3 ms·

I think that's evident in the Bernie Sanders movement (and to a lesser extent, Warren). Folks like myself support him even though we're some sort of "upper midd

I think that's evident in the Bernie Sanders movement (and to a lesser extent, Warren). Folks like myself support him even though we're some sort of "upper middle class" or some form of middle-merchant class. Not owners, not truly capitalist/investment class, but solidly aligned with everyone else who also has to show up at 9AM daily to get their checks. This more affluent middle class of information workers are leading the rest of the folks who punch a clock for a living to a better life. It's not everyone though, there's older folks who are fully committed to a dog eat dog existence, because it worked out easily and well for anyone willing to even try their hand in the post-WW2 era. It's understandable that they don't see the connection between relatively easy prosperity, and destroying all of your industrial competitors. Some of the younger conservatives don't have the life experience of being exploited and tossed out to form well-informed views on labor, and are often afraid of challenging their tribe's view, with their fathers often being the aforementioned Boomer. Then you lose another chunk from those who are not very capable, but inherited wealth. Insecurity that they couldn't duplicate their position in life from scratch leads to extremely anti-social behaviors that we see from the capitalist class. Claiming some defectors from each of those groups, add in the blue collars who know the score, and add in the "Bernie Sanders" educated folk and I definitely am seeing more support for the movement in American society today than I do for any other grassroots movement. Judging from the strength of support of someone like Sanders, the only competent base of support that rivals it is Trump's. It may not be tomorrow or next year when it succeeds, but we're definitely seeing what you're describing and I suspect it'll continue to build until big money can't stop it any longer.

blfr 7y ago
Folks like myself support him even though we're some sort of "upper middle class" or some form of middle-merchant class. Why do you say "even though"? Sanders and Warren target upper middle class and people aspiring to it.
- BuckRogers 7y ago
  I was referencing the article which states, it's (almost) against class interests for these people to do so. That said, I disagree with any distinction in classes other than their actual function, workers vs owners. The upper/middle/lower descriptions don't mean much to me.
  - blfr 7y ago
    No, the article explains that Warren and Sanders are popular among exactly the professional class and that this is their natural electorate. Which it is. Sanders’s left-wing challenge to Clinton found significant support among educated, relatively affluent voters, especially younger ones (similar to Obama’s). As one 2016 Vox headline put it, “Bernie Sanders’s base isn’t the working class. It’s young people.”32 Within any given age group, the article explained, higher-income voters were actually more likely to support Sanders. Elizabeth Warren’s campaign more explicitly appeals to the professional class, both in form and content.
    - BuckRogers 7y ago
      Your citation is only stating that they receive support from the professional class, not that it's the natural electorate. The article never states as such, you're asserting that. The actual content reads and suggests just as I recall, offering this point as a clear preface- >This underappreciated reality at least partially explains one of the apparent puzzles of American politics in recent years: namely, that members of the elite often seem far more radical than the working >class, both in their candidate choices and overall outlook. Although better off than the working class, lower-level elites appear to be experiencing far more intense status anxiety.

blfr 7y ago

Folks like myself support him even though we're some sort of "upper middle class" or some form of middle-merchant class. Why do you say "even though"? Sanders and Warren target upper middle class and people aspiring to it.

BuckRogers 7y ago
I was referencing the article which states, it's (almost) against class interests for these people to do so. That said, I disagree with any distinction in classes other than their actual function, workers vs owners. The upper/middle/lower descriptions don't mean much to me.
- blfr 7y ago
  No, the article explains that Warren and Sanders are popular among exactly the professional class and that this is their natural electorate. Which it is. Sanders’s left-wing challenge to Clinton found significant support among educated, relatively affluent voters, especially younger ones (similar to Obama’s). As one 2016 Vox headline put it, “Bernie Sanders’s base isn’t the working class. It’s young people.”32 Within any given age group, the article explained, higher-income voters were actually more likely to support Sanders. Elizabeth Warren’s campaign more explicitly appeals to the professional class, both in form and content.
  - BuckRogers 7y ago
    Your citation is only stating that they receive support from the professional class, not that it's the natural electorate. The article never states as such, you're asserting that. The actual content reads and suggests just as I recall, offering this point as a clear preface- >This underappreciated reality at least partially explains one of the apparent puzzles of American politics in recent years: namely, that members of the elite often seem far more radical than the working >class, both in their candidate choices and overall outlook. Although better off than the working class, lower-level elites appear to be experiencing far more intense status anxiety.