Trump has said he will protect freedom of speech, except for topics he doesn’t want you to talk about, and of people who get under his skin.
On to today’s main topic.
There are people who are saying that the Trump election, and
indeed, the general condition of polarized politics in America, can be traced
directly to the questions of race, and racial animosity in America. To an extent that is true. To a greater extent it is a distraction which
is working perfectly to keep most people in America blind to the real questions
of a divided people--who divided us, why they divided us, and how that serves a
small elite.
The real dynamic boiling below the surface is the dynamic of
class distinctions in America. There has
long been the mantra, “America is a classless society,” with references to the
rigid class structures of European nations (at least their class structures in
the 18th century), our absence of a titled nobility, and the
supposed “upward mobility” possible for people living “The American Dream.”
Every time the questions of class are brought up, “examples” of the poor boy made good, the Horatio Alger myth, are trotted out to prove that any poor person who works hard, can achieve astonishing success. (With, of course, the underlying assumption that the poor are poor because they are lazy.) Without going into the absurdity of contemplating whether a man who inherited a bank presidency “works harder” than a roofer, farm laborer, or even fast food server, the fact is, those “examples” are so few as to be statistically insignificant in a 350 million plus population nation, and can be found in most cases to have HUGE factors of luck and happenstance built in—genetic, time and place, or otherwise.
Every time the questions of class are brought up, “examples” of the poor boy made good, the Horatio Alger myth, are trotted out to prove that any poor person who works hard, can achieve astonishing success. (With, of course, the underlying assumption that the poor are poor because they are lazy.) Without going into the absurdity of contemplating whether a man who inherited a bank presidency “works harder” than a roofer, farm laborer, or even fast food server, the fact is, those “examples” are so few as to be statistically insignificant in a 350 million plus population nation, and can be found in most cases to have HUGE factors of luck and happenstance built in—genetic, time and place, or otherwise.
There ARE distinct classes in America. And, to a large extent, that is by
design. To a larger extent, where class
structure is by design or not, exploitation of that structure, and manipulation
of the problems of the lower classes IS by design, and is intentional.
More importantly for our thesis today, it was decided early on, and intentionally, by the landed aristocracy that the needs of their impoverished African slaves and those of “poor white trash” were so similar, and would yield to such similar solutions—at the expense of the wealthy—that if those two groups ever recognized their mutuality, control of them would be tenuous at best. Therefore, steps were taken, and continue to be implemented, to place those groups in conflict with each other. To create a bipolar fear, and to pit the two groups against each other in competition for resources that are kept intentionally scarce.
African American writers and scholars have seen, explained, and told us of this for years, but, of course, so carefully has the animosity been built, that “majority Americans” are unaware of the writings, or simply dismiss them on racial grounds.
A few Anglo writers have presented the tale. Most recently, it has been excellently shown in the new book, White Trash—the 400 year untold history of class in America, by Nancy Isenberg. She documents the original decisions, and the ongoing work of pitting groups of poor Americans, Black and White, White and White, White and Immigrant, and so on against each other. And how this dividing creates the lack of political power and will that keeps so many American oppressed and dispossessed. If “White Trash” Americans understood that the flames of their hatred for African Americans are one of the main reasons they can’t get anywhere in our society, huge political upheaval would result.
To keep this from becoming a lengthy tome, just sum it up this way, the problems of poor people are very similar, in spite of skin color and ethnicity. It is obviously beneficial to the wealthy, the powers (and never confuse the real power in this nation with the people those oligarchs allow to assume office and play at governing), and the top of the pyramid to keep the bottom layers fighting among themselves and against each other, rather than having them look up and see who is really stealing their money and their lives.
If you want to understand how and why Republicans were able to get Angry White Men to vote against their own best interests, and put them in control of both the Congress and the Presidency, you have to understand the history of creating and exploiting racial fears and hatreds in America so that the actual presence and problems of class striation are never recognized nor targeted by those on the bottom.
(And, yes, to a large extent, even the structure and enforcement of our “racial equality” laws through the years have played into the hands of the manipulators of racial divide—but that’s another lengthy blog entry all its own.)
More importantly for our thesis today, it was decided early on, and intentionally, by the landed aristocracy that the needs of their impoverished African slaves and those of “poor white trash” were so similar, and would yield to such similar solutions—at the expense of the wealthy—that if those two groups ever recognized their mutuality, control of them would be tenuous at best. Therefore, steps were taken, and continue to be implemented, to place those groups in conflict with each other. To create a bipolar fear, and to pit the two groups against each other in competition for resources that are kept intentionally scarce.
African American writers and scholars have seen, explained, and told us of this for years, but, of course, so carefully has the animosity been built, that “majority Americans” are unaware of the writings, or simply dismiss them on racial grounds.
A few Anglo writers have presented the tale. Most recently, it has been excellently shown in the new book, White Trash—the 400 year untold history of class in America, by Nancy Isenberg. She documents the original decisions, and the ongoing work of pitting groups of poor Americans, Black and White, White and White, White and Immigrant, and so on against each other. And how this dividing creates the lack of political power and will that keeps so many American oppressed and dispossessed. If “White Trash” Americans understood that the flames of their hatred for African Americans are one of the main reasons they can’t get anywhere in our society, huge political upheaval would result.
To keep this from becoming a lengthy tome, just sum it up this way, the problems of poor people are very similar, in spite of skin color and ethnicity. It is obviously beneficial to the wealthy, the powers (and never confuse the real power in this nation with the people those oligarchs allow to assume office and play at governing), and the top of the pyramid to keep the bottom layers fighting among themselves and against each other, rather than having them look up and see who is really stealing their money and their lives.
If you want to understand how and why Republicans were able to get Angry White Men to vote against their own best interests, and put them in control of both the Congress and the Presidency, you have to understand the history of creating and exploiting racial fears and hatreds in America so that the actual presence and problems of class striation are never recognized nor targeted by those on the bottom.
(And, yes, to a large extent, even the structure and enforcement of our “racial equality” laws through the years have played into the hands of the manipulators of racial divide—but that’s another lengthy blog entry all its own.)
"There ARE distinct classes in America. And, to a large extent, that is by design. To a larger extent, where class structure is by design or not, exploitation of that structure, and manipulation of the problems of the lower classes IS by design, and is intentional.
ReplyDeleteMore importantly for our thesis today, it was decided early on, and intentionally, by the landed aristocracy that the needs of their impoverished African slaves and those of “poor white trash” were so similar, and would yield to such similar solutions—at the expense of the wealthy—that if those two groups ever recognized their mutuality, control of them would be tenuous at best. Therefore, steps were taken, and continue to be implemented, to place those groups in conflict with each other. To create a bipolar fear, and to pit the two groups against each other in competition for resources that are kept intentionally scarce."
Very True, this HAS been discussed (and unfortunately dismissed by too many) for years. It is quite sad that so many of the poor think of themselves as 'temporarily embarrassed millionaires' *John Steinbeck.
Thanks for joining the discussion.
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