Mike Rowe has some very passionate feelings about "uneducated" trump voters

[Matty]

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https://www.facebook.com/TheRealMikeRowe/posts/1260196947323779:0

[Matty]

Your average welder makes more money than your average journalist, their degree is all they can cling to for some sense of self worth.

[MasterJedi]

Your average welder makes more money than your average journalist, their degree is all they can cling to for some sense of self worth.

More like the welder can only cling to his money for his only sense of self worth while hating "those people" and feeling like the "world is out to get him" because he has no education and doesn't understand the world/the economy/everything else.

[Bismarck]

Whether you like Trump or hate him, Rowe is absolutely right. White males have become the left's boogeyman for all that ails America. It's just identity politics though, a ploy to get every other group, even those who traditionally voted GOP like white women and educated whites, to see the Republican Party as some sort of redneck club.

[The Advocate]

Your average welder makes more money than your average journalist, their degree is all they can cling to for some sense of self worth.

More like the welder can only cling to his money for his only sense of self worth while hating "those people" and feeling like the "world is out to get him" because he has no education and doesn't understand the world/the economy/everything else.

This ^^ Except I'd avoid lumping all welders together, either positively or negatively.

[DrScholl]

Those people spiral into feudalism on their own. No one is at fault for pointing out what is not really a secret. Even Trump knows it, which is why he says most of the things that he does. If you are all right with voting for someone who doesn't understand why the country can't launch nuclear weapons at random, it says a lot about your education or lack there of.

[Bismarck]

Those people spiral into feudalism on their own. No one is at fault for pointing out what is not really a secret. Even Trump knows it, which is why he says most of the things that he does. If you are all right with voting for someone who doesn't understand why the country can't launch nuclear weapons at random, it says a lot about your education or lack there of.

That's not the point. Trump can be horrible without trying to stigmatize white men. If you looked at media reports you would think his supporters are trailer poor people which is blatantly false. The educated vote swinging away from Trump is just as much ifentity politics as it is being better at making decisions. And I say this as someone who isn't voting for Trump.

[Wiz in Wis]

It does suck when a group of people are disproportionately identified by the worst among them, and then treated as less than by others...

Of course, that could describe pretty much any minority, so... congratulations lower SES White Men, you're part of the club now!

[Wells]

Some Trump supporters are articulative and intelligent, as are some people without college degrees, but the elitism from one side and anti-intellectualism from another is just stupid.

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Obama also had the support of black men with college degrees, but Trump has unprecedented low levels of support with white men with college degrees (for a Republican), which is the big difference. Trump is specifically trying to appeal to the "poorly educated" and making them a huge part of his base, and it does seem to be working (while alienating everyone else), so I don't see why it's a problem to point out that Trump's base is mainly whites with no college degrees.

Your average welder makes more money than your average journalist, their degree is all they can cling to for some sense of self worth.

I'm sure we'd do just fine if there were no journalists. Your implication that journalists aren't worth anything is why you are a Trump supporter.

More like the welder can only cling to his money for his only sense of self worth while hating "those people" and feeling like the "world is out to get him" because he has no education and doesn't understand the world/the economy/everything else.

I'm sure we'd do just fine if there were no welders. Your characterization of all welders as paranoid, delusional, and ignorant is why you aren't a Trump supporter.


One is elitist and the other is anti-intellectual. Both of them are driven by hate for whatever isn't them.

[Seriously?]

Rowe is right. It's typical liberal elitism to look down on blue collar workers of any stripe when it comes to their political opinion. It's snobbish and disgusting.

The guy that built your Ivory Tower has just as much of a right to participate in the electoral process and has a right to support the candidate of his choosing, whether you agree with him or not.

[MasterJedi]

More like the welder can only cling to his money for his only sense of self worth while hating "those people" and feeling like the "world is out to get him" because he has no education and doesn't understand the world/the economy/everything else.

I'm sure we'd do just fine if there were no welders. Your characterization of all welders as paranoid, delusional, and ignorant is why you aren't a Trump supporter.


One is elitist and the other is anti-intellectual. Both of them are driven by hate for whatever isn't them.

Obviously not all welders and blue collar/uneducated people are like that. I used welders because that's what the OP put forward as an example. In general though the less educated you are the more you are willing to go with your gut/base feelings and not understand how the larger world works around you and more willing to blame "others" for your problems.

[Mallow]

Obama also had the support of black men with college degrees, but Trump has unprecedented low levels of support with white men with college degrees (for a Republican), which is the big difference. Trump is specifically trying to appeal to the "poorly educated" and making them a huge part of his base, and it does seem to be working (while alienating everyone else), so I don't see why it's a problem to point out that Trump's base is mainly whites with no college degrees.

This. I can only assume Mr. Rowe is being willfully ignorant here. The reason a "big deal" is being made about educated vs. uneducated white males is that there is a huge difference in the way they are voting. The same can't be said about educated vs. uneducated black males. This point is obvious to any reasonable observer--to try to pretend this is some liberal media conspiracy to paint whites in a bad light is, frankly, laughable.

[Bismarck]

Obama also had the support of black men with college degrees, but Trump has unprecedented low levels of support with white men with college degrees (for a Republican), which is the big difference. Trump is specifically trying to appeal to the "poorly educated" and making them a huge part of his base, and it does seem to be working (while alienating everyone else), so I don't see why it's a problem to point out that Trump's base is mainly whites with no college degrees.

This. I can only assume Mr. Rowe is being willfully ignorant here. The reason a "big deal" is being made about educated vs. uneducated white males is that there is a huge difference in the way they are voting. The same can't be said about educated vs. uneducated black males. This point is obvious to any reasonable observer--to try to pretend this is some liberal media conspiracy to paint whites in a bad light is, frankly, laughable.

I don't think it's a conspiracy against white people or a conspiracy at all, but there certainly is an effort to make GOP voters seem like some strange alien group, which is the opposite of what has usually been true in the past.

[Nym90]

Black voters without a college degree don't vote differently than those with a degree; that's the difference that makes Rowe's comparison incorrect. Whites are the only racial group for which level of education is predictive of voting behavior.

Also, it's Trump's own words that his voters are "poorly educated". Does the media have an obligation to not report on Trump's own verbiage?

The remainder of his points are quite valid regarding the value of a degree and what being "educated" means, but he's off base in suggesting that journalists are being racist/classist in this.

[Mallow]

Obama also had the support of black men with college degrees, but Trump has unprecedented low levels of support with white men with college degrees (for a Republican), which is the big difference. Trump is specifically trying to appeal to the "poorly educated" and making them a huge part of his base, and it does seem to be working (while alienating everyone else), so I don't see why it's a problem to point out that Trump's base is mainly whites with no college degrees.

This. I can only assume Mr. Rowe is being willfully ignorant here. The reason a "big deal" is being made about educated vs. uneducated white males is that there is a huge difference in the way they are voting. The same can't be said about educated vs. uneducated black males. This point is obvious to any reasonable observer--to try to pretend this is some liberal media conspiracy to paint whites in a bad light is, frankly, laughable.

I don't think it's a conspiracy against white people or a conspiracy at all, but there certainly is an effort to make GOP voters seem like some strange alien group, which is the opposite of what has usually been true in the past.

If there is such an effort as you describe it, Mr. Rowe has certainly not provided evidence of it.

[Devout Centrist]

When did the working class in this country become Marxist again?

[Erich Maria Remarque]

Yeah, media/Dems feeling hate and disgust towards "uneducated" Whites is kind of pattern of behavior. Just look at this forum.

It reminds me Hitler's disgust towards "Untermenschen" who were just so wrong according to him...

[Devout Centrist]

Yeah, media/Dems feeling hate and disgust towards "uneducated" proletariat Whites is kind of pattern of behavior. Just look at this forum.

Revolution, comrades!

[Statilius the Epicurean]

Black voters without a college degree don't vote differently than those with a degree; that's the difference that makes Rowe's comparison incorrect.

[RFayette]

I think what Rowe is getting at is that he believes that the use of the term "uneducated white male" is inherently negative, even if it is simply descriptive - stating whether or not said person has a college degree or not.  However, it is an important distinction when discussing the white vote this cycle, as it's a pretty darn big gap this time.  

However, some of the comments on this thread are concerning in that they imply that someone choosing to go to college makes them a more complete person, or one more capable to understand the world, than someone who chooses to become a welder, plumber, etc.  

If someone wants a profession in the skilled trades, they have no reason to go to a conventional college.  If someone wants to primarily work with their hands, why should we generalize and say such person has less of a grasp of the world around them?  Unless someone specifically took economics classes in college, I don't see how they could say that the average degree holder has more knowledge in that domain than an individual who is a blue-collar worker. 


I'm a college student right now and I enjoy it and have found it quite fulfilling, but I certainly don't think that everyone should do it or that someone who doesn't go to college is less likely to have valid opinions about an issue.  I remember my father's words "95% of the college degrees you can get are easier than what it takes to become a plumber or an electrician."   I've always had tremendous respect for people who work with their hands for a living as machinists, welders, plumbers, etc., and in many ways I think they have insights that people from a different perspective/life background don't.

Of course, this has little to do with politics - most blue-collar workers (and white-collar workers) are fairly apolitical.  I was just referencing the common notion that we judge others partially on the basis of their educational attainments.    

[ProudModerate2]

Obama also had the support of black men with college degrees, but Trump has unprecedented low levels of support with white men with college degrees (for a Republican), which is the big difference. Trump is specifically trying to appeal to the "poorly educated" and making them a huge part of his base, and it does seem to be working (while alienating everyone else), so I don't see why it's a problem to point out that Trump's base is mainly whites with no college degrees.

This. I can only assume Mr. Rowe is being willfully ignorant here. The reason a "big deal" is being made about educated vs. uneducated white males is that there is a huge difference in the way they are voting. The same can't be said about educated vs. uneducated black males. This point is obvious to any reasonable observer--to try to pretend this is some liberal media conspiracy to paint whites in a bad light is, frankly, laughable.

I don't think it's a conspiracy against white people or a conspiracy at all, but there certainly is an effort to make GOP voters seem like some strange alien group, which is the opposite of what has usually been true in the past.

There is much truth in what you say.
It is definitely more so this cycle (2016), than in past presidential elections.
And the reason for this is trump (obviously). The orange-haired clown has said so many absurd, crazy and dangerous things / policy-suggestions, that the rest of us are left in mental-horror ; "How can anyone possible take this guy seriously for the most powerful job in America (on Earth) ?"
Thus the only thing we can theorize from this, is that those supporting trump can only be a "strange alien group" (whom the vast majority of them being "poorly educated" whites).

[136or142]

1.Who is Mike Rowe?

2.If Trump has intelligent and articulate supporters, then why doesn't he hire them to be his spokespeople in place of the idiot conspiracy theorists and uninformed people he has right now?

[Wiz in Wis]

Fun fact:

My father in law is a white, high-school drop out who lives in rural Wisconsin, works in light industry, owns a 4-wheeler and lives in a trailer. He's also a bigger Hillary supporter than I am, and has a signed picture of Barack Obama up on his fridge.

Stereo-types suck, but don't come to the table bitching about your group getting a raw deal when you've ignored the same treatment that African Americans, Latinos, and other minorities have had to deal with for more than a century.

[Beet]

I'm a Hillary supporter and I agree with Mike Rowe. The working class should be the Democratic base, and that means white as much as black. We should be going and making our pitch to these people, not ceding them to Trump.

But you know what? Hillary has said this:

"I think we’ve got to reverse what has become a kind of common place view, which is everybody needs to go to college.”

“Well, in fact, more than half of the jobs that are going to be available in 2020 do not require a college four-year degree,” Clinton said. “So for welders and machinists and tool and die makers and health technicians, and coders and so many others, let’s get the word out, there are really good jobs for people right now, and there will be more in the future if you get the skills in high school, at community college, in an apprenticeship or other training program."

Rowe talks about high college debt - Clinton's plan includes reducing the interest on college debt, and making college free for community colleges, for those families making less than $125k a year. So if we were to (hypothetically) elect Clinton and a Democratic Congress, you would have a government committed to tackling the very problem Rowe talks about.

She does get it. Rowe might better see that if we had an actual election about policy, rather than the circus this cycle has become.

[Nym90]

Good points, Beet. I assume given Hillary's acknowledgement of the ability to get a good job without a degree in contrast to the journalists that Rowe criticizes, and given her detailed proposals to solve the very problems he cites, and in contrast to Trump's belittlement of these people as "the poorly educated" that he must be a Clinton supporter.