The white middle class and conservatism: a history

[All Along The Watchtower]

After WWII, the largest middle class in American history was created by the Depression-era generation. However, this new (at  the time) middle class was homogenous in terms of culture (not just race, but also the shared experiences of the Depression and WWII)-so this group of people becoming very conservative and protective of their own status was, in retrospect, predictable.  

Thus, when liberal leaders and intellectuals in the institutions of American society pushed for extending the same opportunities that the white middle class enjoyed to black people (and other marginalized minority groups), a type of right-wing grassroots populism was activated and mobilized. This was also a response to other cultural phenomenons in the 60s, including women's rights, the counterculture movement, the New Left, and the general protest culture surrounding Vietnam.

However, that right-wing populism was actually an updated version of the right-wing movements of the 50s, which included the John Birch Society, Young Americans for Freedom, and other groups that collectively made up the grassroots base that propelled Barry Goldwater to the Republican nomination. But while those earlier conservatives were limited in their appeal to certain parts of the country (mainly the Southwest and the Deep South-the 'Sun Belt") and were ultimately discredited because of their rigid fanaticism and conspiratorial views regarding communism, the populist conservatives that followed them after 1965 were able to avoid being tagged with the "extremist" label. Suddenly, the mainstream American middle class was the main base of the conservative movement.

Concerns over civil rights, out-of-touch "liberal elites", busing, an alleged breakdown in "moral values", "law and order", "welfare chiselers", student radicals, and other more immediate concerns other than (and in addition to) Communism were what changed the white American middle class in the 1960s from being vaguely supportive of the liberal state, to, in the following decades, becoming much more hostile to it. Government, and the liberal intellectuals and leaders associated with it, was becoming more and more of an "enemy" in the eyes of the white middle class-and many outside of it as well. Meanwhile, many on the Left were equally disgusted with  racial violence, the war in Vietnam, and  poverty at home, and they blamed liberals in government as much as they blamed conservatives for all of those problems.

The end result of all this; liberal policies that had broad, but not very "deep" support, among the white middle class became discredited in favor of Reagan-style conservatism. I suppose the Presidency of George W Bush and the actions of the Tea Party Republicans have done a lot to discredit "conservative" policies in the more diverse electorate of the modern day.

[memphis]

What are you talking about? People weren't conservative at all after WWII. It was the age of the great liberal consensus.

[All Along The Watchtower]

What are you talking about? People weren't conservative at all after WWII. It was the age of the great liberal consensus.

I mean "conservative" in a traditional/cultural attitudes sense, not the modern American sense.

[memphis]

What are you talking about? People weren't conservative at all after WWII. It was the age of the great liberal consensus.

I mean "conservative" in a traditional/cultural attitudes sense, not the modern American sense.

You think moving to the suburbs to live in air-conditioned and television induced euphoria was in line with traditional society? The postwar years were HUGELY transformative. What about them do you find conservative?

[freepcrusher]

What are you talking about? People weren't conservative at all after WWII. It was the age of the great liberal consensus.

I mean "conservative" in a traditional/cultural attitudes sense, not the modern American sense.

You think moving to the suburbs to live in air-conditioned and television induced euphoria was in line with traditional society? The postwar years were HUGELY transformative. What about them do you find conservative?

different era where the terms had different meanings. If one looks at the congressional delegations of that time, one won't find very many Barney Franks or Chuck Schumers.

[memphis]

What are you talking about? People weren't conservative at all after WWII. It was the age of the great liberal consensus.

I mean "conservative" in a traditional/cultural attitudes sense, not the modern American sense.

You think moving to the suburbs to live in air-conditioned and television induced euphoria was in line with traditional society? The postwar years were HUGELY transformative. What about them do you find conservative?

different era where the terms had different meanings. If one looks at the congressional delegations of that time, one won't find very many Barney Franks or Chuck Schumers.

They weren't big on the gays, granted. But what's so different about Chuckie? Liberal Jews from New York aren't a 21st century invention.

[All Along The Watchtower]

What are you talking about? People weren't conservative at all after WWII. It was the age of the great liberal consensus.

I mean "conservative" in a traditional/cultural attitudes sense, not the modern American sense.

You think moving to the suburbs to live in air-conditioned and television induced euphoria was in line with traditional society? The postwar years were HUGELY transformative. What about them do you find conservative?

Attitudes  about race, gender roles, sexuality, Communism, etc.?

[memphis]

What are you talking about? People weren't conservative at all after WWII. It was the age of the great liberal consensus.

I mean "conservative" in a traditional/cultural attitudes sense, not the modern American sense.

You think moving to the suburbs to live in air-conditioned and television induced euphoria was in line with traditional society? The postwar years were HUGELY transformative. What about them do you find conservative?

Attitudes  about race, gender roles, sexuality, Communism, etc.?

Attitudes about all of the above became markedly different after the war. Not that it happenned overnight, but the post war era saw the end of Jim Crow and a tremendous expansion of opportunities for women. The first hit sitcom featured a female star married to a Hispanic man. The introduction of the pill freed people to have sex with whomever they chose without risk of pregnancy. And concern about Communism isn't a liberal or conservative issue. Although many on the right used paranoia about Communism for political gain, only a negligible number of Americans have ever wanted a totalitarian state.

[freepcrusher]

I'm more of a cynical liberal and would rather have a culture with this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJqJEItzpdk rather than this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uyCl3BdlICY

[memphis]

I'm more of a cynical liberal and would rather have a culture with this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJqJEItzpdk rather than this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uyCl3BdlICY

You prefer watching movies to commercials? Ok. You probably prefer ice cream to calculus homework too.

[krazen1211]

I suppose the Presidency of George W Bush and the actions of the Tea Party Republicans have done a lot to discredit "conservative" policies in the more diverse electorate of the modern day.

The former is certainly untrue given the latter came into being.

[All Along The Watchtower]

I suppose the Presidency of George W Bush and the actions of the Tea Party Republicans have done a lot to discredit "conservative" policies in the more diverse electorate of the modern day.

The former is certainly untrue given the latter came into being.

The Tea Party is NOT reflective of the electorate in general.

[Cory]

The Tea Party is NOT reflective of the electorate in general.

This. The Tea Party is in reality the already existing Republican base just "all fired up", if you will. How many of today's Tea Party folks do you think voted for Bush in 2004? I'd be willing to bet almost all of them.

The modern Tea Party movement is just the repackaging of the Christian Right.

[krazen1211]

I suppose the Presidency of George W Bush and the actions of the Tea Party Republicans have done a lot to discredit "conservative" policies in the more diverse electorate of the modern day.

The former is certainly untrue given the latter came into being.

The Tea Party is NOT reflective of the electorate in general.

And yet somehow the GOP got a higher share of whites than it has gotten in years.

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

I suppose the Presidency of George W Bush and the actions of the Tea Party Republicans have done a lot to discredit "conservative" policies in the more diverse electorate of the modern day.

The former is certainly untrue given the latter came into being.

The Tea Party is NOT reflective of the electorate in general.

And yet somehow the GOP got a higher share of whites than it has gotten in years.

For reasons involving voter enthusiasm and effectiveness of messaging, which have in the subsequent fifteen months returned to more normal levels relative to either 2010 or 2008.

[Polsci]

I think that government policies that give a "hand up" are better than the ones that give a "hand out."  That's where I draw the line.  Anything unconditional doesn't have my support.  That's what most Americans believe, it's just that polarization is so appealing to both parties.

[Vermin Supreme]

I think that government policies that give a "hand up" are better than the ones that give a "hand out."  That's where I draw the line.  Anything unconditional doesn't have my support.  That's what most Americans believe, it's just that polarization is so appealing to both parties.

It's become polarization for the Democratic party to allienate with the appeal to poor minorities since poor white people tend to hate Mexicans and black people more then gay people.

[memphis]

I think that government policies that give a "hand up" are better than the ones that give a "hand out."  That's where I draw the line.  Anything unconditional doesn't have my support.  That's what most Americans believe, it's just that polarization is so appealing to both parties.

Not true at all. The biggest handouts, Social Security and Medicare, are the most popular.

[All Along The Watchtower]

I think that government policies that give a "hand up" are better than the ones that give a "hand out."  That's where I draw the line.  Anything unconditional doesn't have my support.  That's what most Americans believe, it's just that polarization is so appealing to both parties.

Not true at all. The biggest handouts, Social Security and Medicare, are the most popular.

^^^^^

[Democratic Hawk]

I think that government policies that give a "hand up" are better than the ones that give a "hand out."  That's where I draw the line.  Anything unconditional doesn't have my support.  That's what most Americans believe, it's just that polarization is so appealing to both parties.

Not true at all. The biggest handouts, Social Security and Medicare, are the most popular.

Yes, its pleasing to know that vestiges of the 'New Deal' and 'Great Society' remain sacrosanct