by Wombaticus Rex » Thu Nov 21, 2019 2:20 pm
I don't think there is anything "wrong" with America, this is what human societies are. We tell ourselves stories, we create meaning together. Poor people create meaning with poor people just like our ruling class is off on their own Brahmin Death Trip.
If anything, I find these statistics to be encouraging. It means that our plebs still find meaning in their identity; I suspect the alternative is the far more dire state of affairs.
As for rich Americans, this has been a common refrain since Bill Clinton made neoliberalism Rolling Stone cool: "America isn't a country based on ethnic identity, it's an economic system." And who the fuck gets patriotic about an economic system, especially when it is inherently trans-national and global? Especially when you have nothing but contempt for your fellow countrymen, who you view as dumb rubes who keep complicating your profit margins with their demands and so-called rights?
It's a good title, though, to harken back to Frank Rich's original concern trolling about America's working class. Why don't they get in line with the market urbanism of the Democrats? Because they don't want to live that way. Because they know better, because they can see that America's cities are fucking shitholes. Because having 100 different food trucks doesn't make up for the fact you can barely afford rent and the police don't care about basic property crimes, robberies, rapes, assaults -- unless you're rich.
So, all in all, I don't think poor Americans are the problem here. They deserve better, we just happen to live in a Universe that doesn't care about what any of us deserve.
