Left-wing politics lost the working man the moment it started caring about women and minorities.
In talk about Obama/Hillary I’ve seen the above claim a few times, never spelled out, but sitting there under the text. And I have to confess, it has a certain explanatory appeal.
But I am not a history expert, and I am suspicious of this claim that seems to imply that prejudice is endemic among working-class white men. I don’t think that’s true.
So, people who read this blog. Is that claim in italics nonsense? Or is there enough truth in there that it is of some value?
(Dastardly is a tremendously good word. I want to use it more often but the opportunity rarely presents itself.)
9 thoughts on “Those Dastardly White Men!”
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I’ve mentioned earlier that as a young white man I held some fairly racist views. They weren’t calculated or something I was proud of, but they were there. I like to think I grew out of them, but I wouldn’t be surprised if many of my peers did not.
(eg: I and people like me (white folks) have more potential to be smart and successful than Maori. As if statistical success was a measure of potential/worth).
I think there is a kind of underlying sexism (and probably racism, though I’m not so aware) that is pretty prevalent in our society… and I don’t think it is just working class or even just men. I see it in the way people talk about the fact that girls are now achieving better than boys at school, even in “male” subjects as if boys have a right to be the top achievers (I agree there is an institutional problem that needs to be addressed, but not by dragging girls down!). One guy I know reckons that men are now disadvantaged in NZ workplaces, and his evidence for this is that women now get most of the management positions… now in his field (he’s a chef) this may be true, but overall the statistics suggest otherwise (especially in my field!) and when I pointed that out he said that was only because women take time out for raising children (seriously, this conversation really happened!). Also, look at the way Helen Clark, who is remarkably low key for a politician gets labelled as arrogant… And I have (seriously) heard people at work say (as a reason for voting National) that is time we had a male prime minister. Palmerston North is a scary place!
Another middle class white guy I know holds the opinion that all Pacific Islanders are lazy and dishonest and backs this with statistics.
So sorry Morgue, in NZ… yeah, I’d say so… can’t imagine the US is better!
Sorry M… hit post twice!
k- double post deleted 🙂
Both of you, and anyone else: okay, but lets turn the tables on that. Looking for confirmatory evidence will lead to us confirming the idea. Is there any evidence that this idea is wrong? That the “working man” (such as that is) had solidarity with minorities? Hell, who was going to war in the U.S. to free the slaves? (Some would say: no-one, it was about state’s rights not black rights.)
A counter-narrative I’ve also seen is that left-wing politics lost the “working man” as soon as right-wing politics realised they could divide and conquer – that the left has always cared about women and minorities, but it took outside manipulation to turn that into a wedge.
But I’m suspicious of that narrative too, because it sounds too much like an excuse: “There is no bigotry among people, its just those evil Republicans who manipulated it into being!”
interesting you say that – while entertaining the other day a guy mentioned reading a book that suggested that left wing politics lost women and minorities as soon as it stoped caring about the working man… actually that is my emphasis from the synopsis I got and is possibly a trite response to your liegit question. In any case I will try and dig up the reference…
Don’t know how to answer your question, but my gut feeling is that it just doesn’t work the way you have framed it. I don’t see it as cause and effect. I see it as situation and discription and therefore easily argued for and against and in reverse…
As I have said this before, Nz has quite a lot of racism and social ranking that we try and play down. I think in general we are pretty open people and hope we are not like that but it shines through again and again.
Some of the comments from the other replies, I have heard a lot over the time in NZ. One guy I worked with said the same thing about pacific islanders. But having worked with a lot of island people in factory work and I can say that it is not the truth. You should work with the english, so lazy, they make me look good and with the people in southampton positivly respectable.
It’s all about respect and you need to earn it and give it. Each culture/sex has something to give, each has its strenghs.
One story I remember is, that one year at Toi Whakaari a lot of “minorities” were chosen for the course and some people actually said there was a quota to fill. What????? I know for one that it’s all done on merit and ability, being close friends with people, who have been on the selection panel, not to mention the actors selected that year I can say that “it’s just that you were not good enough.”
The working class man is not lost he is just stuck up his arse thinking that he deserves all the attention. Stop moaning and get on making money for the shareholders ok!!!!
As both a minority and a woman I’ve been of the opinion that the left doesn’t actually give a flying anything about me except to point out that one of my kind (whatever camp that is at the time) is either proving that the Left’s policies are working, that the Right’s policies are failing, that I am something to be ‘celebrated’ or to be ‘feared’ …
As for the working man, again my experience goes something along the lines of hearing:
WM: Those bloody X, if it weren’t for [name government policy] then we wouldn’t be having these problems
Me: But I’m X
WM: Well … yeah … but you’re different …
I should add that it’s just as bad within the camps of difference too …
2t, s: don’t know that I have anything to say in response to those comments, but thanks for making ’em. They sound pretty damn solid to me.
No, hang on, I do have something to say – sonal, that’s a good point about how your experience is that the left doesn’t care about you except as a political football when convenient. There’s definitely a perception among conservative elements that through the process known as “political correctness gone mad” you, in fact, are in charge of our society. Now obviously that’s not true (you’re in Edinburgh) but maybe that initial statement wasn’t strong enough – the left didn’t actually need to care about you, it just needed to be *perceived* to care about you.
Wheels within wheels. Hmm.