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I have some quotes that might provide insight: > Socialism never took root in America because the poor see themselves not as an exploited proletariat, but as t
by cooper12 10y ago
I have some quotes that might provide insight:
> Socialism never took root in America because the poor see themselves not as an exploited proletariat, but as temporarily embarrassed millionaires.
- purportedly by John Steinbeck
> It is a crime for an American to be poor, even though America is a nation of poor. Every other nation has folk traditions of men who were poor but extremely wise and virtuous, and therefore more estimable than anyone with power and gold. No such tales are told by the American poor. They mock themselves and glorify their betters. The meanest eating or drinking establishment, owned by a man who is himself poor, is very likely to have a sign on its wall asking this cruel question: “If you’re so smart, why ain’t you rich?
> Americans, like human beings everywhere, believe many things that are obviously untrue. Their most destructive untruth is that it is very easy for any American to make money. They will not acknowledge how in fact hard money is to come by, and, therefore, those who have no money blame and blame and blame themselves. This inward blame has been a treasure for the rich and powerful, who have had to do less for their poor, publicly and privately, than any other ruling class since, say, Napoleonic times.
- Kurt Vonnegut
> If you can convince the lowest white man he's better than the best colored man, he won't notice you're picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he'll empty his pockets for you.
- Lyndon B. Johnson
- ryandrake 10y agoAn old article, I'd like to see the results today now that America has gone through the latest recessions. But from 2003, "Nineteen percent of Americans say they are in the richest 1 percent and a further 20 percent expect to be someday." [1] 1: http://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/12/opinion/the-triumph-of-hope-over-self-interest.html http://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/12/opinion/the-triumph-of-hop...
- cooper12 10y agoWow thanks for sharing. I'm glad to see that an apocryphal quote can have a source backing it up empirically.
- refurb 10y agoWould you rather have 0% ever thinking they'll be rich? That sounds like a terrible place to live.
- cooper12 10y agoThere's nothing wrong with having aspirations per se. The issue is when these aspirations lead people to identify more with the upper class rather than their own class and voting against their own interests. For a very recent example, see the case of people who depended on the Affordable Care Act regretting voting for Trump. (https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/trump-voters-didnt-take-him-literally-on-obamacare-oops/2016/12/20/46ef3cae-c6f3-11e6-bf4b-2c064d32a4bf_story.html https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/trump-voters-didnt-t...) Also, you don't see something seriously wrong with the statement "Nineteen percent of Americans say they are in the richest 1 percent"?
- matt4077 10y agoI'm as far out left as they come, but I cringe at this "voting against their interests" argument. There are millions voting against their (economic) interests when they vote democratic as well.
- refurb 10y agoThank you. I find the "don't you know you're voting against your own interests" a pretty arrogant argument. How do you know they are voting against their interests?
- cooper12 10y agoDid you read the article I linked? That's how I know.
- refurb 10y agoThe article is an opinion piece. You know, someone's opinion, not fact. I didn't see anything in that article that was definitive proof that blue collar workers are voting against their own interests. If you give a tax break to the rich, how is that against your own interests? You still have the same money you did before.
- nitemice 10y agoI feel a lot of these quotes are true of, not just America, but many of its allies, such as here in Australia. Aussies don't want to see themselves as poor, or in the lower socio-economic group. They all have aspirations of grandeur, and act as if pay day is just a great idea away. This is epitomised by the concept of the "little aussie battler" and the "Great Australian Dream".
- spangry 10y agoIndeed. Although I think one big difference is that Australians are occasionally forced to face reality en masse, the last time being around the late-80s early-90s. I think we're due for another dose of reality, now that the mining boom is over and we can no longer sustain our current economic model (which is indistinguishable from a ponzi scheme). As Donald Horne wrote in his book, The Lucky Country: "Australia is a lucky country run mainly by second rate people who share its luck. It lives on other people's ideas, and, although its ordinary people are adaptable, most of its leaders (in all fields) so lack curiosity about the events that surround them that they are often taken by surprise."[0] [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lucky_Country https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lucky_Country