We are told that anyone can have what our reference group has. We are told that if we do not have what they have, it is our own stupidity, bad choices, or laziness. We are told that we are bad parents. We believe that it is our responsibility to assure our children a good life, and we know that in order to do that we need more wealth than most of us have. Our basic needs are met today, but we are walking on a tightrope over the abyss; any mishap (an arrest, a heart attack, a traffic accident, a robbery or assault, a fire, a loss of a job) can throw us into the abyss at any time. Therefore most of us are trembling for our children's future all the time.
In order to escape from the crushing feeling of failure, we need some kind of explanation as to why we have failed. Who is at fault? What is endangering us? Who is the enemy?
In answer to that, there is a mythology that 'we' would have prosperity and safety except that 'they' take it from us. 'They' allow criminals to walk freely and threaten to kill and injure us and our children. 'They' are always making new laws and court decisions to let criminals out of jail so that they can prey upon us. (There are no such laws or decisions, but that is the myth.)
'They' take our money and give it to other countries, doing all sorts of good all over the world but never caring for the suffering worker here in the U.S. (Yes, I know that the percentage of the GDP going to non-military foreign aid is actually very low.)
'They' want to give money to the non-working poor by taxing the income and purchases of the working class and small businesspeople. (There is an element of truth to this; naturally the tax burden for whatever social programs there are for the destitute IS placed on the working class rather than on the bourgeoisie; and the Democrats are completely complicit in this.)
The reasons our children fail in school, or do not get into a good college, or do not see a future ahead of them, or take drugs, or engage in sexual practices which are dangerous in the current context, are that the schools are not doing the job because 'they' control them, and that the job market is lousy because 'they' are forcing firms to give the job to 'other people'. (Yes, I know that in reality 'affirmative action' in the workplace is mostly a memory.)
What takes the form of hatred and bigotry is not the calculated racism of the affluent. It is the product of being taught that the people, the communities, the countries that are poorer than my own, are a hungry and insatiable mob, who want to take our little bit of food out of our mouths and our roof from over our heads, who want to beat us and take our wallets and leave us for dead. 'They', the 'liberals' and 'Democrats', are portrayed as the uncaring rich, who have wealth and power enough to preserve their own lives; who live in big homes and safe suburbs and send their children to private schools, and arbitrarily throw 'us', the struggling and productive workers, into the hands of the impoverished, starving, savage, and merciless mob.
I don't think this is the least bit mysterious, particularly when the only visible alternative to the Republican liar is generally a Democratic liar. You can hardly BLAME people for not putting their faith in Clinton, Gore, Lieberman, et al. They will think as they do until we out-explain and out- organize the Republicans.
LP
> Kevin:
> >
> > Not sure where Woj was trying to go when he was talking
> > about "consumption levels", but it does seem odd that there
> > are poor whites who generally vote Republican...it would be
> > a good question as to "Why"?
>
>
> What passes fro "poor" in the US, can be considered quite "wealthy" by
> international standards. What I mean by that is that these folks have
> food, housing, running water, electricity, and own transportation -
> which in many parts of the world are luxuries. What I meant to say is
> that I do not understand why people whi live in relative prosperity
> (i.e. have their basic needs met) and experienced very little suffering
> from the hands of others harbor so much hatred and bigotry toward
> others. I can understand such feeling among, say, Middle Easterners,
> but US-ers?
>
> Wojtek
>
>