deep thoughts for a Monday morning

[orangerful]

Very interesting read from the Harvard Business Review - What So Many People Don't Get about the U.S. Working Class?

Biggest issue is they forgot to say WHITE working class right upfront but otherwise, I found this fascinating and a way to try to understand what was going on in their minds. I don't agree with their decision to support Trump, but the first steps to fixing any problem is understanding both sides, right?

And, of course, these are not the only people that voted for Trump, but this is the group getting the bulk of the blame.

Decent comments too! I mean, some people are just angry, but others have good points about the article, other issues, and where they disagree but still relatively civil!

I've added a safety pin to my work lanyard as a silent protest and a nod to anyone who feels unsafe in these times.

Comments

[rahirah]

I really think this author is underestimating ingrained racism and sexism in his attempt to make it All About Class. As he himself points out, it is the WHITE Working Class he's talking about. And their contempt for women and non-whites drips from every word he writes. Their so-called dignity depends on the oppression of other groups.

I mean, yes, we have to understand why people feel as they do in order to reach them, but understanding does not mean we have to accept that their feelings are A-OK and we should just roll over and accommodate them in everything. Because what they want is NOT simply good jobs -- it's a return to a social order where they were on top of the heap, and everyone else had to defer to them. The world is not going to return to the 1950s. Good-paying factory jobs are not going to magically return -- automation is doing them in as fast or faster than globalization. And I am damned if LBGT+ folks are going back in the closet, and non-whites are going back to the back of the bus, so that middle class white people can feel comfortable in their social superiority to everyone else.

[orangerful.livejournal.com]

AGREED! 100%. The author gets called out in the comments section a lot about glossing over the racism/sexism/xenophobia/homophobia of Trump supporters. And I also agree that this doesn't justify their behaviors but it helps me get a better grasp on things? I dunno, I'm always so flummoxed by the other side of arguments because I was raised pretty liberal and solid middle class. I have no memory of struggling and no memory of my family hating on other people, blaming anyone for our problems. It blows my mind how many people in this world are so hell bent on telling others how to live their lives.

So much hate. I mean, I've been upset the past few days, angry at how things are going, how do these people maintain this level of anger ALL THE TIME? It would be exhausting! How do they get anything done? How do they not all have heart attacks and die?

[rahirah]

I grew up lower middle class -- my dad was a bus driver, my mother a stay-at-home mom until my dad got sick, at which point she went back to bookkeeping. We were never in danger of being out on the street, but we ate a lot of hot dogs, and most of our clothes and furniture and cars and pretty much everything else were second-hand. Mom once told me there were times she had to pay a ten dollar doctor's bill in installments. (Granted ten dollars was worth a lot more in the 1960s than now.) My parents were/are both racist as fuck -- but I've only realized just how racist as my mother's gotten older, and her filters have come off. They are a generation or two older than the people this article talks about. It's depressing as hell that in those two generations, there's been so little change. And I can't claim to be free of the influence myself, since after all, these people raised me.

Sigh. None of this is going to be easy, but I don't think we can make it any easier by trying to claim the ugliest parts don't exist. :(

[jerusha]

I completely agree, and thank you for putting this into words. These are people like my in-laws that voted Trump in, and I know them. I grew up with a lot of them, and so did Tyson. Sure, there are things that we should address like rampant drug use, lack of jobs, etc., but they voted for Trump because he blamed specific groups for their problems. They absolutely want to go back to a world where their "way of life" (read: privilege) isn't at risk, where they don't have to see people of color, or deal with LGBT+ folks, or whatever. You only have to listen to my MIL's rants about how "the Mexicans are ruining everything" ONCE to get that.

I think a lot of white folks (those of a liberal bent, anyway) want to blame everything but race for Trump's victory. If it was a matter of strategy or Hillary's emails or whatever, that can be fixed. If it's racism, how do you change people's hearts? And the answer to that question is often a) education, and/or b) you wait for them to die off.

[orangerful.livejournal.com]

Whoa, yes, that is it! I think we want to believe what is best and it is easier to blame class (because money talks) than race/sex issues (because IT IS 2016 HOW?!?!?) but that is the reality. And that is what was so upsetting because we had somehow convinced ourselves, even after everything we have seen this past year with the police officers and Black Lives Matter and beyond, that that was a fringe element.

And it is not.

And I am dreading our Christmas in Wisconsin now. I honestly don't know if I will be able to be civil anymore with my in-laws. You will probably see MANY posts on LJ from me as I bite my tongue to keep from ruining the holiday with a full on meltdown.

[rhoda-rants.livejournal.com]

I've been reading this to keep in my back pocket for Thanksgiving this year. And driving myself instead of piling in with my mom and stepdad so I can escape if I need to.

ETA: Which is to say: DO IT. Have the meltdown. Fuck being civil. I don't know if I can do it either, but I have to try. They'll hate me for it, but I have to try.

[orangerful.livejournal.com]

Brilliant. BRILLIANT! Why try to rationalize with people who can't be rationalized with? I mean, there's not point in me preparing a thesis statement and a list of facts because they watch FOX News and (one of my favorite Stephen Colbert quotes) doesn't information itself have a liberal bias? :P

Wow. Okay. No. Okay. WOW! **runs away** At least I have the upstairs to escape too, sadly Wisconsin will be a bit far for me to actually run all the way home from. But yeah, that is actually REALLY GOOD input. Probably good for dealing with customers too, even though we are not supposed to engage in political discussion, if someone says something outrageous, I'd just like to be able to say "Wow...okay" and then run to the back room LOL.

[rhoda-rants.livejournal.com]

The silent thousand-yard-stare works quite well too, I'm told. If you can't feasibly "escape," I dunno. The goal is to let people know that bigoted language cannot fly anymore. Ruin the illusion that you're cool with it and will laugh it off/let it go.

What I'm most worried about is outing myself. I've been told that half my family does know I'm bi, but I've got one uncle, and aunt, and and in-law who are horrible homophobic garbage people and LOUD about it. So far, no one else has spoken up on my behalf. Not a single time. I've locked myself in the bathroom to cry at the last few family gatherings.

Oh, and that one uncle? One time I tried to just leave the conversation and go in another room FOLLOWED me and tried to corner me into getting into it with him. So--fuck them. If they won't be nice to me, I don't care anymore. I can't afford to. The White House is being filled with people who are dedicated to stripping my rights away RIGHT NOW. This isn't the time to play nice.

[orangerful.livejournal.com]

Exactly! No more shrugging it off or maybe even walking away silently. I might have to start saying something like "WOW!" and then leaving the room because I'm not sure they are smart enough to figure out why I am leaving the room. I need to stop letting the bullies win, because that is really what it is, letting the bullies win.

And are they really family if they can't love and accept you for who you are?