Thats fair. I suppose it just irks me that they (the wealthy) act as if we are somehow just bystanders whose perspective is irrelevant, while we are the ones doing 99% of the actual work.
But you're right.
"Us vs Them" is a setup for perpetual conflict... when what is NEEDED is collaboration.
Any politician wanting to show genuine respect for working people should consider the storied career of Eugene V. Debs. A railroad laborer turned union leader, his clear advocacy of the underprivileged became clear in the notorious and divisive Pullman strike during the 1890s. From here, he became one of the few far-left figures to successfully conduct a campaign for President, which he did several times during the 1900s and 1910s (He did one such campaign entirely from a jail cell after being imprisoned for sedition- let's see Trump try THAT!). His politics were honest in nature, but then, as now, he was too far on the left to even be considered for the office he campaigned for. The world's loss.
I just want to share that trade schools can be quite expensive if not on the same scale as college.
It’s almost $60,000 to get your airframe and power plant certificate and it’s a two year full-time program.
And one of the jobs they tell you you can get after graduation is airport baggage handler.
While you can certainly use that certificate to choose a more lucrative path, I have to wonder about the burden of that education on those that end up with positions on the low end of the scale.
I personally think it was short sighted to only extend forgiveness to those who chose college over trades and reinforces the idea that college is preferable even though we absolutely need people in trades.
Just offering some additional perspective to round out the conversation.
I agree. Plus if you're in school full time it can be difficult to hold down a job, a job that is probably keeping you housed and fed, while paying tuition.
I grew up in a very rural place along side dirt poor people. I respected their hard work. To this day I believe they have never gotten the respect they deserve. We talk about white collar, blue collar, pink collar, but not wet collar. It’s time we did.
You are so right, Michelle. “You can’t go home again” for JDV is more like “I will not go home again. In fact, I’ll turn my back on it forever. I got mine; what about you?”
I’m in Canada, been working poor/ low income nearly all my adult life. Low income used to mean we barely ever travelled, never ate out or did takeout/pre-made things at the grocery store, and I haven’t had my nails professionally done since 2005. It meant I could pay a small mortgage, but I couldn’t afford necessary maintenance on my home. This mostly didn’t bother me, as I’d spent time in my youth in developing nations and I knew what ‘real’ poverty looked like. I didn’t have real poverty, I just didn’t have a lot of options. I got to be very creative raising three kids on one income.
Now being low income (two of us living on one disability pension) has meant we went a winter without hot water (lots of creativity involved there!) We cannot fix or replace our 2004 vehicle (we’re car sharing with our adult daughter who lives in the same town). And we can’t get by without the foodbank, which I have avoided til now, wanting it for those who need it most. And as alluded in my other comment, it’s three years since I had a new pillow.
I have so much gratitude for the support that exists, yet there’s much that could be better.
Attention to the working poor is happening now. The concept of a “living wage” is being explored up here, which changes according to where you live and what’s available there. I was part of a group with “lived experience” as working poor taking part in discussions around what would actually be helpful. Some things are being implemented locally, and it’s supposed to inform some federal decision-making.
We’ll see what that leads to. Personally, I love the idea of eliminating the bureaucracy around poverty support (sorry, you don’t check all the boxes for this service you need) with Universal Basic Income that provides autonomy as well as ‘help’.
Was just thinking about this yesterday. although not from America, I have the same problem here in New Zealand ( I’m originally from Scotland and it holds true there too) that the Labour Party, created to represent the Working Class, no longer do so. They have lurched into being a centrist party when the right wing moved closer to their extreme sides ( I blame Thatcher and Reagan and May they both burn in hell for the misery they caused… and still cause to this day).
I was a trade unionist back in the day and staunch socialist and I find it very difficult to find a connection with a generation of politicians who having graduated through college/ university don’t understand the working classes or the under privileged and always seemed surprised that we don’t actually like them, as if by their very existence we should be grateful and I’m like, grateful for what? Your condensation, your pity?your sanctimoniousness when you feel hard done by?
In the 19th century some plutocrats felt a twinge of uneasiness about how much money they made and sought to give back,like Andrew Carnegie or Miss Coutts. But through the course of the 20th century they took a long remedial course to cure them if this fault. Now they dont care,guilt free,and they also don't care that we know they dont care. In Great Britain our Royal Family has retreated from public view and is now enjoying a privacy they must have longer for. It's a relief to us not to have to put up with non-stop trivia 24/7 about their lives but no one is asking how King Charles achieved this remarkable retreat from public view. People have this naive view that "we" can decide to become a Republic but they dont realize the complexities of the Deep State and nor did I until COVID time opened my eyes. Poor people if that's the defining factor have less power and influence than they had through the 19th into the 20th century. But no one just accords you power and influence. You have to fight for it. And suffer.
Another great piece. Thank you.
Here's the thing that no one seems to get. You literally cannot build a better world without the working class.
We (I drive a delivery truck, yes I'm working class) can do it without them. They cannot do it without us.
I would say we need everyone working together and respecting each other. Right now, only the wealthy are getting any respect.
Thats fair. I suppose it just irks me that they (the wealthy) act as if we are somehow just bystanders whose perspective is irrelevant, while we are the ones doing 99% of the actual work.
But you're right.
"Us vs Them" is a setup for perpetual conflict... when what is NEEDED is collaboration.
Oh, I get it. Totally.
Any politician wanting to show genuine respect for working people should consider the storied career of Eugene V. Debs. A railroad laborer turned union leader, his clear advocacy of the underprivileged became clear in the notorious and divisive Pullman strike during the 1890s. From here, he became one of the few far-left figures to successfully conduct a campaign for President, which he did several times during the 1900s and 1910s (He did one such campaign entirely from a jail cell after being imprisoned for sedition- let's see Trump try THAT!). His politics were honest in nature, but then, as now, he was too far on the left to even be considered for the office he campaigned for. The world's loss.
Thanks for thr Debs comment.
He's obviously one of the figures in American history I most admire, so I enjoy talking about him.
I just want to share that trade schools can be quite expensive if not on the same scale as college.
It’s almost $60,000 to get your airframe and power plant certificate and it’s a two year full-time program.
And one of the jobs they tell you you can get after graduation is airport baggage handler.
While you can certainly use that certificate to choose a more lucrative path, I have to wonder about the burden of that education on those that end up with positions on the low end of the scale.
I personally think it was short sighted to only extend forgiveness to those who chose college over trades and reinforces the idea that college is preferable even though we absolutely need people in trades.
Just offering some additional perspective to round out the conversation.
That’s interesting. I’m assuming that program is an outlier?
Your perspective is appreciated!
I agree. Plus if you're in school full time it can be difficult to hold down a job, a job that is probably keeping you housed and fed, while paying tuition.
Trickle Down
Trickle down
Trickle down
The only thing that trickles down
Is colored yellow
Trickle down
Trickle down.
Company profits rarely flow
To the average fellow
While workers brains and arms prop up the giant corporations
Their hired thugs try to derail
Folks union operations
Trickle down.
tax advantage for the rich mean
Most folks left with grievings
The fat cats get filet mignon
poor folks get the leavings
Trickle down
The CEO says he works hard
To justify his yearnings
But the worker seldom has the pull
To magnify his earnings
Trickle down
Malcolm J McKinney
Labor Day 2023
Folks in Kentucky know #heaintfromhere.
I grew up in a very rural place along side dirt poor people. I respected their hard work. To this day I believe they have never gotten the respect they deserve. We talk about white collar, blue collar, pink collar, but not wet collar. It’s time we did.
You are so right, Michelle. “You can’t go home again” for JDV is more like “I will not go home again. In fact, I’ll turn my back on it forever. I got mine; what about you?”
I’m in Canada, been working poor/ low income nearly all my adult life. Low income used to mean we barely ever travelled, never ate out or did takeout/pre-made things at the grocery store, and I haven’t had my nails professionally done since 2005. It meant I could pay a small mortgage, but I couldn’t afford necessary maintenance on my home. This mostly didn’t bother me, as I’d spent time in my youth in developing nations and I knew what ‘real’ poverty looked like. I didn’t have real poverty, I just didn’t have a lot of options. I got to be very creative raising three kids on one income.
Now being low income (two of us living on one disability pension) has meant we went a winter without hot water (lots of creativity involved there!) We cannot fix or replace our 2004 vehicle (we’re car sharing with our adult daughter who lives in the same town). And we can’t get by without the foodbank, which I have avoided til now, wanting it for those who need it most. And as alluded in my other comment, it’s three years since I had a new pillow.
I have so much gratitude for the support that exists, yet there’s much that could be better.
Attention to the working poor is happening now. The concept of a “living wage” is being explored up here, which changes according to where you live and what’s available there. I was part of a group with “lived experience” as working poor taking part in discussions around what would actually be helpful. Some things are being implemented locally, and it’s supposed to inform some federal decision-making.
We’ll see what that leads to. Personally, I love the idea of eliminating the bureaucracy around poverty support (sorry, you don’t check all the boxes for this service you need) with Universal Basic Income that provides autonomy as well as ‘help’.
I wish the people in charge would listen to people like you. They should take notes.
Here’s hoping!
Your last sentence says it all. Uncle Vance is the biggest mirage in the Republican party right now.
He's just a down home good ol boy I hear! I'm in UK.
He's got a sexy voice!
Enjoy that voice while he works to deny abortions to raped teens.
I'm not in USA so it's nothing to me.
Was just thinking about this yesterday. although not from America, I have the same problem here in New Zealand ( I’m originally from Scotland and it holds true there too) that the Labour Party, created to represent the Working Class, no longer do so. They have lurched into being a centrist party when the right wing moved closer to their extreme sides ( I blame Thatcher and Reagan and May they both burn in hell for the misery they caused… and still cause to this day).
I was a trade unionist back in the day and staunch socialist and I find it very difficult to find a connection with a generation of politicians who having graduated through college/ university don’t understand the working classes or the under privileged and always seemed surprised that we don’t actually like them, as if by their very existence we should be grateful and I’m like, grateful for what? Your condensation, your pity?your sanctimoniousness when you feel hard done by?
Unfortunately Kamala Harris is not the answer
She’s the only answer we’ve got right now!
Speaking as a lower-income lib who grew up in a trailer, the daughter of a boilermaker and the mother of a welder … Go Kamala!
That she is but that isn’t going to help those who need the help the most.
Who is? Biden? I just heard from an American friend who said they were thinking of not voting at all, but now they’ll vote for Kamala.
In the 19th century some plutocrats felt a twinge of uneasiness about how much money they made and sought to give back,like Andrew Carnegie or Miss Coutts. But through the course of the 20th century they took a long remedial course to cure them if this fault. Now they dont care,guilt free,and they also don't care that we know they dont care. In Great Britain our Royal Family has retreated from public view and is now enjoying a privacy they must have longer for. It's a relief to us not to have to put up with non-stop trivia 24/7 about their lives but no one is asking how King Charles achieved this remarkable retreat from public view. People have this naive view that "we" can decide to become a Republic but they dont realize the complexities of the Deep State and nor did I until COVID time opened my eyes. Poor people if that's the defining factor have less power and influence than they had through the 19th into the 20th century. But no one just accords you power and influence. You have to fight for it. And suffer.