Posted on 02/22/2016 11:41:35 PM PST by goldstategop
White Middle Americans express heavy mistrust of every institution in American society: not only government, but corporations, unions, even the political party they typically vote for—the Republican Party of Romney, Ryan, and McConnell, which they despise as a sad crew of weaklings and sellouts... And when Donald Trump came along, they were the people who told the pollsters, “That’s my guy.â€
They aren’t necessarily superconservative. They often don’t think in ideological terms at all. But they do strongly feel that life in this country used to be better for people like them—and they want that older country back.
...People like them in many other democratic countries too. Across Europe, populist parties are delivering a message that combines defense of the welfare state with skepticism about immigration; that denounces the corruption of parliamentary democracy and also the risks of global capitalism. Some of these parties have a leftish flavor, like Italy’s Five Star Movement. Some are rooted to the right of center, like the U.K. Independence Party. Some descend from neofascists, like France’s National Front. Others trace their DNA to Communist parties, like Slovakia’s governing Direction–Social Democracy.
These populists seek to defend what the French call “acquired rightsâ€â€”health care, pensions, and other programs that benefit older people—against bankers and technocrats who endlessly demand austerity; against migrants who make new claims and challenge accustomed ways; against a globalized market that depresses wages and benefits. In the United States, they lean Republican because they fear the Democrats want to take from them and redistribute to Americans who are newer, poorer, and in their view less deserving—to “spread the wealth around,†in candidate Barack Obama’s words to “Joe the Plumber†back in 2008. Yet they have come to fear more and more strongly that their party does not have their best interests at heart.
(Excerpt) Read more at theatlantic.com ...
This is where I don't blame American politicians for a lot of the troubles we face as a nation. Most Americans have no interest, for example, in financial responsibility on a national level -- and they would vote against any candidate who tells them that this country can't afford to maintain our standard of living.
“a giant middle finger from average Americans to the political and media establishment.”
And rightly so!
Use this website to remove the smartquotes. It is easy.
http://dan.hersam.com/tools/smart-quotes.html
Aye, drivel.
“Drivel”
Yes, I read the whole damn thing.
What a waste.
It reads as though it was written in the middle of 2015 and pulled out of the drawer because Frum had writers block and needed to submit something, so he took his old drivel, put a new date on it and they printed it.
All of this is more apparent in the downfall of Jeb Bush who represented the austerity
A huge steaming pile. Bush represents the tax and squander mentality of suck up to 0bama Republican. Try selling your fertilizer to someone newly arrived from Mars, because no one who's been on this planet for the last 16 years is going to believe it.
I laugh when the media keeps trying to put Trump’s campaign and it’s success in a box so they can explain and or denounce the box.
The flailing about of these minstrels has been my source of entertainment this election cycle.
I have never trusted the left leaning media and personally blame them for enabling the Washington DC crowd to damage this nation to its current state.
The so called conservative media in this past year have joined the liberal media to the point they are indistinguishable. When the GOP Congress rolled over and played dead to Obama last spring and you see the liberal media celebrate Obama’s mighty pen and then the so-called conservative media and their pundits defend Congresses inaction.
I woke up. I don’t think I was alone. Donald Trump’s campaign success tell me I am not alone.
Loved your post #27—how true.
“the Republican Party of Romney, Ryan, and McConnell”?
IF this is the GOP then the GOP is garbage.
And next they want to throw Rubio in as a GOP leader?
Time to leave the GOP?
Well these old mookabookers I refuse to see as my leader.
What’s up with all of the funny stuff where commas and quotation marks are in the stories on FR? Also, anytime you copy and paste.
Driving me crazy %$&*&*#@ !!!
Thank you for tool. But why is this happening? Been on FR forever, and only now have seen this. What happened?
Whispering death to his own society, coaxing them to accept comfy names for their own murders and the murders of their families, in exchange for his whore pay
A lot of the deterioration in urban areas (and rapidly spreading outwards) is caused by those migrants refusing to ante up to maintain the infrastructure and institutions built by the dwindling, aging white population. They don’t want to pay for road maintenance, police/fire protection, schools - all is supposed to be provided by “someone else” - but that “someone else” left a long time ago. These areas were maintained at the expense of whites in surrounding areas (via county, state, federal re-distribution of their wealth), but like Tolkien’s elves they are disappearing - as is their money.
ObamaCare was openly funded in part by cuts to Medicare - a direct transfer of benefits from aging Americans to illegal immigrants; Joe Wilson was right when he interjected, “You lie!” (and the media quietly admitted it later, on page 4,387 of some obscure newspaper).
So you’re voting for Bernie?
Good luck with that.
As Obama’s two election wins indicated, austerity can never prevail now because the takers outvote the makers; it is simple math.
You are right that Americans are not that conservative; while there are pockets and clusters, most Americans are not conservative in any way. That whole WASP culture has been successfully marginalized by the left over the last 50 years, and doesn’t produce successive generations in sufficient numbers to offset the rapid growth of those who believe in nothing but instant gratification. FReepers will provide examples from their personal experiences, and there is no doubt that conservative do exist; they are just a very small part of our population.
Bush represented "austerity?" How so.
Don’t fall for that propaganda.
In Europe “austerity” generally means tax increases. Those countries, such as Estonia, that instead cut taxes after 2008 did very, very well.
Those who went the “austerity” route by raising taxes (sometimes while also cutting benefits) have floundered.
Meanwhile, here is US leadership today: “U.S. to push for greater fiscal spending at G20: Treasury official”
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-g20-china-usa-idUSKCN0VV259
Every one of those positions is a “big government” solution. Our problem is not that we don’t have enough programs.
No, Social Security and Medicare are promises built on a ponzi scheme. Roosevelt knew it when he proposed SS. They made promises to all of us that are mathematically impossible to keep.
It does not matter that it is a promise. It does not matter that we have put in bucket loads of our own personal money into the system. It’s broke, it’s unsustainable, and it must stop sometime.
Americans want to work. They are tired of being put down as lazy and not wanting jobs “that Americans won’t do”. In other words chumps like you suck.
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