Gosh I love this piece. My only quibble is that I would bet that neither Waldman nor Schaller have ever interacted with a real, live, working class person ever. Certainly they would not have gone to a public high school with the plebians.
Well done. I'm bi-polar between being "elite" and "trash". I guess that makes me elite trash? I have no use for either of the main political parties. I agree much with the Team Evil versus Team Stupid. Democrats are all-in on demonizing white working class, and the elites are all in on hollow virtue signaling (stolen land acknowledgements have replaced the pledge of allegiance). And since when is child mutilation and men in women's only sports the hill to die on? Republicans OTHO can barely step on their own dicks, and that's about it.
To your point (I think? maybe not). We live in far Western Wyoming, half mile from the state line. The local town is Driggs Idaho. This is an area that was traditionally Mormon farmers, and there is still some of that, but is mostly a second home - vacation place due to proximity to Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks, an Grand Targhee ski area. Lots of the usual issues abound. Service industry people cannot afford to live here, except like poor college students sharing a bathroom, or in a van down by the river. Housing prices doubled during COVID years.
We sat at the bar in one of the local watering holes last night. The couple sitting next to us went to great lengths to explain they were barely making it. It was her 40th birthday. She was wearing all Green Bay Packer swag her sister had sent her. Said she was a huge Packers fan. I made the mistake of asking if she ever went back to see a game. WTF?! would cost us something like $5K to fly, rent car, hotel, tickets, food, beverages, etc. They could not even afford NFL package (she loves football but hate these the greedy NFL because she cannot afford to watch). He used to own a house in Minnesota, but lost it to foreclosure back in the bubble pop of 2008. They had relocated to Driggs, because they could no longer afford to live in Colorado. He had a decent paying job as excavator in Jackson, but rent and food etc. was so expensive, did leave much left. This was their big night out to eat: burgers and a single beer. the bartender and I bought them another round, and his first reaction was nearly anger. He did not need my charity. I told him it was not charity; just a happy birthday gesture to his wife. They could tell between my vocabulary and lack of relating to their financial situation that we were well-off, which I did not deny. What's the point.
I just prompted him to tell his story, asked follow up questions, and just listened. He would blame others for his situation, but also himself. There wasn't anything I could possibly say that wouldn't have come out as condescending. She was from broken family. He said he had no time to do anything but work, and even if he had time, he had no money to do anything. They expressed a real sense of no hope, and my wife and I were sitting without a care in the world talking to people on other side of us about our upcoming trip to Australia. I felt like an asshole just for existing. Politics was not mentioned. Race was not mentioned.
I'm in a similar area here in Michigan. Rural but a vacation area too. Definitely makes for some tensions. It's always good to get out there and talk with people though!
My wife and I are social animals; but we tend to get social with people who are just getting by financially, and on rare occasions results in some tension. But, never about skin color. That couple the other evening were white, rural (by choice, not origin), and had an visible seething rage that you could tell they were doing their best not to let erupt. We are white, rural (by choice, not origin), and happy as clams. Their rage is 100% economic-based and zero race-based. And, we were semi-targets of the rage, although it was not personal. I have no idea if they are Trump voters, Biden voters, or non-voters. That did not come up.
Gosh I love this piece. My only quibble is that I would bet that neither Waldman nor Schaller have ever interacted with a real, live, working class person ever. Certainly they would not have gone to a public high school with the plebians.
Yea you're probably right about that haha
Well done. I'm bi-polar between being "elite" and "trash". I guess that makes me elite trash? I have no use for either of the main political parties. I agree much with the Team Evil versus Team Stupid. Democrats are all-in on demonizing white working class, and the elites are all in on hollow virtue signaling (stolen land acknowledgements have replaced the pledge of allegiance). And since when is child mutilation and men in women's only sports the hill to die on? Republicans OTHO can barely step on their own dicks, and that's about it.
To your point (I think? maybe not). We live in far Western Wyoming, half mile from the state line. The local town is Driggs Idaho. This is an area that was traditionally Mormon farmers, and there is still some of that, but is mostly a second home - vacation place due to proximity to Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks, an Grand Targhee ski area. Lots of the usual issues abound. Service industry people cannot afford to live here, except like poor college students sharing a bathroom, or in a van down by the river. Housing prices doubled during COVID years.
We sat at the bar in one of the local watering holes last night. The couple sitting next to us went to great lengths to explain they were barely making it. It was her 40th birthday. She was wearing all Green Bay Packer swag her sister had sent her. Said she was a huge Packers fan. I made the mistake of asking if she ever went back to see a game. WTF?! would cost us something like $5K to fly, rent car, hotel, tickets, food, beverages, etc. They could not even afford NFL package (she loves football but hate these the greedy NFL because she cannot afford to watch). He used to own a house in Minnesota, but lost it to foreclosure back in the bubble pop of 2008. They had relocated to Driggs, because they could no longer afford to live in Colorado. He had a decent paying job as excavator in Jackson, but rent and food etc. was so expensive, did leave much left. This was their big night out to eat: burgers and a single beer. the bartender and I bought them another round, and his first reaction was nearly anger. He did not need my charity. I told him it was not charity; just a happy birthday gesture to his wife. They could tell between my vocabulary and lack of relating to their financial situation that we were well-off, which I did not deny. What's the point.
I just prompted him to tell his story, asked follow up questions, and just listened. He would blame others for his situation, but also himself. There wasn't anything I could possibly say that wouldn't have come out as condescending. She was from broken family. He said he had no time to do anything but work, and even if he had time, he had no money to do anything. They expressed a real sense of no hope, and my wife and I were sitting without a care in the world talking to people on other side of us about our upcoming trip to Australia. I felt like an asshole just for existing. Politics was not mentioned. Race was not mentioned.
I'm in a similar area here in Michigan. Rural but a vacation area too. Definitely makes for some tensions. It's always good to get out there and talk with people though!
My wife and I are social animals; but we tend to get social with people who are just getting by financially, and on rare occasions results in some tension. But, never about skin color. That couple the other evening were white, rural (by choice, not origin), and had an visible seething rage that you could tell they were doing their best not to let erupt. We are white, rural (by choice, not origin), and happy as clams. Their rage is 100% economic-based and zero race-based. And, we were semi-targets of the rage, although it was not personal. I have no idea if they are Trump voters, Biden voters, or non-voters. That did not come up.
You really hit the nail on the head. My org (ruralurbanbridge.org) has been denouncing this book for months. Maybe we can connect?
Sure I’d like that. Why don’t you hit me up at luke@michfa.org and we’ll find a time
Hi, Luke. I just read this piece today, thought you’d appreciate it, too.
https://open.substack.com/pub/emmaecollins/p/the-evangelicals-i-know?r=7jlkd&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
Hell yea this is good shit. I feel the same way as her, being that I work with lots of white evangelicals. Gonna hit her up