This liberal doesn't identify with anything you wrote. I don't object to wealth, and I don't confuse poverty with race and gender bigotry. My objection with the "bumpkins" doesn't relate to their financial status. It's their politics.
I believe that there's a cause-and-effect relationship to the fact that the 1% holds so much wealth while the lower tiers possess so little by comparison. Your statement that you "don't object to wealth" is a large part of the problem right there. Too many liberals turn the blind eye to so much, while actively trying to distract the public with their identity politics. I'll agree that the "bumpkins" are wrong to get suckered into that, but it's the ruling class and their liberal/leftist dupes who are doing the suckering. That's what I object to.
To me, it's the rightists that are divisive, continually misrepresenting liberals and then denigrating the straw man they've created.
Yes, I agree that this is true as well. To me, I think the liberals just sort of "wimped out" during the 1980s. I think they just gave up against the waves and waves of rampant consumerism and unabashed capitalism of the Reagan era - and they pretty much gave Reagan a free pass on just about everything. All of the activism and zeal they once felt in the 1960s had all but evaporated at that point.
This is no straw man. I've been in this country all along, and I've seen it happen with my own eyes. I've seen what leftists and liberals have done to themselves, and what it's done to the country.
Here are a few gems from the right's sweetheart, whom they have made very wealthy paying to read things like this:
- "If we took away women's right to vote, we'd never have to worry about another Democrat president.''- Ann Coulter
A pointless quip, obviously made in humor. No one is seriously advocating taking away a woman's right to vote. In any case, Democratic presidents were elected prior to women gaining the right to vote, so the entire statement is meaningless and should not be taken seriously.
- “Uttering lines that send liberals into paroxysms of rage, otherwise known as ‘citing facts,’ is the spice of life. When I see the hot spittle flying from their mouths and the veins bulging and pulsing above their eyes, well, that’s when I feel truly alive.” - Ann Coulter
All this means is that she knows how to push liberals' buttons, which is no great feat. Some liberals would do well to respond with logic rather than overemotional outbursts.
- “They've hit us and we've got to hit back hard, and I'm not just talking about the terrorists.” - Ann Coulter
Too vague to draw any conclusions.
- "We've finally given liberals a war against fundamentalism, and they don't want to fight it. They would, except it would put them on the same side as the United States." - Ann Coulter
I've heard Ann Coulter's name bandied about for quite some time now, but who the hell is she? Why do people on both sides of the spectrum give her any credence at all? Why do the media give her attention? Who cares what she says?
I ask you in all seriousness, why would any liberal want to spend any amount of time worried about the rantings of this woman when their attention, political capital, and energy might be better expended on more productive endeavors? That's what I truly don't understand.
Then there's these charming gentlemen:
- "Your average, ordinary, everyday liberal or Democrat is genuinely mentally ill" - Rush Limbaugh
That's what the liberals say about the conservatives, too.
- "We're supposed to roll out the red carpet for sore loser liberals because their sub-par, crooked, corrupt candidate lost an election?" - Sean Hannity
- "Liberalism Is a Mental Disorder" - Michael Savage
Both sides have said nasty things about the other. I don't know what any of this proves.
And these are from Internet conservatives that I formerly posted with on another site written about people like me:
- "Liberals/atheist/progressives are most always dishonest and revel in being disruptive and causing trouble. "
- "Don't forget the mob mentality that consumes people like him and other zealots on the fringe left. For a window into it if you can stand it the Oscars are on. You know where hypocrites like the pretend man preach about how to live but aren't willing to do it themselves. "
As I said, I was once inspired by the left and by the liberal/progressive viewpoint. In many ways, I still am, so my objection is not the basic, traditional ideas of liberalism and progressivism. I also heavily lean towards socialism and believe that the class disparities in this country are obscene. My tendency is to root for the underdog, and my sympathies are with the lower classes.
Unlike other situations where the poor literally have nothing to lose, the lower classes in America
do have something to lose, however little it may be. Think of it: All those so-called "bumpkins" out there may not be living well; they may be struggling and could probably use a bit of help.
So, this is the choice they face:
If they vote conservative, they can at least be assured that the status quo will continue and they'll be able to keep what little they have. It may not be Park Avenue, but at least they can get by, and that's all that really matters to them. The conservatives are, at least, "the devil they know."
The only thing liberals can do to win them over is to promise them more than what they have now - and have a realistic plan on how to deliver on their promises. That's the real drawback of liberals. Despite all the conservative mud-slinging and nasty things they say about liberals, the voters look at that and see that ultimately, the liberals really have nothing realistic or tangible to offer them.
It was different back in the 1940s and 50s, during the post-Depression, post-war era when America's economy was flying high and people were enjoying a higher standard of living and level of affluence which previous generations had never seen before. Liberals like FDR and Truman were able to deliver on their promises - and this is the period which people hearken back to when they speak of the greatness of America.
But nowadays, even liberals seem to concede that those days are long past and that we have to adjust to a new era of a global economy and all of its trappings (including continued military interventionism). I see this view as defeatist, if nothing else. It's as much as saying that the people are screwed, and they're going to get screwed even worse in the years to come. They don't offer any real solutions or any real answers. They may
try to work for a higher minimum wage (which probably won't raise real wages to any degree), and they might try to make healthcare more "affordable." But they're just dealing with symptoms, not the root problem.