March 09, 2005
A good start, but not enough
Lillian B. Rubin has an essay in Dissent Magazine entitled "Why don't they listen to us? Speaking to the working class" in which she discusses some of the reasons why the people who she thinks should be a natural part of the progressive constituiency have, over the past few decades, turned increasingly to the right. She agrees with the basic question asked by Thomas Frank: "What's the matter with Kansas?"
Unlike most other current progressives, she realizes that it's not just that the right is better organized, better funded, etc. She points out that the way the left has pursued debate over several political hot topics has cost them. By automatically assumming a combative position against conservatives, they've isolated themselves from the mainstream of American culture (which is, I believe, fundamentally conservative in the old sense of the word: not given to big changes).
This is good. It's about time someone over there started acting like an organized opposition party instead of showing off their superiority complex. What she doesn't get though, is not just that most people don't trust the "liberal elite" - the last election is proof enough of that - but that the working class really isn't the natural ally of progressivism. Quite the contrary, in fact. Sure, the left talks a lot about equal opportunity, social justice, and economic equality. But in practice, they're just as craven to special interests as anyone is, only their special interests stand opposed to economic growth (which the working class needs), traditional family values (which the working class supports), strong defense and foreign policy (which the working class wants), and lower taxes (which the working class is affected by a lot more than anyone else). On the other hand, Republicans are supported by pro-growth, pro-family, pro-defense, and pro-tax relief interests. Sounds like a natural fit to me.
For all the supposed anger generated by Bush's recent "tax breaks for the rich", most people were probably pretty happy to see that they paid fewer taxes this year than last year. For all the outcry over Wal-Mart, most people want to shop there. For all the noise about corporations screwing their employees, most people would rather be employed than not. And for all the bluster about caring for the poor and educational opportunity, many people are coming to see that the Great Society and the public school system are almost unmitigated disasters. The problem with today's progressives is indeed that they've isolated themselves from the mainstream. But they've isolated themselves so effectively that they don't even see just how isolated they really are.
