Politico: Obama will have no mandate because he will lose white men!

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Hateful idiocy.

And, lo, it is responded to with a different type of hateful idiocy - class bigotry masquerading as enlightened sentiment - in this very thread. I hate this election.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Come on, that post was only like 60% serious. I don't know who I'm more unsettled by - the people who don't understand satire and think I'm a monster or the people who don't understand satire and seem to agree with it wholeheartedly.

Ah, yes. 'WHERE'S YOUR SENSE OF HUMOUR???!!!!' the first line of defence of approximately one dunderhead in three.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Can we please keep the classist undertones to a minimum, guys?

They don't even realise that they're doing it. Which is about half the problem.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

but don't let them dictate to you what needs to be done because they don't hold any power anymore

Who are 'they', exactly? Because if it's 'white men' then, actually, they most certainly do hold most of the power in your country (mine too. Globally as well. Very much so), but if you mean working class whites or rural whites - and people should note that these two things are not the same thing - then I think you'll find that they never had it...

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Betrayed about what? Please explain to me how these people have been betrayed (and by whom).

The economic and social policies of Democratic Party after the election of Bill Clinton, supposedly one of them. The language of betrayal generally isn't helpful for anything other than starting a metaphorical (or actual) fight, but it does have a certain truth to it in this case.

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Which I suppose immediately demonstrates your moral superiority.

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Actually the main reason for the decline in working class living standards is the same in the U.S as in most other Western countries: namely deindustrialisation and neoliberal economic dogma. If you can't see this, then you aren't worth talking to.

It's interesting, however, that the word 'undeserved' comes up here. Most posters here are spoilt brats from bourgeois backgrounds who have lived charmed lives and don't even realise that this is so. They will progress from their comfortable suburban backgrounds to university and then to generally well-paid careers. Surely all of this, given the social structure of the United States, is quite 'undeserved' as well? Because it surely must come at the 'expense' of someone else...

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Please spare me the faux outrage about classism in this thread. Let's deal with something real out there, racism.

The correlation between Tennessee avatars and braindeath is a curiously strong one.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

I'm not sure what the (provable) fact that rich racists are better at masking their racism beneath a thick veneer of bullsh!t has to do with the price of rice. 'Faux outrage' is the term used that I took particular objection to, for what that's worth...

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The whole point of having a reputation is to maintain it.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Yes, he is. I come from a pretty bourgeois background.

That much was obvious.

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Oh what a fascinating, fascinating, absolutely fascinating sentence!

The obvious things to draw attention to are 'more than enough' and 'these people', but there's other stuff - including a complaint about the lack of gratitude! Always a bad sign - lurking there as well.

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This is pretty hateful. And also extremely right-wing. And also amusing given the 'more than enough' bollocks earlier - you think that extending unemployment benefits (but not by much) is going to deal with the systemic problems caused by deindustrialisation? Hah.

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Have you ever been to a mining town that's lost its pit, or a steel town without a steelworks? I ask out of genuine curiosity.

And, once again, I'll have to repeat this point:

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If Obama wins the election, then he will almost certainly have won Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Ohio and so on. It is not possible to win these states without a significant degree of support from people who are both white and working class.

Of course you actually half-mean hicks, rednecks and so on, but then the support of rural working class voters has never been essential in American Presidential politics.

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Quite a charmer. Anyway, are you expecting some kind of human version of Chestnut Blight to sweep through the Appalachians some time soon?