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PaperclipPerfector  3mo ago (text post)   37901 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of July 8, 2024

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when he was the beneficiary of an elite attack on Sanders and RFK and Dean Phillips

Do the elites now include random middle class people in the mid west who don't like the anti-vaxx guy who had a worm starve to death on his brain or an avowed socialist? If the elite defended him against some of these people it's because of how incredibly embarrassing they are.

Biden benefited the party from suppressing any real primary because they thought it'd weaken the incumbent (and consolidating the anti Bernie vote last time)

I don't care about RFK, personally. But it's a bit rich for the guy who benefited from party grandees, media figures and candidates pragmatically lining up behind him trying to sound like Bernie whining about elites Mika Brzezinski when they do the math again and decide he's a bad bet.

It goes both ways. Or should, anyway.

Do the elites now include random middle class people in the mid west

Yes. From a right-populist perspective, anyone with a conventional 4-year BA is presumed to be an out-of-touch elite until proven otherwise. It is worse in the UK, where to make the maths work on "Brexit is a revolt of the people against the elites" you have to treat anyone with a job as an elite.

I knew the UK economy was bad, but was the unemployment rate really 50%?

No, but exit polls suggest that economically active people voted 55-45 for remain and, anecdotally, people with jobs were more remainery than freelancers and small business owners.

In my social circle which, consistent with the results for Greater London was about two thirds remain, one third leave, precisely zero of the leavers had a PAYE job. They included pensioners, self-employed tradesmen, and an only son whose "day job" was caring for his elderly parents while trying to use the imminent inheritance to pick up an e-bride from Thailand and engaging in less-pozzed science fiction fandom.

So there were in fact quite a few people with jobs voting Leave.

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