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American blue-collar workers tend to care more about "culture war" issues than their economic well being.

by api 10y ago

jimbokun 10y ago
The rise of Trump seems at odds with this assessment, he has little to say about traditional Republican "culture war" issues.
- api 10y ago
  That's precisely why he is "disruptive." I'm not personally a supporter (for unrelated reasons) but I think he still has a chance in the election. IMHO if Trump were to openly and directly attack the culture war (and ditch the crypto-racism) he could win in a landslide. A line like "last year X million gay Americans lost their jobs for the same reason Y million straight Americans lost their jobs..." would basically nuke the entire American electoral landscape into glass. Unfortunately he's a conservative xenophobe at heart, so he's not the droid we're looking for.
  - imron 10y ago
    I'm not a supporter either, and I'm neither a US citizen nor someone living in the US, so I have no horse in this race, but this comment struck me as strange > Unfortunately he's a conservative xenophobe at heart If you look in to it, throughout his life he's been rather liberal/progressive. In fact even now, he falls to the left of Hillary on a number of topics. He also has a decades of history not being xenophobic. I wonder what you attribute such a sudden change in attitude of a 70 year old man to?
    - api 10y ago
      Maybe he's just pandering to what he thinks is a 'base' he can mobilize. But that counts against him as far as I'm concerned.
      - imron 10y ago
        Scott Adams of Dilbert fame frames it as a persuasion tactic called pacing and leading. First you get people on your side by making them think you're just like them (pacing) and once there you can take them in whatever direction you like (leading) because they believe you're on their side. Before this week, would you have ever thought that so many of the Republican base would be in favor of a maternity leave policy like the one Trump just proposed? These are the same people who have previously been complaining and campaigning against handouts and government overreach, yet now are cheering for a 'pro-family' maternity leave policy (rationalising after the fact because it's their guy proposing it). The Dems are already there on that sort of policy so to get it implemented you need to get the GOP to come to the party. Trump is doing that. I highly doubt that if Hillary had proposed an identical policy that so many of the Republican base would be so enthusiastic about it, and that's how you make policy work. And it's only just the beginning, the pacing is mostly done and he just needs to follow through on the leading.
        r_smart 10y ago
        For those who aren't aware, Scott Adams recently appeared on The Rubin Report and talked about this stuff[0]. It was a really interesting interview, and Dave Rubin's show is awesome. [0]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4AMV6SLT9KI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4AMV6SLT9KI
- wfo 10y ago
  His stance on immigration, his war on PC culture, the racism, sexism, his war against Islam, even his slogan "make American great again" is exactly the definition of culture war. His subslogan "take our country back" is the definitive culture war anthem and has been for all of human history. His entire attitude -- an assault on Washington and media elites who consider themselves "serious" and "sensible" which is working so well is a striking clash of cultures. He is THE culture warrior candidate of the past I don't know how many decades. Nobody cares about his economic policies: pundits harp on about how he doesn't have any and that makes him unqualified; the crucial point they are missing is it has nothing to do with economics or policy at all, it does not matter if they are present in him or not, it is entirely about culture and identity. He is just fighting on behalf of a different culture -- instead of the traditional Republican Christian right, he's grabbing at a different Republican constituency.
hiram112 10y ago
It turns out white collar workers are the same. How many IT staff, engineers, accountants, legal workers, and dozens of other professions have watched, glass-eyed, while their whole departments have been shipped to India, Philippines, and Latin America. Only when they themselves get to train their own H1B replacements does it occur to them that maybe transgender bathroom usage and legal weed were not the issues they should have concentrated on.

American blue-collar workers tend to care more about "culture war" issues than their economic well being.

by api 10y ago

American blue-collar workers tend to care more about "culture war" issues than their economic well being.

The rise of Trump seems at odds with this assessment, he has little to say about traditional Republican "culture war" issues.

api 10y ago
That's precisely why he is "disruptive." I'm not personally a supporter (for unrelated reasons) but I think he still has a chance in the election. IMHO if Trump were to openly and directly attack the culture war (and ditch the crypto-racism) he could win in a landslide. A line like "last year X million gay Americans lost their jobs for the same reason Y million straight Americans lost their jobs..." would basically nuke the entire American electoral landscape into glass. Unfortunately he's a conservative xenophobe at heart, so he's not the droid we're looking for.
- imron 10y ago
  I'm not a supporter either, and I'm neither a US citizen nor someone living in the US, so I have no horse in this race, but this comment struck me as strange > Unfortunately he's a conservative xenophobe at heart If you look in to it, throughout his life he's been rather liberal/progressive. In fact even now, he falls to the left of Hillary on a number of topics. He also has a decades of history not being xenophobic. I wonder what you attribute such a sudden change in attitude of a 70 year old man to?
  - api 10y ago
    Maybe he's just pandering to what he thinks is a 'base' he can mobilize. But that counts against him as far as I'm concerned.
    - imron 10y ago
      Scott Adams of Dilbert fame frames it as a persuasion tactic called pacing and leading. First you get people on your side by making them think you're just like them (pacing) and once there you can take them in whatever direction you like (leading) because they believe you're on their side. Before this week, would you have ever thought that so many of the Republican base would be in favor of a maternity leave policy like the one Trump just proposed? These are the same people who have previously been complaining and campaigning against handouts and government overreach, yet now are cheering for a 'pro-family' maternity leave policy (rationalising after the fact because it's their guy proposing it). The Dems are already there on that sort of policy so to get it implemented you need to get the GOP to come to the party. Trump is doing that. I highly doubt that if Hillary had proposed an identical policy that so many of the Republican base would be so enthusiastic about it, and that's how you make policy work. And it's only just the beginning, the pacing is mostly done and he just needs to follow through on the leading.
      - r_smart 10y ago
        For those who aren't aware, Scott Adams recently appeared on The Rubin Report and talked about this stuff[0]. It was a really interesting interview, and Dave Rubin's show is awesome. [0]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4AMV6SLT9KI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4AMV6SLT9KI
wfo 10y ago
His stance on immigration, his war on PC culture, the racism, sexism, his war against Islam, even his slogan "make American great again" is exactly the definition of culture war. His subslogan "take our country back" is the definitive culture war anthem and has been for all of human history. His entire attitude -- an assault on Washington and media elites who consider themselves "serious" and "sensible" which is working so well is a striking clash of cultures. He is THE culture warrior candidate of the past I don't know how many decades. Nobody cares about his economic policies: pundits harp on about how he doesn't have any and that makes him unqualified; the crucial point they are missing is it has nothing to do with economics or policy at all, it does not matter if they are present in him or not, it is entirely about culture and identity. He is just fighting on behalf of a different culture -- instead of the traditional Republican Christian right, he's grabbing at a different Republican constituency.

hiram112 10y ago

It turns out white collar workers are the same. How many IT staff, engineers, accountants, legal workers, and dozens of other professions have watched, glass-eyed, while their whole departments have been shipped to India, Philippines, and Latin America. Only when they themselves get to train their own H1B replacements does it occur to them that maybe transgender bathroom usage and legal weed were not the issues they should have concentrated on.