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> If liberals want to do anything about it they need to start actually giving a damn about America's poor and rapidly shrinking middle class in spite of the fac

> If liberals want to do anything about it they need to start actually giving a damn about America's poor and rapidly shrinking middle class in spite of the fact that they hold "backward and primitive" religious beliefs and are behind the times on social issues. I'm not sure why you think they don't. Personal bankruptcies dropped by half since the ACA passed, and health care costs were one of the leading causes of personal bankruptcy. Who passed the ACA, despite the enormous cost in political capital? The Democrats. Seriously, they lost tons of seats in Congress over the ACA, despite it being a good law, that has helped millions of people. So yes, I do have sympathy to the American poor & working class. But when they burn the party that tries to help them, and pushed the party that's trying to hurt them to control over the entire government... Honest question: how can the Democrats help them? What political capital do they have left that those same people you're complaining the Democrats don't help, have shut the Democrats out of power across the entire country?

specialist 8y ago
Punishing people who try to help. What is this phenomenon called? Anti-Good Samaritan? No good deed goes unpunished? Resentment? As an election integrity activist, I've had multiple people scream in my face very threateningly about stolen elections. "That's why I'm here buddy. Why y'all yelling at me?"
belorn 8y ago
Look at the extreme polarization in politics. How has the Democrats described the poor & working class males which is a large voting group for Trump? Polarization in politics is exceptional harmful because it reduces the impact of good laws. So long the general perception is that the Democrats view poor & working class males as "the other" and "evil" the lower the chance is that any law will impact voting patterns.
api 8y ago
The ACA helped a bit but it did not affect the root cause: loss of solid well paying jobs with upward mobility.
- mcphage 8y ago
  > The ACA helped a bit but it did not affect the root cause Given the enormous cost of helping even a bit, I would expect affecting the root cause would have netted the entire party a damnatio memoriae.
  - api 8y ago
    If done right fixing the jobs problem should be a net positive for the economy. I don't think it's malice. I think it's that most political leadership (of both parties) lives in coastal cities that haven't felt the pain to anywhere near the extent of the interior. They also tend to be immersed in aggregate statistics that don't tell the whole story. GDP might be going up but break it down by region, calculate the Gini coefficient, etc. and you see that there are huge problems.
    - mcphage 8y ago
      I meant more cost in political capital.

specialist 8y ago

Punishing people who try to help. What is this phenomenon called? Anti-Good Samaritan? No good deed goes unpunished? Resentment? As an election integrity activist, I've had multiple people scream in my face very threateningly about stolen elections. "That's why I'm here buddy. Why y'all yelling at me?"

belorn 8y ago

Look at the extreme polarization in politics. How has the Democrats described the poor & working class males which is a large voting group for Trump? Polarization in politics is exceptional harmful because it reduces the impact of good laws. So long the general perception is that the Democrats view poor & working class males as "the other" and "evil" the lower the chance is that any law will impact voting patterns.

api 8y ago

The ACA helped a bit but it did not affect the root cause: loss of solid well paying jobs with upward mobility.

mcphage 8y ago
> The ACA helped a bit but it did not affect the root cause Given the enormous cost of helping even a bit, I would expect affecting the root cause would have netted the entire party a damnatio memoriae.
- api 8y ago
  If done right fixing the jobs problem should be a net positive for the economy. I don't think it's malice. I think it's that most political leadership (of both parties) lives in coastal cities that haven't felt the pain to anywhere near the extent of the interior. They also tend to be immersed in aggregate statistics that don't tell the whole story. GDP might be going up but break it down by region, calculate the Gini coefficient, etc. and you see that there are huge problems.
  - mcphage 8y ago
    I meant more cost in political capital.