When [Clinton] was running for office in 1992, he wasn't talking about "workers" ... he talked constantly about the "middle class" (whatever it is that is supposed to mean).Indeed .... and why?
According to the made-over DLC crowd of which the Clintons are charter members, the working class is a shrinking constituency -- no longer, by far, the powerhouse mass that Truman tooted his blandishments at in '48, to such miraculous effect.
Nope, according to the brain trust that does the thinking for the likes of Rahm "Lex Luthor" Emanuel and cherry-cherry Kerry, appeal to the toiler class and its economic interests ... and you lose.
Par exemple -- read "The Trouble with Class Interest Populism" on the website of the Fromsphere planetoid the Progressive Policy Institute.
The upshot -- the Demo poor and working-class base of New Deal fame is now 25% of the population, and falling.
More to come on this subject.
Comments (2)
It all boils down to what it means to be a "worker" or a member of the "working class". In my view, pretty much anyone who sells their labor on the market and who lives off the earnings from the work they get in that way is a worker. White collar workers, teachers, secretaries, are all "workers". You don't have to work in a steel mill or an auto factory to be a "worker".
According to the definition of "worker" that I prefer, then, workers aren't just 25% of the population, but rather the vast majority of us.
But once you ignore the issues associated being a working person, then the vulnerability that all workers--blue and white, trade and professional--feel in the job labor market as a result of things like globalization and corporate consolidation don't matter. The threat of layoffs, the falling of real wages while the rich get ever richer--none of those matter to politicians who run and flee from working class ideology.
Posted by Haikuist | May 1, 2006 1:12 PM
Posted on May 1, 2006 13:12
h-ist:
80% of
those earning money
from their work
in the US today
are jobsters
a key point to me
one american dream
may well be
holding down
a good job
one that pays well
has a future that may include challenge but not
jeopardy
seems to be respected
by others
that matter to you
and feels gratifying
even while being performed
Posted by jsp | May 1, 2006 2:12 PM
Posted on May 1, 2006 14:12