That's right, America was one happy family, no culture war whatsoever, everything was going fine... until one day Trump came out of nowhere, for some inexplicable reason won the election and started his work dividing the country.

you mean to tell me Trump didnt do anything to ignite a culture war?

trump rode a wave, he didnt create it. elites from both sides gutted the middle class and specifically working labor families for decades, trump is the price they paid and will continue to pay until they find a way to at least placate those affected by automation, outsourcing, and stagnated earnings for high school educated people.

Trump is a sympton of the problem, not the cause. And the liberal/lefty reaction to him did just as much to exacerbate the culture war as his own actions.

agreed



this just isnt true though. not one single person or group of people on the left has spewed as much vitriolic, divisive rhetoric as Trump has over the last 8+ years. he's been fueling the culture war fire with fervor

The view.

The Democratic party slowly transitioned from a labor-dominated movement into a white-collar, socially progressive one. As a result, it became heavily reliant on a legion of white, young(ish) millennials for its donor/activist class, all the more so given that the left has spent decades building up an impressive network of left-wing affiliated non-profits. The policies of the new Democratic party reflect the priorities of that class.

For a time (i.e. under Obama) this turned out fine, or more than fine as Republican candidates stuck to a neo-liberal, hawkish script that alienated blue-collar voters. Democrats made increasing inroads into suburbia and corporate, and the electoral college began to look impossible. It was at this time that pundits were seriously talking about permanent Democratic supermajorities the Republican party degenerating into a regional, sub national force.

What to keep in mind, though, is that Democratic social and domestic policy was increasingly outside the American norm. Political correctness, while in its infancy, was starting to take off. Censorship, "me-too", and an unbending focus on social, cultural, and racial phenomenon exploded. As a white-collar dominated party, Democrats increasingly lost their ability to speak on class. And being a white-collar dominated party, they lost the ability to communicate with blue-collar voters. Obama was an exceptionally strong politician, and his personal success papered over an eroding base of blue-collar support, exacerbated by the fact that Obama was emphatically a white-collar oriented president.

Finally, having set the stage, enters Trump. Unlike Romney (aka RMoney), Trump broke with corporate America, and a combination of his brashness, unapologetic pro-Americanism, anti-free trade, anti-PC agenda resonated not only with the rural southern Republicans he needed for the nomination, but the blue-collar voters in Iowa, Indiana, Ohio, Wisconsin, and Michigan which drove him to the White House.

That was possible only because the Democratic party found itself far to the left culturally, and because their activist class exists in an echo chamber that leaves them unable to see it. Simultaneously, the Republican party couldn't break from a neo-liberal orthodoxy that was unpopular among their own voters. Hillary campaigned with Hollywood celebrities, Trump ran massive rallies. Republicans were afraid of calling out illegal immigrants, Trump called for them to be deported. Republicans couldn't bring themselves to criticize globalization, Trump assailed it.

Trump didn't start a culture war, he identified that one existed and picked a side.

During the 90s there was a mental shift from blue collar work to white collar work for young people.

They were programming a generation.

Utilizing the democract ran school system to push the white collar agenda.

This post was edited by Mondain on Sep 11 2023 02:41pm

this culture war we're in now started with the Civil Rights movement in the 1960's, and it has largely been fueled (especially in the last two decades)by Republican politicians and their advisors/special interest groups from the top down. rather than focus on things that are traditionally conservative, like fiscal responsibility, limited role of government, right to liberty, etc., they're focusing on dunking on trans people, football players taking a knee and looking at pictures of Hunter Biden's dick.

as for Democrats being "white collar", how is this any different from Republicans? I dont disagree with you but at least recognize that specific problem is not only relative to the Democrats - its almost ALL of the politicians in office are corporate stooges.


this is just nonsense lol



Trump IS corporate America! are you joking? you demonize "white collar" Democrats when Trump is literally guilty of the very same corruption. he's failed upward his entire life and has a history rife with shady, unscrupulous business dealings. maybe you meant he attempted to break from the establishment?
Trump wooed rural southern and midwestern voters with false promises and racist rhetoric. It was clearly a smart strategy but it isnt one that we havent seen before



the Democratic party is not even close to the "far left", its center-right if anything. you obviously dont pay attention or understand politics in general if you believe this lol


Trump's successful nationalist, racist rhetoric has more to do with the moral shortcomings of conservatives than it does to do with what the left is doing.
Conservatives have always wanted a bully as president and Trump finally allowed all right wingers to finally take their masks off. the hatred is out in the open for everyone to see

This post was edited by gnarjay on Sep 11 2023 02:48pm