patrick.net

The American far right wing fits the 14 Points Of Fascism well enough that we should call a spade a spade.

What brought them so far to the right, when their Democratic grandfathers knew exactly who was really on their side? It's really important to understand it well so that they don't continue to be so easily manipulated into harming themselves. I think there are a few critical points which are rarely mentioned in the media:

• Americans are the descendants of people who came here for profit, not to take care of their fellow citizens. There is less "group feeling" than in old countries where most people are the same ethnicity. In particular, there is no sympathy for blacks or hispanics among working-class (blue collar) whites. And probably vice versa.
• Working-class whites are subtly dismissed by the left. Most social programs are aimed at helping only the poorest - IGNORING the next-to-poorest, working-class whites.
• Working-class whites suffer The Hidden Injuries Of Class every day. They are embarassed by their poor educations and by their position reporting to a boss who probably spells better than they do, and who maybe knows how to speak French...
• Blue collar jobs have been exported in vast numbers to China, because the Chinese will work for much less, and this increases shareholder profits. Unemployed people get desperate and angry when they can't support their families, and look for simple explanations and solutions.

These hidden injuries are embarassing to talk about directly, so they manifest themselves as a newfound concern about "socialism" and the constitution rather than saying what they are: anger at being ignored by policies that help their poorer neighbors, anger at their social position, and anger at the loss of jobs.

It gets recursive: as the right-wing gets more shrill and frankly loony, they get dismissed even more, making them angrier.

This anger is very skillfully used by large corporate interests to protect profits. It's gross to watch people buying into the lies of Fox News, as if ALL taxes were always bad, and as if there is some evil socialist enemy ready to pounce on them, rather than the truth that those very corporate interests that support Fox News are the ones exploiting the viewers.

So we see the bizarre and (to lefties) inexplicable scenes of poor whites turning red in the face screaming "NO! We do not want the financial security of universal health care that all other countries enjoy. We WANT to live one illness away from bankruptcy, all the time, forever! And furthermore, we demand lower taxes on the extra profits corporations make from outsourcing our jobs to China!"

#politics