who's interest though? Cause a lot of the people voting for Trump absolutely can't afford two vacations in the sun and aren't entitled that way. Real poverty is a real thing in the US.Biden had/has all the charisma of a wet fart but all the evidence points towards him doing a good job as president. Although obviously none of us know how much was down to him, personally, and how much was down to the apparatus around him.
I’ve always found it mad the way so much importance is placed on the figurehead of political parties, when it’s the policies of the party and the team supporting the main person that matters so much more. We’re having to put up with this orange lunatic and his team of shysters, villains and maniacs because the Democratic Party didn’t make a good choice when selecting a leader. That is on them, obviously, but I find it immensely annoying that the electorate couldn’t see past that and voted back in a party that had been doing a solid job of running the country over the previous few years. And now look where we are?!
It does all come back to social media though. Whether you’re genuinely poor, or just not as ostentatiously wealthy as the people you follow on Instagram it’s created a whole generation of people who will never be happy with their lot. Which makes them easy picking for liars and blowhards. You can only afford two sun holidays a year and you think you deserve three? That’s the immigrants fault.
Biden governed for all Americans, his legislative wins infused $$$ into many underserved communities & created jobs a la the Bipartisan Infrastructure Act in late 2021.A solid job in who's interest though? Cause a lot of the people voting for Trump absolutely can't afford two vacations in the sun and aren't entitled that way. Real poverty is a real thing in the US.
And in many places actually. It's a rather condescending viewpoint, that's guaranteed to improve nothing (since it doesn't get to any real issues), to claim people largely vote the way they do because of social media influences and entitlement.
A solid job in who's interest though? Cause a lot of the people voting for Trump absolutely can't afford two vacations in the sun and aren't entitled that way. Real poverty is a real thing in the US.
And in many places actually. It's a rather condescending viewpoint, that's guaranteed to improve nothing (since it doesn't get to any real issues), to claim people largely vote the way they do because of social media influences and entitlement.
Overall, lower-class household wealth going up is a good thing, as is supporting that pension plan. The big green-energy act was also a net benefit for poorer communities, which were benefitting most from those investments. And I agree that that should have been clearer to the electorate.
However: overall economy increases often don't mean much to the lower classes, and neither do typical white-collar middle-class concerns (which they are, even if they shouldn't be) like LGBT rights, renewable energy, or overall economic growth (which often doesn't translate to all income groups). And I was specifically talking about the lower classes deliberately, cause they benefit most from leftist economic policy, which isn't the same as leftist social/moral policy. To expand further on that point, I'll quote two more posts:
I did say that those things should concern all classes, and I brought up environmental and climate issues specifically for that.I'd argue the lower income earners benefit as much from those as the middle class. LGBTQ distribution in the population is the same across economic tiers so just as many lower income people benefit from LGBTQ rights. With renewable energy, not only does that benefit all of us but it also provides as many or more blue collar jobs. Almost all the solar and insulation installers when I worked in that industry from 2010-2013 were from low income and often high crime neighborhoods. The jobs created absolutely benefited the local communities I saw and learned about. And while overall economic growth is asymmetric, Democrat economic growth tends to benefit the lower classes more than conservative economic growth which is far more weighted to the top.
One of the problems is that a lot of the lower economic class are uneducated and less informed which makes them more vulnerable to someone like Trump. To quote one of my favorite people, Daniel Kahneman, "some people are more receptive than others to bullshit. They can be impressed by seemingly impressive assertions that are presented as true and meaningful, but are actually vacuous." - Noise
He's referring to specific research from another book On Bullshit.
You said this:If we’re calling out people being condescending then maybe don’t try to convince me that poverty is real?
That's what my 'condescending' comment responded to, especially the 'only two holidays per year' part. Cause that's not reality for a lot of Trump voters. Maybe 'condescending' wasn't the right word - but you certainly weren't talking about poor people or the lower classes there. (Except if you understand that to mean people who have practical jobs. But a well-employed carpenter isn't lower class.)It does all come back to social media though. Whether you’re genuinely poor, or just not as ostentatiously wealthy as the people you follow on Instagram it’s created a whole generation of people who will never be happy with their lot. Which makes them easy picking for liars and blowhards. You can only afford two sun holidays a year and you think you deserve three? That’s the immigrants fault.
Can the Trump administration please stick to America First?
Can the Trump administration please stick to America First?
I did say that those things should concern all classes, and I brought up environmental and climate issues specifically for that.
But it's a good point about education, and lowering education standards is not coincidentally a real Republican priority.
You said this:
That's what my 'condescending' comment responded to, especially the 'only two holidays per year' part. Cause that's not reality for a lot of Trump voters. Maybe 'condescending' wasn't the right word - but you certainly weren't talking about poor people or the lower classes there. (Except if you understand that to mean people who have practical jobs. But a well-employed carpenter isn't lower class.)
Can the Trump administration please stick to America First?
Well Americans are famously bad at travelling so that comment wasn’t aimed at them specifically. More about the general social media fuelled malaise the world over, where people are fed a constant diet of other people who are better off than them and want someone to blame about this. Which makes them rich pickings for populist politicians blaming immigrants and woke politicians for all their woes.
Having said that, Gemini tells me that approx 50% of the American electorate take two+ holidays every year, so if we’re going to be pedantic… Plus, I’m not even sure Trump voters skew extremely poor. Like most conservatives they’re likely to be that bit older and (relatively) well off.
Anyhoo. We’re off on a bit of a tangent here. My main point was that a Democratic government is better news for less well off Americans (and Americans in general, other than the extremely rich) than a Republican government. Which I think is demonstrably true. And for the US electorate to forget this at the last election was a baffling act of self harm.
Well, I was talking about the lower class, i.e., the poor. They don't constitute 50% of the US population, so I'm not sure what information about 50% of USians going on holiday twice a year (assuming it's true) is supposed to say in this context.Having said that, Gemini tells me that approx 50% of the American electorate take two+ holidays every year, so if we’re going to be pedantic… Plus, I’m not even sure Trump voters skew extremely poor. Like most conservatives they’re likely to be that bit older and (relatively) well off.
https://www.mediaite.com/media/news...ill-pulte-to-fire-intelligence-officials-wsj/Per a Friday interview with The Wall Street Journal, President Donald Trump said acting Director of National Intelligence Bill Pulte is “less shackled” because he does not require Senate confirmation — and should use that freedom to begin firing employees across the U.S. intelligence community. “I’d like to see it smaller. I think there are a lot of people in there that shouldn’t be there,” Trump said, referencing those who remained from former President Barack Obama and former President Joe Biden’s administrations.
He’s doing it to overtly show support to the likes of Farage and Robinson and their brigade of right wing gammon heads. He and Trump would love to incite more violent clashes.I’m fed up of these disrespectful right-wing thundercunts offering their unwanted opinions on this. None of them give a shit about the victim or his family. Scum.
Can the Trump administration please stick to America First?
The murderer was actually born in Britain.Yep someone on the uk government should say “keep your nose out of our business and stop your illegal war”
All UK politicians should be telling voters that the reason their energy bills are going up is because of that feckwit and his feckwit bossYep someone on the uk government should say “keep your nose out of our business and stop your illegal war”
I don’t follow what that has to do with my comment? Im just saying that the US administration should be told to mind their own damn business and stop spreading hateThe murderer was actually born in Britain.
Of course. I was referring to the Vance statement and apology if you thought I was critical of your post.I don’t follow what that has to do with my comment? Im just saying that the US administration should become to mind their own damn business and stop spreading hate
No sorry I didn’t think you were being critical, I just didn’t get the linkOf course. I was referring to the Vance statement and apology if you thought I was critical of your post.
Hegseth was speaking in Normandy 82 years after allied forces stormed French beaches to liberate Nazi-occupied north-western Europe in 1944.
"Sadly, today, different European beaches are stormed by different dangerous ideologies," Hegseth said. "Beaches in Spain, in Italy, in Greece and Bulgaria. Boats and men arrive. When will European capitals do something about that invasion?"
I don't even know where to start with this quote.
When Merz visited Trump called that a sad day for Germany (I don't remember if it was D-Day or the end of WW2 he referred to, but doesn't really matter which it was). So it fits what his boss says...So the Allies = migrants who both must be stopped?
Kegsbreath needs to realise that he’s on the side of the Nazis.I don't even know where to start with this quote.
First of all how disrespectful of him.I don't even know where to start with this quote.
Lower class offers no campaign contributions. The wealthy corporations and lobbyist does.
Not every candidacy fight for win. Some just playing their part while taking "donation". They know they ain't gonna win, and they know even if they win they can't fight the system.
It actually would be fine if you had a system where constitutional amendments were not near impossible to pass. Usually democracies can change decisions of highest courts. John Roberts has been quietly rewiring your country for a couple of decades now.It's unbelievable how corrosive Citizens United has been on the country. It basically turned American democracy into an auction. The idea that corporate spending on elections constitutes protected free speech was always absurd, but the downstream consequences have been worse than even the dissenters predicted.
American democracy has slowly morphed into American corporatism as the price of political influence became a line item on a corporate balance sheet.
It actually would be fine if you had a system where constitutional amendments were not near impossible to pass. Usually democracies can change decisions of highest courts. John Roberts has been quietly rewiring your country for a couple of decades now.
The decaying dying mess here. Crashing out. What a snowflake. Sad
Imagine looking at that and saying yeah, he’s got my backing. Fecking madness. Not a decent quality about him.
