(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Class Still Matters! [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.'] Date: 2024-11-07 Centrism and the Democratic Party JFK visits a working class town in PA. Centrism is still in control of the Democratic Party leadership and represents the more liberal upper income elites in my view. (Be aware that the adjective or noun liberal, the way I define them, is not the same as being a progressive or leftist.) Exploiting class issues is dead on arrival to them, unless it’s the elite class atop of the food chain that sets policy. Maybe the consequences of the many billions of war aid to Ukraine seemed to the present government like a drop in the bucket and wouldn’t effect the vote (regardless of its moral validity). And maybe the lesser number of billions in military aid continuing to go to a now fascist leaning Israeli government, taking as many as 40,000 innocent lives in less than a year, was just spare change and morally acceptable? The Disappearing 7 Million Votes Biden, never a particularly eloquent candidate but a shrewd executive manager, got a lot more votes than Harris, who was a great orator and seemingly ran a near perfect campaign. But she got outvoted by about 7 million votes compared to Biden in 2020, also close to his margin of victory! Certainly there is more than a single reason for this electoral disaster. I suppose, to be fair, the brief amount of time Harris was able to get known has some significance as well as Biden’s late exit. But as badly managed and poorly carried out as Trump’s campaign was, there has to be a lot more to Harris’ loss, to lose so badly to a complete wretch of a man who had to have been the worst, most incompetent major presidential candidate in history. Remember When . . . President LBJ visits the home of a working class family in 1967. Remember when Democratic candidates at least visited poverty stricken areas and addressed the frequently in campaigns? Now most outreach and ads are pandering to a well off “middle class.” They fear a more populist approach because of who their leadership is. I’ve avoided saying this up till now, not wanting to attack Harris and help Trump in the election. Turns out I was wrong not to speak up. Now the Democratic Leadership will move right, instead of left, you wait and see. Just as Clinton did in the 90s. And describe the loss as because they were too far left, or at least try to sell that to us. Inflation is a Working Class Issue Appealing to, and developing policy, to help the least secure classes still matters! Denying that inflation hurt many Americans badly post Covid, and selling it to them that things have gotten “better,” was tone deaf. Inflation was in fact a significant lowering of their standard of living, especially for those who are barely making it. Contrast this with the mega billions going to Ukraine and Israel, even though the former is justifiable, the latter less so now that Netty has gone insane and fascist, had to influence many voters. This kind of spending didn’t site well with the more insecure classes or the Party’s left. He’s no Populist but . . . Trump has populist appeal, although he is light years from being an actual populist. Although he seems so to many people. Not all voters are attracted to him primarily due to their racism. A vacuum has developed in the Democratic Party, which has no agenda anymore to assist the poor, and scant reaching out to the white working classes, which have been given up to the Republicans. — Carl Sagan “We have made a civilization based on science and technology, then at the same time arranged things so that almost nobody understands science, politics and technology. That is a clear prescription for disaster. We might get away with it for awhile, but sooner or later the combustible mixture of ignorance and power will blowup in our faces.” The poorest Americans, black or white, have become “invisible” in America, except for the occasional crime story if it is brutal or dramatic enough to attract viewers. No consequential new Democratic policies have emerged in this regard for many years. The extreme poor, mainly blacks, Native Americans, pockets of poor whites, and the homeless, have largely been abandoned to their fate. Tax Inequality: The Tip of the Iceberg The grey is the net income of the highest income groups and individuals after taxes and the yellow is the lowest. It represents a huge redistribution of wealth in America since 1980. Despite 32 years of Democratic presidents since 1950 and years in which they had House and/or Senate majorities, upper income tax rates have consistently tumbled. Add to that the many tax shelters and deductions that often favor wealthy individuals and corporations with huge exemptions, and we find that the wealthy are under taxed significantly as compared to lower and moderate income working individuals. A Shocking Graph Taxation is presently the only significant way to distribute wealth in America. Tax revenue that is spent also favors the elite classes. Watch this video of a graph which tracks the net income verses income after taxes from 1950 until 2018. It’s shocking and demonstrates major changes over this period in favor of the highest income group. It helps explain the emergence of mega-wealthy individuals like Eton Musk and who really is in charge of the government wealth distribution policy. Why We’re Losing Trust in Government? The power behind power? It also may explain what many Americans feel something is happening to their incomes but can’t put their fingers on what it is beyond inflation. What the graph helps is to explain how this mammoth redistribution of wealth has occurred and suggest that despite the rhetoric, this process has occurred in a more or less bipartisan manner. Government in 2024 has become increasingly remote to the average American rather than a friendly and unbiased institution. It may help explain (at least partially) why a dangerous, dishonest, and racist moron like Donald Trump commands so much attention. The fact that Republicans have apparently made bashing government a major campaign issue in the past, with some success, suggests that the current administration would bear more of the blame for developments like inflation and war spending. Closing Words Ground penetrating super bombs used by Netanyahu in the slaughter of 40,000 non-combatant civilians and the raising to the ground of most of Gaza, leaving those still alive to starve. U.S. tax revenue, your money, helped pay for these war crimes. I must admit to being shocked at the above graph, even though I was generally aware of the above displayed trend. Any negative influence this may have had on this election would have to have been cumulative, as it is a generally aware fact that the rich are getting richer, plus the episodes of inflation would not have helped boost the votes for Harris, and more likely have lost some since she was part of the current administration. The Role of Inflation, War Spending Inflation should also not be dismissed as a significant cause of poor Harris turnout. This dovetails with the Party’s overly middle class campaign emphasis, immense war spending aid going to Ukraine (regardless of its validity), and no interruption in the 12 billion dollars of military aid to Israel despite Netanyahu’s genocidal slaughter of 40,000 innocents with our taxpayer $$$. They are all factors in the loss of the White House. You Can’t Blame it all on Trump I don’t think it’s valid to put all the blame on the ignorance and biases of those that voted for Trump, although it was undeniably a factor on some level. Just not the sole one. There are reasons why Biden had consistently low approval ratings, which I don’t believe can be accounted for solely because of his age. What ever those reasons were, they appeared to have carried over and affected the vote for Harris. Although they preceded her campaign, as Biden’s Vice President some of these factors apparently still came into play. It should never be forgotten that Class Still Matters. [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/11/7/2283881/-Class-Still-Matters?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=more_community&pm_medium=web Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/