This is an angry working class conservative

Why can't they be like the rich?

we all know people who fit this description. I wish I could help them to understand.But they must come to the realization themselves one day hopefully. If they have learned anything, it is that they are no longer the bully on the block. It is that they are the minority now. It is that they have to behave according to the standard that has been set by the dominant majority of Americans. That we are all equal. That we must respect the rights of each and every person regardless of personal and religious beliefs. They are learning, they are slow learners.

You summed up a proposition both liberating and humbling at the same time. There are infinite possibilities that require they understand the promise of the word Namaste.

The gesture Namaste represents the belief that there is a Divine spark within each of us that is located in the heart chakra. The gesture is an acknowledgment of the soul in one by the soul in another.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Namaste

.....it's just that some are more equal than others!

in some kind of class snobbery. working class is nothing to be ashamed off nor made fun off.

I am working class. the point would be that these people vote against their interests.

I knew a "brother" in the Union with me. He carried a picture of g.w. bush in his wallet and always voted repuglican. Needless to say, I considered him an idiot. I often told him that he should quit the Union because his party was against organized labor. Even though he pro fitted (more than most) from the sacrifices made by (especially) our early Union founders, he was red, through and through. On the jobs that we worked together, he was constantly spouting dittohead remarks that pissed me off. One day at a meeting in our Union business agents' office, I "let slip" the fact that he was a rethug. After all of his bragging, he denied the truth.
Maybe I was wrong but I didn't believe that this closet anti-Unionist deserved to reap the benefits that real organizers had died to secure.
He wasn't a very good carpenter anyway and I saw him on fewer job sites after that. I hope that he eventually realized that he did not deserve to earn the benefits from an organization that he did not respect, just because he was a white male and therefore entitled. I am a white male but I know that unless we keep organizing and educating working class people, Unions will disappear. Their decline is directly tied to poverty and underpaid/no benefit jobs. Please, for your sake, vote for your interests and bargain collectively against the greedy corporations that want slaves.
Fair trade, not free trade is our only hope.

They are the great mystery of American politics. Except, it really isn't a mystery. The average working class conservative doesn't have much common sense. Well, that's what it seems like to me, anyway.

Off the top of my head, and let me add--I'm no expert! These are just my impressions...

1) they want I information but don't know who to test or how to determine what info they can trust. There's a ltd out there and they are more comfortable keeping it simple, relying on a very few sources whom they trust (similar world view)

2) need to scapegoat and blame those who threaten or intimidate them. People and ideas outside of their familiar comfort zone are too much to deal with and scare or anger them.

3) lack of education or other skills, so that it is overwhelming to consider unfamiliar information. The pressure to think in new ways or consider new/to much information leads to shut down or rage.

Yet another reason why corporate America wants to privatize education: to turn out more of these guys who don't know enough to understand that they are digging their own graves.

And it may be one of the (3) keys to bringing them into our electoral base rather than the opposition's. Maybe. I like detailed and step by step analysis - thank you.

There is a lot of anger in the (particularly white) working class, but that anger has no left-wing economic channel. The cultural liberalism and trendiness of the modern Democratic Party, combined with the Democrats' recent embrace of neoliberal right-wing economic policies, completely turns off many white working class Americans. It doesn't help when the upscale, affluent, trendy liberals of the modern Democratic Party mock, ridicule, and insult the religion, culture (think of guns or small towns or rural life in general), and way of life of (mostly) white working-class (especially rural) people.

That being said, the Republican Party is still stronger among middle and upper class whites than it is among lower class whites. So keep that in mind.

is the part that has to do with others rights. The WWC use foul language, do loads of illegal drugs (meth is a fave), they have extramarital sex, and divorce rates among them are high. They drink to inebriation and do stupid, often violent and/or illegal stuff.

Oh, and they mock, ridicule, and insult liberal beliefs (women's rights, gay rights, etc.) and culture.

If they want respect, they should learn to give it.

The only difference I see (besides race) is that non-white working class and poor people are almost exclusively Democratic in their voting allegiance, whereas white working class people are more mixed.

But many of the behaviors you listed above aren't the sole province of white working class people (or working class people in general). But that didn't stop you from making a crass, classist generalization, now did it?

You're using the same arguments that Republicans make about poor black and Latino people-"they're too stupid/poor/uneducated to vote for us!" Never a winning argument.

"But many of the behaviors you listed above aren't the sole province of white working class people (or working class people in general). But that didn't stop you from making a crass, classist generalization, now did it?"

It didn't stop you, either, but since you were generalizing negative things about Democrats, you seem to think you're excused. "Upscale, affluent, trendy liberals" who "mock, ridicule, and insult the religion, culture (think of guns or small towns or rural life in general), and way of life of (mostly) white working-class (especially rural) people" seem to loom large in your mythology.

My point is that just a common among right wingers to make crass generalizations that "mock, ridicule, and insult the religion, culture, and way of life of liberal (especially urban) people," yet the big bad "trendy" Dems seem to loom inordinately large in your mythology.

Also, I never said that "the behaviors listed above the sole province of white working class people (or working class people in general), " so your making a point of that was, well, pointless.

...it sounds like a fun weekend at my place.

preachy negative judgement of those and similar behaviors and their tendency to ascribe those behaviors solely to liberals. And, by extension, their tendency to pretend only Rs have "family values," "work ethic," and morals in general.

Why do people use the word 'class'? Why do people put themselves in a 'class'? Sound like the old English society that we revolted against. Earnings distinguish class? Why go there?

to put liberals in a bad light (which it does).

There you have it. A man who has been suckered (R).

Holy Hell to pay if he and his TeaBagging Freepoid RepubliSuckers ever wake up and smell the propaganda they have been paying for with their Cable TV suckerbucks.

Yay for divide and conquer! Long live divide and conquer!

It's a real problem. People feel angry. They aren't sure why, but they sense something is wrong. They hear something on talk radio that sounds like an explanation, and they fall for it.

To take a topic that isn't political, every once in a while I run into someone who believes that "chemtrails" are some sort of conspiracy. I remember seeing what they refer to as a chemtrail way back when in the Iowa sky, long before we had so much air traffic. Where does the idea that chemtrails are some sort of horrible thing come from? From talk radio. And the idea that climate change is a hoax also comes from the media.

How do you present facts to people so that they understand them and form their opinions based on them?

Any ideas?

As for chemtrails:

Due to the popularity of the conspiracy theory, official agencies have received thousands of complaints from people who have demanded an explanation. The existence of chemtrails has been repeatedly denied by scientists around the world, who say the trails are normal contrails. The United States Air Force states that the theory is a hoax which "has been investigated and refuted by many established and accredited universities, scientific organizations, and major media publications." The United Kingdom's Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has stated that chemtrails are not scientifically recognized phenomena.

The term chemtrail is a portmanteau of the words "chemical" and "trail," just as contrail is a contraction of "condensation trail." The term does not refer to other forms of aerial spraying such as agricultural spraying ('crop dusting'), cloud seeding, skywriting, or aerial firefighting. The term specifically refers to aerial trails allegedly caused by the systematic high-altitude release of chemical substances not found in ordinary contrails, resulting in the appearance of characteristic sky tracks. Supporters of this conspiracy theory speculate that the purpose of the chemical release may be for solar radiation management, population control, weather control, or biological warfare/chemical warfare and that these trails are causing respiratory illnesses and other health problems.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chemtrail_conspiracy_theory

As an aside, I have been assured by someone who works with scientists who study climate change that the chemtrail paranoia is the real hoax and that climate change is real although scientists are still trying to figure out how fast it will proceed and find the best ways to deal with it.

lazy, dumb and bad.

It's also good to get some perspective and realize that rabid partisans with narrow world-views actually make up much less of the population than the media and political rhetoric would have us believe. The vast majority of working class conservatives are not represented by that graphic (just as the vast majority of working class liberals don't fit into whatever similar caricature the RW paints of us).

I'm not getting into chemtrails here.

And the truth is sometimes simple and sometimes hurts.

This graphic does not represent most working class conservatives, and if you truly believe it does, I would recommend getting out more.

This is just divisive tripe.

and I know it's exactly how they think.

corporate media, e.g. Fox News, that lie and cunningly play on wedge issues

and racial/ethnic resentments, pulling that person person AWAY from their

economic interests. Right Wing Propaganda got a Big boost from the death of

the 40 plus year Fairness Doctrine under Ronald Reagan.

Working Class people were not ALWAYS clueless...After all, who do

you think started the unions and made them strong during the earlier

part of the last century? It's something that's relatively

recent. I grew up in the Fifties and Sixties when unions and manufacturing were strong i

in America. My parents were strong blue collar union Democrats,

who wouldn't DREAM of voting Republican.

Judging by the strong showing of blue collar white male voters

in Ohio and Michigan and other states where the auto

industry has re-emerged under Obama, I'm hoping the tide may be turning.

I do hope the tide is turning.

Having grown up in a union, yellow dog democrat family,

we've all been stunned at the turn around of the last couple of decades.

Let's all hope the tide is finally turning.

as they hated the mooslim, Kenyan, socialist, communist, facist, scary black man. Racism is ingrained in America. It'll take another 100 years and the continuing browning of our country to really change.
My Texas family is very Republicon, very "Christian" and very racist, but, oops, we now have a biracial daughter, granddaughter, neice, cousin, and, wow, is she a cutie. Of course, she will be an adult someday, so we'll see how that works.

by the time he died he had 5 more (including greats) and I hadn't heard a racist thing come out of his mouth in years.

love is a great healer

My cousin married a black woman in 1968 and our large Italian family had a fit. Of course, once the babies started being born, all their racist shit magically melted away.

My two best friends have mixed race kids and they sure are beautiful. If God didn't want the races to mix, he wouldn't have made the kids so good-looking!

I think this child just might soften some old Texas attitudes, and that is nothing but good.

n/t

Although I have to say it probably isn't all his fault. Very likely these guys are Fox news watchers and have been brainwashed by that channel quite a bit. That said, as a working class person myself I also endorse this OP.

For a dumbass like that, it easier to hate than think!

Usually, when anybody posts something like this, there's a whole herd of replies that we shouldn't be elitist...that we're insulting people just because they're stupid.

I guess I'm an elitist.

I think people like this guy are dumber than a box of rocks. They are the problem.

In their defense, I think they can't help it. Some hard-wiring glitch of some kind keeps them from understanding that that Fux is lying to them and they are screwing themselves.

Flame away.

if an elected dem was caught on tape saying this, it would be exactly the same thing as Mitt's 47% comment. But this will not happen, because dems don't have this attitude about conservative voters.

And it wasn't just Mitt, after he lost a lot of Republicans lost it and started lashing out at the Obama voters. Just to underline the difference between the parties, imagine after Bush won in 2004, that a bunch of Democrats went out and said things like in this OP, about the Bush voters. Unimaginable.

it should be "this is one person's caricature of a conservative"

or possibly "this is a parody of liberals' supposed hatred of conservatives"

And it's certainly not a parody. I have lots of relatives exactly like that guy. Nothing about that is untrue.

The rich are living off his table scraps.

The rich extract whatever they can from the money that hard working Americans earn. That's how they do it. Not the other way around.

I want that on billboards all across my red state!

Fiercely blaming others for the fact they aren't rich, no matter who they screw over. 'Don't tax me, bro.' If I didn't have to pay for all those other people, I'd be totally free! As if they never got a thing from the rest of society. They blame the 'Dumbocrats' for holding them back from becoming self-made little gods.

When other methods of convincing others that they are superior fail, they go into conspiracy land and scream they're being oppressed by (fill in the blank) and sneer, 'you sheeple' are the problem! I've had to listen to their loud, angry rhetoric about 'Democrats and welfare queens,' in public, so no one can miss them.

Since the election, though, they aren't talking much. Instead, they have a scowl on their faces, staring at the 'enemy,' which is the rest of humanity that let them down somehow. I doubt they will learn, as their news sources are still inciting them. Whatever happens, it will be unpleasant for anyone within earshot or their reach.

If see any of these scowls, I'll just say "looking for an enemy? Look in the mirror! I have no sympathy for you!"

They follow this guy's advice, read all of this to see the method, this is what the public is treated to at times:

http://www.libertarianrepublican.net/2012/11/the-end-of-liberty-in-america-only.html

Sometimes we have OPs about seeing outrageous behavior in public. They are not spontaneous actions, are they?

This man will live(if you can call it that) a very lonely life. He will pass from this earth as he lived it, in solitude.He will take with him only his hate. He will not be missed.

39% voted otherwise because they knew what their interests actually were.
The way I see it, white Americans have become anti-intellectual, anti-reflective and unworthy of any respect at all.
When I see the majority of whites vote for their interests instead of their reflection in the damn mirror, I'll show them respect.
Meanwhile, every chance I get, I'll remind my fellow whites of the stupid majority and the racism that underpinned its betrayal of itself.
Damn the unholy trinity of McConnell, Graham and McCain to hell.

Seriously, take a look at what you just wrote.

And I see something hasn't changed.
69% of whites voted against their interests, voted for Romney/Ryan.
End of story.
Given the evidence of the majority, I can make that statement fairly.

This is the main issue the RW harps on. It would be nice to give them some more specifics. The war profiteers make hundreds of billions off US taxpayers for stuff the military doesnt even want or need. The top 5 defense contractor CEOs make average $20 million a year from the US govt.

...where's the data to support the numbers?

Yet they aren't the target of this divisive, contemptuous OP. Why is that? Why pick on working class people?

Maybe affluent liberals are insecure about the Democratic Party's ability or willingness to help the working class. Perhaps that is why?

Most Tea Partiers I know or know of are NOT "working class", FWIW.

But it both comes down to money and what's in it for them.

Working class conservatives think that they will have more money, or greater chances at success, by siding with the party that is always screaming about lower taxes and less government regulations (like forcing employers to provide health insurance). They also think that by supporting the guys that support the richest businessmen in the country that some of that $ will trickle down to them.

They are stupid because they don't take into account long term benefits of investing in schools, healthcare, and infrastructure as well as Social Security, and unemployment insurance. And also that investing in helping out those at the lower rungs actually helps everyone as those underprivileged folks move up to the middle class and contribute more to society, both in sharing the tax burden and enriching America with a contributing citizen in whatever field they may choose. They are short term one issue thinkers.

The very wealthy are probably, for the most part, NOT stupid. But are in it for greed. There are some exceptions like Warren Buffett but for the most part it seems they are simply forging a path that leads to themselves being able to squeeze as much profit as possible out of their investments. Its God's will that they are blessed with wealth and that means that those beneath them are God's rejects. They don't give a rat's ass about ANY working class stooge whether they call themselves liberal or conservative. In fact I'll bet the Koch brothers get a shiver up their leg when they think of all those stooges wearing funny hats and hanging tea bags marching around demanding that billionaires continue to pay less taxes than they do while the government should cut their own services that they have paid into throughout their sad and stupid existence.

and upper class conservatives benefit greatly from the anti-tax rhetoric.

It's the lower class conservative that's voting against his own personal interest, because he dreams of being upper class some day. Yet the very policies he supports ensure that this will never happen.

There is a vast welfare state in the United States for the middle and upper classes. But most of it is subtle and "submerged", as it were. It's not as obvious as food stamps or Medicaid or unemployment insurance.

Maybe if the Democrats actually made an effort to...you know,talk to the lower class "conservatives", rather than dismissing them as racist, sexist, stupid, ignorant, uneducated, poor idiots (as so many upscale, affluent "progressives" love to do) , then perhaps they wouldn't reflexivity vote Republican so much .

For what should be obvious reasons.

What I'm saying is the people who are poor and still vote for Republicans are voting against their own interest.


Acknowledging that they are voting against their interest doesn't mean we are calling them idiots. Nor does it preclude outreach that points this out.

And if you think their reflexive Republican vote is because "Liberals were mean to me!!!!!!", you think they're so dumb that they'll value a grudge over their own well being.

Have seen a lot of these cretins recently

a single mother on public assistance and a conservative blue collar worker are sitting around a table. In the middle of the table is a plate with a dozen cookies on it. The CEO reaches across, takes eleven cookies and say to the blue collar guy, "Watch out! That welfare queen wants a piece of your cookie! and the working guy believes him.

and what did he say? There must be a meme that I'm blissfully unaware of, and I'd like to hear the original inanity.

Thanks!

No one was asking so I figured I was supposed to know lol.

from facebook, I have no idea who made it. Just that it felt so spot on!

But so is the fact that there are stupid black racists, and stupid latino racists, and stupid red racists.

It's a transcendant condition, keep an eye on it.

And compose the dominant economic force.

Just for what it's worth, the poor and working class whites have had no more power in "running the country" than black Americans, or Latino Americans, or Asian Americans, or Native Americans....

It's the RICH and connected who run the country, just like they always have.

And that isn't my conclusion, either.

People a lot smarter then me have pointed it out for years.

Not my conclusion, either.

because he has a propaganda machine blasting lies into his head all day every day, blaming the people who are trying to help him for everything that's gone wrong.

he or she is probably a fox/fraud news viewer also

I guess classism is popular here.

teh stupid. it burns...

N/T

Republican media is poison to right wingers and ruins their lives.

I see conservatives as victims. I feel sorry for them.

As a retired public school teacher, I believe that the single biggest failing to which educators should admit is that educational institutions do not effectively teach students how to become responsible voters and citizens. If institutions provided students the tools with which to separate fact from propaganda, the voters would be more sophisticated and less likely to blindly ingest the political rhetoric directed at them.