President Trump: The NEW one and only politics thread

Hide the altar boys in the balcony, OK? Thanks.

 

That HBR piece about the working class was well done (and written just a couple days after the election). This graph sums it up for me:

I've said before, if I could get out of the journalism racket, my dream job would be a political activist who works to get people to identify (and vote) in line with their economic station. It's the No. 1 problem in our political system.

 

People never have done that in this country and they never will. The perceived loss of social status by white Trump voters because minorities have improved their lot in life is what drives them, not steel jobs in Ohio. Those have been gone for decades. The fact the economy got better under Obama actually makes them more likely to vote their social anxiety. They can better afford it.

 

The idea of splitting working class voters by race (for the benefit of "the 1 percent") has worked for Republicans for a long time, Michael. If Democrats (or a viable third party) could reverse that trend, our country would be better off.

 

If people just voted like I know they should, things would be much better.

 

People who aren't real rich vote their economic interests exclusively only when things are very bad, such as in the fall of 2008.

 

BTW, isn't Trump still an executive producer of "The Apprentice"?

 

Yeah, if he doesn't like Ahhhh-nold's ratings, why doesn't he just fire him?

 

Can you imagine how angry he got watching someone else star on his television show? How beady his little eyes got? How his orange skin turned fuchsia? How many times he threw things at the screen and screamed out, "It's 'You're Fired! You're saying it wrong!'"

 

This Joe Arpaio wannabe in Massachusetts offered to have his inmates build the wall

Bristol Sheriff offers Trump inmates to help build wall - The Boston Globe

 

I vote we find 150,000 votes in the Midwest another way and use our multi-million vote majority to shit on the poor, oppressed WWC even harder. Their new status as kingmakers to be sucked up to is undeserved and unhealthy.

An Obama-like black turnout in NC and Detroit would have swung the election too. Get that and we can outlaw HS football and replace it with mandatory public HBO Girls marathons

 

For God's sake, you guys don't have a clue what is or is not in a given individual's (much less group's) economic interests. Further, even if you could know such a thing (here's a tip ... you can't), there's no way you could know which ideology advances that.

Let me run a little "economic interest" experiment by you. Consider your present job and your present level of income and your future prospects. Now let's assume there's a particular policy that's going to increase your real income by 10% in perpetuity. Meaning, if this policy is enacted, your dollars-and-cents future (no matter what you do or what happens in the future) just got 10% brighter. You'd know that come what may you'll be 10% richer (consumption-wise) with this policy than without it. You'd jump on that, right?

But let me add a silly little wrinkle to it. Let's suppose that, as a result of that policy, when you watch sporting events (whether in person or from the comfort of your couch) you have to wear the "gear" of the sports team you most loathe. In my case, I'd have to start wearing UNC or Duke apparel. @Dick Whitman would have to start wearing Cubs gear. @Neutral Corner would be sporting houndstooth hats. And, like the wealth gains, this wrinkle would be in effect forever.

Are you as certain that someone who'd vote against this hypothetical policy does so "against his interests"?