I usually agree with Paul Krugman, but not today. In this essay, Krugman sets up a false dichotomy (no one on the left thinks that oligarchy is the only cause of social injustice, or that entrenched prejudice is insignificant or nonexistent) in order to conclude that white working class racial prejudice is intractable. But white middle America really doesn't look like that as a whole. The anger that is being expressed in political discourse comes from a sense of betrayal that is shared by many working Americans, white and nonwhite. It is based on hard experience, which right-wing demagogues have exploited, virtually unchallenged, for generations now.
Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, both New Democrat reformers who tried to connect with the concerns of heartland voters, failed to build a sustainable alliance of white and nonwhite working class voters, because they failed to deliver on their promises to those voters. Their main allegiance was to the donors who backed them, and their policies ultimately helped the rich but hurt the working poor. They explain that globalization has made living wages in developed countries unsustainable, They explain that a technological skill gap has made US workers redundant, and that GOP intransigence forced them into unavoidable compromises. But unlike the elected leaders of other developed countries, where the interests of working people are regularly taken into account in crafting economic and social policy, these Democratic leaders and their Republican colleagues made no real effort to promulgate or legislate an ameliorative vision, as they might have done at any point. The aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis was a perfect opportunity for a reboot of protections for workers and middle class property owners, but the opportunity was missed.
Liberal transracial populism has not failed. It just hasn't been attempted. In its absence, the basic respect that most Americans have for others, which is our most precious social capital, has been eroded to some degree by relentless victim-blaming. But Americans as a whole want to live in a society where they can respect all of their neighbors, and trust that everyone is getting a fair shake. We can make this happen, but only if we demand that our elected leaders reverse their priorities in creating social and economic policy.
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