Fascinating article by Serge Halimi about why the poor and working class are voting Republican.
The Republicans’ phoney populism and constant insistence on issues of cultural identity - religion, hunting and tradition - take advantage of the fact that people have little time for social history. ... Purdue stresses how difficult it is to teach social history at school, despite the victories of the past. The unions have produced a remarkable book on the subject, Labour History Class, which contains miners’ letters, press-cuttings and essay topics. It’s very clear that its objective is to raise young people’s awareness about the class struggles of the past. But local schools rejected the book since they seem to prefer to promote well-known commercial brand names rather than teach social history.
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Europeans, intellectuals and artists may argue all night about exaggerated threats, torture at Abu Ghraib prison and the looting of art treasures. But this carries no weight with conservative working- class people in the US. The Republicans are past-masters of presenting themselves as victims of the liberal elite, a horde of quibbling lawyers, haughty academics, depraved journalists and know-it-all actors. And at times they are quite right. There is no doubt that most intellectuals and "experts" are out of touch with ordinary life and are hopelessly self-centred. They laugh at popular tradition and all the hicks in remote places in the back country who still support Bush. But Fox News and the Republicans thrive on the bitterness their divisive attitude creates.
Thanks, Christine.
The Republicans’ phoney populism and constant insistence on issues of cultural identity - religion, hunting and tradition - take advantage of the fact that people have little time for social history. ... Purdue stresses how difficult it is to teach social history at school, despite the victories of the past. The unions have produced a remarkable book on the subject, Labour History Class, which contains miners’ letters, press-cuttings and essay topics. It’s very clear that its objective is to raise young people’s awareness about the class struggles of the past. But local schools rejected the book since they seem to prefer to promote well-known commercial brand names rather than teach social history.
...
Europeans, intellectuals and artists may argue all night about exaggerated threats, torture at Abu Ghraib prison and the looting of art treasures. But this carries no weight with conservative working- class people in the US. The Republicans are past-masters of presenting themselves as victims of the liberal elite, a horde of quibbling lawyers, haughty academics, depraved journalists and know-it-all actors. And at times they are quite right. There is no doubt that most intellectuals and "experts" are out of touch with ordinary life and are hopelessly self-centred. They laugh at popular tradition and all the hicks in remote places in the back country who still support Bush. But Fox News and the Republicans thrive on the bitterness their divisive attitude creates.
Thanks, Christine.
posted by Steven Sanders | 12:14 PM
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