The most recent episode of Trumpcast about what the Democrats don’t understand about Trump Voters is a must listen, especially if you’ve been a reader of this blog since 2008. When Donna Brazile said in 2008 that the Democratic party didn’t need the “old coalition” anymore, it pretty much created the Trump voter. Both parties were willing to ignore the working class at that point so they elected Boaty McBoatface. Happy now?
I was not a fan of Obama. I do not apologize for that. It was my feeling that he was being hired by the finance industry to “foam the runway” for them in the aftermath of the financial crash. And he pretty much lived up to my expectations. We often accuse Trump of having no empathy but Obama was just as bad when it came to non-college educated people.
For that matter, he didn’t care much about how the financialization of many industries were going to affect the well educated workforce either. Look at all the STEM workers who are struggling. Many of us had to retire early or get entry level jobs where our prior accomplishments mean diddly squat as Virginia Heffernan points out in the podcast. We learn fast and we’re agile but getting out of that entry level is agonizing slow and humiliating. Who wants to do that? Virtually no one I used to work with.
I’m doing it but some days, I just want to tear someone’s hair out. I didn’t expect to be this close to poverty when I started my career back in the mid 80s. Now I’ve got a salary that won’t cover the cost of fixing my broken retaining wall and a position where I’m expected to not know how to conduct meetings or analyze stuff. But I digress.
This episode of Trumpcast hints at what will help the working class but the Trump voter is going to have to get over their knee jerk reactions to the suggestions. Some of these suggestions are based on what works in other countries like Germany. They include:
- Better vocational options. Not everyone should get a college degree and that’s ok. We don’t all have to read classics and philosophy. There are alternate technical career paths in countries like Germany and citizens start training in high school. These lead to a highly skilled workforce of technical and trade workers.
- Companies need to provide training for vocational and technical trades. Many US companies don’t think they need to do this. It’s someone else’s responsibility. They shouldn’t be allowed to slide here.
- Decouple health insurance from the job. If you don’t have to worry about your health insurance, you can move to where the jobs are or follow your passion or take risks as an entrepreneur. Allowing workers to buy into a public option might work.
I’d go further. I’d offer workers alternatives to the 401K. It is the drive for profits for shareholders that causes companies to chase lower cost employees overseas. If you want to invest in the stock market, that’s fine. But there will be a lot more of us who will go through boom and bust cycles in employment who shouldn’t have to risk all of our savings on a global roulette wheel. The 401K was never meant for working people. It was meant for people who needed a tax shelter for their high incomes. It’s done more damage than it’s worth and many of us are going to retire poor because of it, if we can afford to retire at all.
There’s more in that podcast to listen to. It’s time to stop accusing every Trump supporter as being racist. Sure, there are definitely more than their fair share of racists among the MAGA crowd. But that is only part of the story why they cling to a guy who sells them lies about bringing back their jobs when he hasn’t got a clue or interest in pulling that off.
The Democrats need to return to the Old Coalition and act like it’s the Great Depression again. Because for some of us, it really is and we need a Newer Deal. The ideas that saved us back then are the ones that will save us again.
Will Joe Biden be that FDR? Unlikely. Elizabeth Warren or Julian Castro would have been that kind of President. But Biden will bring stability to the country and that’s desperately needed right now. The country can’t go through another 4 years of chaos and deterioration of our governmental institutions. You’ve got to preserve your right to make changes before you can make changes.
That’s what this election is all about.
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The Confluence 