Posts by Rich Lock
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While all of the stats about the white middle-cass are 'true' - the $50+K earnings and so on, I do think this needs to parsed a bit more carefully.
2008 was the year the economy nearly went full Mad Max. Obama was elected, in 2008, specifically on a campaign of 'hope', and 'change'. Obviously, the economy tanking is not his fault, and, yes, he spent much of both terms completely hamstrung. However, the fact remains that there's this inescapable contrast between what was promised, and what was actually provided.
Since 2008, wages have stagnated across the board. At the same time, the cost of the big things that this wage group assumes should be within it's reach if they work hard enough has gone up - the cost of healthcare, mortgages, sending their kids to college, etc. Plus they watched the value of their retirement funds tank. Plus the cost of all the little stuff has risen, too: gas, groceries, and so on.
So with their wages stagnant, this effectively means they've fallen. For eight straight years.
So nothing really changed, except to get worse.
Then a straight either/or choice is provided between a candidate who is basically the distilled essence of The Establishment (who as far as you can see dropped you in this shit, and don't have anything to offer except more of the same), and an outsider who promises to shake things up.
If you're a non-diehard, inclined-to-swing voter, who doesn't follow evey tiny cut-and-thrust of politics too closely, and whose underlying assumption is that you're in the middle, the middle remains static and always has done, and you just choose which side of the line to stand on, and if as a consequence you don't really hear about, or understand, the neo-fascist undertones, or the potential implications of everything else he's said (which is quite a large chunk of normal people), then in your straight either/or choice, Trump is going to look pretty attractive.
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Crude election turnout pie chart
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Hard News: Be careful what you wish for, in reply to Russell Brown,
By the executive editor of Cracked
I read Cracked semi-regularly. As an aside, I find it really flipping bizarre that some of the best stories and analysis I've read in the last couple of years are coming from a self-proclaimed 'dick jokes' comedy website.
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I've been reading a few accounts of Trump voters explaning why they voted for him. One of the strongest through-themes is the economy/jobs/american dream/etc.
I can't help thinking these people are in for a really, really, nasty shock. How that plays out is anybody's guess.
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Hard News: The Long, Strange Trip, in reply to Rob Stowell,
Its tough to realise Trump did this with far less money and organisation than Hillary had.
I read a story a few weeks ago that estimated he had had around 2 billion-with-a-b dollars-worth of free tv exposure, from being able to pick up a phone and waltz onto fox for a quick chat with hanitty or whoever.
He didn't need to spend the money when there are certain elements of the media actively pushing him.
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Just woke up here in the UK. At least, I assume I did, and this isn't some incredibly vivid fever dream.
Just.....wow.
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Hard News: Dirty Politics, in reply to Rich of Observationz,
encourage farming kiwis for their meat.
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Not sure how relevant this UK decision will be for NZ, but may be of interest: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/oct/28/uber-uk-tribunal-self-employed-status?CMP=fb_gu
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So this is....interesting.
The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff posts an open letter essentially saying 'all serving members must remember that the armed forces are politically neutral'. Is this a normal pre-election reminder? Because there are some interesting implications to be read into that, if this is a reminder he has felt it is necessary to issue as a one-off for this year in particular.
