poor white Republicans

Wojtek Sokolowski sokol at jhu.edu
Tue Feb 25 07:54:02 PST 2003


Joanna:
> Also, don't
> forget -- never forget -- how hard Americans work and how
> little energy
> they have left at the end of the day. They know they've been
> robbed, they
> believe that being working-class in this country means being
> a loser, they
> believe that everyone has the chance to "make it" and making it means
> having lots of shit. So, I guess they have to blame someone
> that they can
> lord it over.

But then how do you reconcile it with the fact that those who share those reactionary view are people who are relatvively well off even by this country standards, lawyers, engineers, office workers, firefighters, shopkeepers, skilled workers, veterans, etc? By contrast, the lumpenproletariat tends to be apathetic and nihilistic rather than reactionary. All they care is day-to-day marginal existence (eat, get high, copulate, sleep) and anything beynd that simply escapes them. They do not know what will happen to them in a few days down the road, let alone show any awarness of anything smacking of politics.

It is petit bourgeoisie - people with moderate income, some education, and some social position - that are the staunchest reactionaries, racists, and bigots. I can see a number of good sociological explanations of that phenomenon - reference group, downward class mobility, or simple indoctrination. But I am also trying not to loose th ehuman agency dimension from the sight, which brings me to th equestion "How can otherwise not-so-bad -off and not-that-dumb people be so full of learned ignorance, hatred, and bigotry?"

Wojtek



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