4 ms·
This too will pass. On the other hand, for certain groups the last thirty to forty years have been a long, slow slide from the top of the economic heap to the
by gamble 17y ago
This too will pass.
On the other hand, for certain groups the last thirty to forty years have been a long, slow slide from the top of the economic heap to the bottom. Specifically, conditions for white men without college degrees have gone from great to exceedingly poor. It's had an enormous, perhaps defining impact on modern politics, and will continue to be one of the most important influences in the future.
- ojbyrne 17y agoMy initial reaction to your comment is that specifically, conditions for white women with college degrees have gone from exceedingly poor to not too bad. Just saying.
- dschobel 17y agoThe Economist ran a cover story on precisely this phenomenon a few weeks back: http://www.economist.com/opinion/displaystory.cfm?story_id=15174489 http://www.economist.com/opinion/displaystory.cfm?story_id=1...
- ojbyrne 17y agoWhich is my point. The perception of "really bad times" is at least somewhat driven by the fact that a few older white males perceive that their cohort is doomed.
- gamble 17y agoConditions for almost everyone who's not a working-class white man have improved. But it doesn't change the fact that there is a large group of people who have done very poorly and tend to vote for people who pander to their grievances. The fact that the economic crisis made things markedly worse for these people doesn't bode well for politics in the next few years, if history is any guide.
- ojbyrne 17y agoIn statistics, they generally use the phrase "regression to the mean."