Red Mosquito

theplatypus wrote:Twitter doesn't really have a lot of money

Why do white working-class people vote against their interests? They don’t. Corporate Democrats have never advanced their interests—and at least Republicans offer a basic, if misleading, story about why they are getting screwed. When I first started organizing in Youngstown, Ohio, many people told me I must read Sean Safford’s Why the Garden Club Couldn’t Save Youngstown, which argues that Youngstown collapsed as a result of a lack of social networks. It is an absurd explanation for what happened to the city—but embraced by many thoughtful progressive leaders there. In fact, Youngstown has been left hobbled because progressives failed to secure economic power.

 Two narratives emerged about the collapse of the industrial heartland in America. The one from the far right has three parts: First, that industry left this country because unions destroyed productivity and made labor costs too high, thereby making us uncompetitive. Second, corporations were the victims of over-regulation and a bloated government that overtaxed them to pay for socialist welfare systems. Third, illegal immigration has resulted in the stealing of American jobs, increased competition for white workers, and depressed wages. Together these three factors led to the collapse of manufacturing in America. This, sadly, is a story that many Americans believe. The second narrative, promoted by corporate Democrats, is that the global economy shifted and the country is now in transition from an industrial to a knowledge-based economy. This story tacitly accepts the economic restructuring of the heartland as inevitable once China and other markets opened up.

Orpheus wrote:One of the greatest lies Americans believe is that illegals "steal" jobs. Jobs are only given, often by the people promoting the idea that the good ole boys are being screwed. There are assuredly hundreds of illegals working in Trump's businesses right now.

jwfocker wrote:Wouldn't a shrinking labor market with jobs getting taken by illegal immigrants drive down the housing market?

I don't know of many entry level jobs that people can get when they have difficulty speaking the 1st language, without connections, and without a high school diploma/college level education.

Orpheus wrote:One of the greatest lies Americans believe is that illegals "steal" jobs. Jobs are only given, often by the people promoting the idea that the good ole boys are being screwed. There are assuredly hundreds of illegals working in Trump's businesses right now.

McParadigm wrote:

Orpheus wrote:One of the greatest lies Americans believe is that illegals "steal" jobs. Jobs are only given, often by the people promoting the idea that the good ole boys are being screwed. There are assuredly hundreds of illegals working in Trump's businesses right now.

The real problem here is that the actual story is incredibly simple. It requires very little analysis, but offers no solution.

Manufacturing jobs are going away, and they won't come back because manufacturing jobs aren't needed.

McParadigm wrote:

E.H. Ruddock wrote:

McParadigm wrote:

He's just trolling us now, right? Right?

Strat wrote:How fucking ridiculous is it that donald trump condemned Fidel Castro and then not a few days later says people should face jail time or revoked citizenship for exercising their constitutional amendment?

tragabigzanda wrote:

jwfocker wrote:Wouldn't a shrinking labor market with jobs getting taken by illegal immigrants drive down the housing market?

I don't know of many entry level jobs that people can get when they have difficulty speaking the 1st language, without connections, and without a high school diploma/college level education.

There's a book that speaks to this that came out a few years ago called The Great Divergence. I didn't finish it, but the basic premise was that the expensive markets will be occupied by the executives, while the labor force will slowly move to the established 'burbs and commute in for work every day. See NYC and NJ/CT for an example.

President Obama wrote: "If this huge influx of mostly low-skill workers provides some benefits to the economy as a whole — especially by keeping our workforce young, in contrast to an increasingly geriatric Europe and Japan — it also threatens to depress further the wages of blue-collar Americans and put strains on an already overburdened safety net"