Robert Reich: The Revolt of the Anxious Class

[marmar]

The Revolt of the Anxious Class
MONDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2015


The great American middle class has become an anxious class – and it’s in revolt.

Before I explain how that revolt is playing out, you need to understand the sources of the anxiety.

Start with the fact that the middle class is shrinking, according to a new Pew survey.

The odds of falling into poverty are frighteningly high, especially for the majority without college degrees.

Two-thirds of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck. Most could lose their jobs at any time. ...............(more)

http://robertreich.org/post/135202830270

[bulloney]

1. There's no doubt the middle class is revolting, but too many are following the candidates

who would exacerbate their situation. The Trumps and Cruz's give people a fall guy to blame and that makes it easy for them to listen to their message. Unfortunately, too many Americans are intellectually lazy. They don't want to hear about things like overhauling the status quo and learning that the politicians they have been supporting all these years are working against their interests. They fall for their guns-gays-gynecology diversions almost every time.

[bklyncowgirl]

5. Trump though has split with the elite orthodoxy on the trade deals

This is a big part of his strength. He, unlike most Republicans has not called for cuts to social security or talked about the need to raise the retirement age. His tax plan favors the rich, of course but has some goodies for the lower middle class as well. What is frightening about him is that he at the same time appeals to the worst in people, stoking fear of foreigners, Muslims, black people, etc.

I wish that the Democrats, Sanders and a handful of others excepted had more credibility on these economic issues but they have all too often played footsie with the Wall Street bandits tossing out social issues and identity politics as a sop the way that Republican establishment throws out abortion and blind patriotism to placate and distract the masses.

[Populist_Prole]

6. I hear you

"I wish that the Democrats, Sanders and a handful of others excepted had more credibility on these economic issues but they have all too often played footsie with the Wall Street bandits tossing out social issues and identity politics as a sop the way that Republican establishment throws out abortion and blind patriotism to placate and distract the masses"

Excellent summation.

[raccoon]

2. That article is well worth the read. Especially as he concludes that if it wasn't Trump, it would

be someone else like him.

[Brainstormy]

3. Yes

Chilling, isn't it?

[Rebkeh]

4. As usual, he's right but

I disagree about the bigot/racist point. If they didn't harbor racial anxieties and deep seated fears, the red meat dog whistles wouldn't work. Reich is not qualified to make that call because he doesn't see/hear/feel the subtleties of racism and it's not simply an economic problem, it's a social one. Those roots go very, very deep. He can't see/hear/feel the subtleties because he hasn't lived it. He shouldn't have said anything about race at all, he's not helping Bernie by affirming denials about racism. We have to do more than correct the economic structures of inequality, we need cultural change.

That said, he's right about everything else.

[jwirr]

9. I think that there is a difference between racism and anxiety

and fear. Racism is taught and has absolutely no grounds for it's existence. Anxiety and fear are based on both reality and what is taught us.

Much of the anxiety and fear that Reich is talking about is based on reality. It is people like Trump who are directing that fear toward certain targeted groups. The fear comes from lost status for the middle class. And it is not limited to just the middle class. I am poor and I am afraid of what this means for the poor and sick. That is economic.

I realize that we need to deal with the growth of racism in this country but we are faced with something that is not going to make it any better - fascism. If the Trump crowd which includes the Rs in Congress get their way that is where we are going to end up.

I am afraid that if we do not deal with the reality of our economy that is the basis of the anxiety and fear that we will never get a chance to deal with the racism.

After WWI the treaty we set up with Germany caused very real poverty in Germany and it did not get better. Hitler and his Nazis used the same fear and anxiety to take control of the nation and then proceeded to attack minority groups, which included the Jews but also included a lot of other groups. They blamed them for their economic troubles. The rest is history. WWII. Trump and his minions are following the same path. And Reich is correct - if it is not Trump it will be someone else.

[Rebkeh]

10. From where I sit, there's not much difference

The problem is that equality is seen as zero-sum, a gain for blacks/poc is perceived as a loss for whites. Until white liberals and progressives admit this, own it and change it, equality is not going to mean the same to everybody.

Fascism is going to happen along racial lines, it already has.

We CANNOT take race out of the equation, even if it's just a social construct.

Racism is a reality, race is not.

On edit: the struggle the white working class is dealing with now is not new to us poc, it's been going on for hundreds of years. Now that whites are dealing with structural inequality, we can forge an alliance but not until everybody is honest about racism.

[jwirr]

11. I am not suggesting we take race out of the equation. I am

suggesting that we attack both fronts at the same time. I do not see racism getting better if we slip over that fascism cliff.

In fact as the economy gets worse more and more people will be looking for someone to blame. And I am sure Trump will not let the blame go where it should rest on Wall Street and the corporations.

Fascists are cowards that only attack those who are weaker than they are - more vulnerable.

[jwirr]

7. That is one of the best Robert Reich pieces I have ever seen.

He has hit the nail on the head.

And THIS is why I am voting for a very strong man - Bernie Sanders.

[smirkymonkey]

8. K&R

Great article. Even among my educated, employed Democratic friends I am seeing this fear (although not the racism). They feel like everything is tenuous because they have seen so many other middle-class people lose their good jobs and what a snowball effect it has. Unless you have a huge amount of money saved up, it doesn't take long to find yourself in a financial death spiral.

Even if you do have money saved up, most people I know that have lost jobs have had to tap in to or completely deplete their retirement savings. They might be surviving now, but there goes their secure future.

It's harder on the poor, but it's still hard on everyone. Face it, most of us are being crushed by these destructive policies and until we direct the blame where it belongs and stop tearing each other apart, nothing will change.

[libdem4life]

12. It was a good article, but one thing he found didn't make sense...

"When I visited so-called “red” states this fall, I kept hearing angry complaints that government is run by Wall Street bankers who get bailed out after wreaking havoc on the economy, corporate titans who get cheap labor, and billionaires who get tax loopholes"

And they choose a billionaire to row them to safety...to protect their diminishing dreams? This is the part of the "red states"...always voting for a Lord/Master while willfully playing the Peasant.

I may get hidden...hope not...but that to my mind is the epitome of slavery mentality...not at all confined to a race any more. The Middle Class has always been an experiment, but all elements/ideas/nature have a cycle and maybe this one has topped out.