02-17-2024, 09:03 PM
(02-16-2024, 11:08 PM)Belsnickel Wrote: So, this is something that has been explored for a while, now. Back in 2017, there was a book that was released that explored this topic, The Crisis of the Middle Class Constitution. It's hard to do the book justice in a forum post, but the premise of the argument was that before the United States, the issue of economic inequality in governmental representation was addressed constitutionally with representation attempting to even out the political inequalities it cause. However, because the US was pretty egalitarian during the time of the founders, they didn't build this into our system. The framers understood that the bulk of those that would hold political power were the middle class of the time. The economic inequality was not high (discounting the enslaved, of course), so there was not political inequality.
Today, though, we have a shrinking middle class with a growing level of socioeconomic inequality. With a Gini coefficient more in line with developing nations than with our WEIRD peers, it means that the political inequality is going with it. As more wealth accumulates at the top, the political power accumulates with it. This of course creates a feedback loop where those with the economic power take the political power and pass policies to give them even more economic power resulting in more political power, etc., etc.
And before anyone tries to say I am just bashing one side with this, I want to say that the Democrats are always ***** this up, as well. Because those with the power are predominantly unaware of the actual plight of the middle and lower classes, even if they are well-meaning, on the right or left, they often do not have any idea of the real issues that the average member of the public experiences.
That's why so many voters view Trump as an almost religious figure. He's most definitely an outsider in Washington. He plays lots of games in terms of how he attains his wealth, but he doesn't play the Washington elites particular variety of game. He doesn't lose much if he refuses to shut up and play ball.
Street-level perspective of voters here is that DJT will disrupt the system that grants them less and less power and compensation every year. The only thing they don't get is that he doesn't care about them or their place on the political/economic spectrum. He only cares that they grant him power through their vote. He'll gladly break the system, but fixing it is a different thing.
