> On Jun 15, 2007, at 7:18 PM, Jim Straub wrote:
>
>> I am amazed at how shocked you are that antioch types are
>> scoffed at! Perhaps a little unfairly, but, here we are- its the
>> world we
>> live in. You gotta get with it to get with it.
>
> I'm not shocked. I've lived in this world a pretty long time. But you
> seem to think there's some wisdom in the position. I don't. It's a
> right-wing impulse...
=================================
It is a right wing impulse.
And it should be mentioned, as I've done previously, that these attitudes aren't reflective of the working class as a whole.
No doubt you'll find the resentment Jim Straub talks about somewhat pronounced in the declining industrial sectors of the working class - in the decaying factory, mine, and mill towns.
But I would dispute that this economic and cultural antagonism is characteristic of the mass of the working population which is employed in the far larger service sector, resides predominantly in large metropolitan areas, and comprises growing numbers of those with postsecondary education. Most Americans interact daily with workmates and neighbours who belong to the other gender, race, ethnic group, and who not infrequently have a different sexual orientation. Opinion polls show they are generally in favour of civil rights for all. Virtually every US city of more than a half million reportedly voted for Kerry and Gore ahead of Bush, which would not be the case if the US working class, broadly defined, was as conservative as commonly supposed. A Pew survey a couple of years ago, in fact, found that US popular values did not differ markedly from the rest of the world.
I think we need to be alert to the narrow Joe Lunchbucket stereotype of the working class, and the flawed judgements which flow from it.