Before They Were 'Not-So-Bright' Trumpists, They Were Bush and Reagan Supporters
Is it a coincidence or just a result of failed Republican policies that our nation is on the brink of ending democracy?
In his first State of the Union address, Ronald Reagan blamed the nation’s economic woes on the “tax and spend” policies of the decades before he became president. Having benefitted from those policies, upon becoming president, he decided that such “hand-outs” weakened the nation, so they had to be ended.
In a way, Ronald Reagan couldn’t have been more spot-on. It was a Roosevelt work program that financed a summer lifeguarding job for the president-to-be as a teen growing up in Dixon, Illinois, which laid a foundation for his future life. Thanks to the “handout,” he could earn money, save it, and advance successfully through life, eventually becoming the governor of California and the president of the United States.
The foundation from which Reagan and several generations in post-World War II America benefitted was America’s finest moment for one reason: income equality across the board dropped to its lowest levels in our nation’s history. The “good old days” of Father Knows Best, when whites reigned supreme, minorities “knew their place,” and women were tethered to the home, was the most economically equal America would ever be.
While, of course, the emancipating of Black Americans in the 1960s, followed by the rise of the feminist movement, were positive developments in our nation’s history, the backlash was one that it would not require an education to predict. White men resented sharing both the wealth and the power with “the Blacks” and women, and the response was Reaganism. For everything that Reagan’s economic revolution wasn’t, it was unquestioningly against minorities and women. It was classicist, and the long-term goal was to protect the white male status quo.
Income inequality has been rising since 1980
Imagine sitting at a blackjack table in a casino. You are dealt your cards, and next, contemplate whether to stay or take a hit.
Another player sits down next to you and is handed the deck of cards from the dealer. He picks out the exact cards he wants, and the dealer deals those cards only to him. Knowing that he will have 21, he bets big. The house gets 19, so the 21 wins. You have 18 and lose. A massive pile of chips is slid across the table to the celebrating man.
Seeing your reaction, he decides to share some of the wealth. He orders a bottle of expensive champagne and a plate of sandwiches and even tosses a few chips your way. Washing down the delicious sandwiches with the perfectly chilled champagne, the man looks at you and says confidently:
“You, too, could be winning like this if you had access to the cards you wanted.”
“Great. But how do I get access to the cards?”
“Oh, I can’t tell you that. If I did, then there would be less for me.”
As you play on, you learn that for each win, some chips are being siphoned off your meager pile and given to the man. It is explained that the house is running low on chips and needs to be given to the man. When you complain, they call you selfish and a “commie” who wants to deny the man of his “rightful winnings.”
Seeing you are angry, he buys another bottle of champagne and sandwiches. You eat and drink, but maintaining a merry mood is getting more difficult.
“You know why we are running out of chips, pal? The wealthy man shares. “Because you see those Blacks (women, union workers, gays, etc.) over there? They don’t want to work like you. They want handouts. That’s why you are getting less and less.”
The man thinks. Could this be true? At this time, the wealthy man complains about his chair being uncomfortable. A casino worker then asks you to stand up because your chair is needed. The workers remove the chair and, unseen, remove the springs and cushions and add them to the winning man’s chair. As if sitting on a throne, he plays, wins, giggles with glee, and delights in the benefits of American capitalism.
So happy, he pays for a colorful sign to be hung over the room: America is the greatest country in the history of the world thanks to hard work and Jesus Christ!” The sign’s message is reinforced with announcements expressing the same.
When a Black man and a gay woman walk up and ask for chairs so they too can play at the table, the wealthy man, raising his glass of whiskey with you — you are a white man, remember — says loudly, “Get a load of these too freeloaders. They want to sit!” By now, feeling comfortably full thanks to the champagne, whiskey, and sandwiches, you have taken a liking to your wealthy friend.
“Hey, f*** off, you freeloaders! If I can stand, why can’t you?”
And so it goes, folks. Movies, TV shows, songs, all right-wing media, and Republican after Republican have reinforced this same message that our wealthy, cheating friend in the casino hung over the table. While, of course, this is an exaggeration, it is barely.
Read about “The Great Gatsby Curve,” which was introduced in 2013.
The curve shows that children from poor families are less likely to improve their economic status as adults in countries where income inequality was higher — meaning wealth was concentrated in fewer hands — around the time those children were growing up.
So why does this matter for the United States? The U.S. has had a sharp rise in inequality since the 1980s. In fact, on the eve of the Great Recession, income inequality in the U.S. was as sharp as it had been at any period since the time of “The Great Gatsby.”
“While we will not know for sure whether, and how much, income mobility across generations has been exacerbated by the rise in inequality in the U.S. until today’s children have grown up and completed their careers,” he said, “we can use the Great Gatsby Curve to make a rough forecast (What Is the Great Gatsby Curve?).”
Many Americans today will look at the rising minimum wages and state that all is great for American workers. They will say, “If you want a job, there is one for everyone.” In many instances, these are positive developments. Nonetheless, the effect is the same as if our wealthy, cheating blackjack player decides to slide two over to you each time he wins 100 chips. As you stand there, knees and back aching, he smiles from his comfy seat and says: “Now stop your bitching, and don’t forget that it’s ‘them’ who are the enemy, not me! I am just a hard-working guy like you.”