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Democrats don’t get why they’ve lost most working class voters (theconversation.com)
submitted 4 months ago by to c/politics@lemmy.world
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[+] 8 points 4 months ago (19 children)
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  • [–] 52 points 4 months ago (2 children)

    Almost every American is working class. Part of the problem is using "working class" to mean "blue collar workers and poor people".

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  • [–] 12 points 4 months ago

    Absolutely.

    If most of your income comes from selling your labor, you're working class.

    If most of your income comes from owning things, you're owning class.

    That's it. It's that simple. And yes, that means that in some cases, some working class people are actually wealthier than some owning class people. A movie star or star athlete or even a specialized surgeon might have more money than a small-time landlord, but they work for their money, while the landlord gets money simply from owning a few properties. The former is working class, the latter is owning class.

    And no, there's no such thing as 'middle class'. That's a lie made up to pacify people. The only other class is the underclass -- people who have little or no income at all. Prisoners, the homeless, the institutionalized, etc.

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  • [–] 23 points 4 months ago (10 children)

    How is a 2 car garage not working class exactly?

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  • [–] 28 points 4 months ago (9 children)

    Its a terminally online attempt at shifting the overton window of what it means to be "working class".

    I've seen a similar attack on Platner, that because their mom owns a restaurant, that means they aren't working class. Its a perspective utterly detached from reality.

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  • [–] 23 points 4 months ago (1 child)

    This idea that anyone who has enough wealth to be above the poverty line is "not working class" and "an unreliable ally" is straight out of Stalinism and one I see pretty frequently in lefty circles. Have a house? A paid-off car? A business? You're a filthy kulak.

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  • [–] 5 points 4 months ago

    Tankies are very susceptible to that, sure.

    They often fall into the trap of seeing 'working class' as more of an aesthetic than as a way of relating to capital. Which is why they'll fawn over construction workers and coal miners, but dismiss baristas and office workers.

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  • [–] -3 points 4 months ago* (6 children)

    that because their mom owns a restaurant, that means they aren’t working class

    Eh ... that one really depends.

    Is it a literal mom-and-pop place where she actually does most of the work? Then maybe she's working class.

    But if she owns a restaurant staffed by employees, which she only visits occasionally and collects profits from ... that's not working class. The 'own' in that statement is the big giveaway there: owning class.

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  • [–] 0 points 4 months ago (5 children)

    This is the exact terminally online, head-up-ones-own-ass, shit that I'm talking about. You truly don't know what the fuck you are talking about and shouldn't. Shit like this just handed almost ALL the California races to the worst possible Democrats.

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  • [–] -1 points 4 months ago* (4 children)

    You truly don’t know what the fuck you are talking about and shouldn’t.

    Okay then, mister dingdong. Since you know so much: Spill it. Go ahead and explain why she is or isn't working class. I'll wait.

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  • [–] 3 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (3 children)

    First and fucking foremost: Its not a question worth answering. What are their policies? Are the M4A? Are they for taxing the billionaires? Are they for public financing of elections. Those are questions that matter in an election. What is the candidates policies. Period.

    You even bringing this up as an issue: You just a piggy piggy piggy hog eating up the class-destructive slop. Oink oink piggy.

    How does she make her money? Does she do work to make that money or is her money primarily from investments of capital, not doing work? Owning a fucking business doesn't make you a fucking capitalist. You have no FUCKING comprehension of who the capital class are. The problem isn't just how fucking ignorant about the basics of capital and labor you are, its also the exceeding amount of damage you are doing to our best chances at actually changing the system.

    The reality is that politics were never meant for the working class, and still aren't for the working class. Its basically impossible for anyone without a sufficient social safety net to run for office. Graham Platner is as working class as they come. Period. Preposterously so. The fact that you even contend that, you've been a victim to a propaganda campaign and just ate it right the fuck up.

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  • [–] 0 points 4 months ago*

    Policies do not make one working class.

    One's relation to capital does. If she makes her money by owning a restaurant, she's owing class, not working class.

    The reality is that politics were never meant for the working class, and still aren’t for the working class. Its basically impossible for anyone without a sufficient social safety net to run for office. Graham Platner is as working class as they come. Period.

    So, in other words, not working class. Just like you said: politics were never meant for the working class, and still aren’t for the working class.

    "As close as they come" doesn't mean anything. Close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades.

    Maybe she's still a good politician or a good person despite being owning class. But that doesn't make her working class. Working class doesn't mean 'good people' and it doesn't mean 'allies of the working class'. It means 'people who work for a living'.

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  • [–] 16 points 4 months ago*

    A lot of places have relatively cheap housing with two car garages which are owned by the working class.

    Let's not lose sight here. The enemy is the upper class (typically billionaires, but a lot of time this includes politicians), and they want the lower class divided and shitting on each other so that they can do whatever they want in the meantime.

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  • [–] -2 points 4 months ago (3 children)

    Lol this dude definitely has a one-car garage

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