It has been almost a week since I wrote last and I have a pretty good excuse. A relative of my wife's passed away over the weekend. I wasn't going to bring my computer and my Iphone ended up going on the fritz on the way back home. My customer service experience with Apple will be the subject of another column soon. Suffice it to say, everything is almost back to normal after the ten hours on the road. However, I thought I would get something out of the experience.
Obviously, I don't want to get too personal. They are my wife's family and she isn't going to take too kindly if I start spilling secrets over the internet. I should simply say that most of them are not as educated as we are, but are not unintelligent people. They are what we would call ignorant in the academic sense. At least they are in political terms. I could get into social things and psychological things, but this is a political blog so I will focus on it.
My wife's family (particularly her parents' generation) works hard. Like most people, they have made some mistakes and sometimes have had less luck than they should. On the other hand, you could simply say their relative lack of education has placed them in their lot in life. I'm not going to judge that. What does interest me is that their interests should be quite clear and their opinions are quite clear. The problem is that they don't match.
Many in the gamily are anti-Obama and yet they stand to gain the most from his policies. In essence, some of them represent the disconnect between working class white people. When someone they know has to take on government assistance it is seen as a hand up. When someone is black and gets government assistance it is a hand out. It is particularly disconcerting when one of them lambasts Obama's health care plan while people in his family have suffered with numerous health problems. Some can afford basic necessities because of health care costs. The disconnect is overwhelming.
I promise this isn't about health care, welfare, or anything else specific. What it is about is simple enlightened self-interest. I know it is one of those vague political science terms most of us learned in college. It really shouldn't be that vague. It is in fact the greatest issue facing voters today. If everyone voted their actual interests this would be a much better country. Unfortunately, you have people willing to pit us versus them in an attempt to cover up the fact that there very rarely ever conflict.
What is sick to me is that I grew up in a world where there was no race. People were people and everyone was judged by the content of their character. I knew occasional people that had racist beliefs, but we seemed to have moved past that. Unfortunately, it was either hidden or it has come back. As for me, I was a good in law and bit my tongue most of the time. My wife would have killed me otherwise.
Progress is never easy. When we look back at history books we always see the end results and not necessarily the struggle that went in. Even when struggle is reported on, it isn't quite the same as living through it. Us history teachers always try to make our students experience history as much as we can replicate it (Oregon Trail in Elementary School was my all-time favorite history experience). Unfortunately, as much as you can, you can't replicate the sheer emotion and frustration that comes with real life.
We must remember that Obama, a black man, actually won the election by a pretty good margin. There are a lot of good, thinking people in this country. The problemn is that the idiot, racist minority is very vocal and they get all the press coverage.
Obama has a unique opportunity to show these people that a democrat in the White House, a national health insurance overehaulwill not mean the end of life as we know it. I fully expect to see the dedmocrats some hits in November. BUt it won't be as bad as everybody says. The REAL test is gonna be Obama's next two years and the 2012 election. It's "put up or shut up" for Obama and the democratic congress. In addition, they MUST find a way to fight off the republican misinformation campaign and show them for what they are. A bunch of lying, corporate ass-kissers that can't be trusted EVER AGAIN with our country. I promise you, these bastards have another break-in planned at the DNC Headquarters. We'd better be on our toes.
I'm pretty safe, they don't read this stuff. Besides, saying they don't vote their interest is hardly insulting. As per usual, I could always do a lot worse.
I wonder about people in my hometown, those who are out of jobs due to GM moving every single plant out of the country, being so anti-Obama. I wonder about family members who are/were UAW members, still voting Republican.
I wonder how the hell I did that same thing for so long myself.....no excuses. I am just glad I actually listened, read, learned and woke up.
I am glad I had a good teacher. He must have thought I was as hardheaded as a mule at times.
My sympathies to your wife (and you), Scott. Sometimes life just sucketh. ;-)
I think you will find that most people who oppose Obama don't realize they are opposing themselves. The majority of the GOP is made up of people who really shouldn't be supporting them. They are sheep bamboozled into thinking they should vote against their own economic and social interests.
But how else could a self-serving ideology work? You have to trick people into voting for you, simply because only 5% of the country should be voting Republican. So they use hot-button issues and hate to drum up support.
One other somewhat coherent thought.
Some people 'assimilate' in the interest of survival and self-protection. Trying to hide under the covers so to speak to avoid notice and feared ostracism. I guess Darwin would approve.
yeah, your best strategy is to just keep mum with the in-laws. They ain't gonna understand anyway.
It's crazy. My theory is...actually, you covered it, there is no other logic to explain it. My dad (& stepmother) are the same way. They have voted Republican since Reagan. As I tell my conservative buddy (that won't talk to me now that health care has passed) my parents are stoopid. I know that sounds unkind but that's the way we roll in my family.
Psychic blindness...My dad is an immigrant sorta...born in the U.S. to seasonal workers who migrated back and forth from Mexico. He was the worst complainer in the neighborhood when the 'wetbacks' started moving in. He labeled them with every stereotype in the book. Incidentally, his father eventually spent 35 years on the Santa Fe railroad as a laborer and never learned to speak English, nor did his mother. Of course, I can't speak a lick of Spanish which always made me a pariah in the Hispanic community.
My dad strongly pro-American once threatened to throw me out of our home because I criticized the Vietnam War process...etc. I guess within that framework it makes sense that he votes Republican but I would never be able to convince him that it is counterproductive to him and the Hispanic community in general to do so. I'm getting confused writing this because I was just reminded of his days as a community activist promoting Hispanic causes such as education scholarships for local kids.
Long story short, many people live in a pea soup haze of socio-political dichotomies...what was I talking about anyway?
Ooops! I don't think that you're quite "home free" on that one yet, Scott! That seems a little too close to call after having read the above! Better get some flowers or something, eh?