- Oct 20, 2022
- 6,714
- Thread starter
- #7,261
Not really - the “working class” in the US means something different from the “working class” in the UK. When we start using phrases such as “working class” in American economics, it is best to be clear what you mean. Economists in the United States generally define "working class" as adults without a college degree. Many members of the working class are also defined as middle-class. These blue collar, non-degree educated voters tend to lean towards Republican.
Much of what the American electorate understand about both the Republicans and Democrats it is how politics is presented in the media of course - The mainstream media like internet forums and social media have a natural proclivity for contentious and polarised debates.
IMO - comparing the right and left in the US with the Labour and Tories in the UK (while understandable as this is largely a British membership forum) is an unhelpful comparison - as @North Carolina Supporter said, the ‘left’ in the US is very different to our UK understanding of the ‘left’ as are definitions of ‘working class’. When we talk about ‘state intervention’ we don’t just mean in the moral and social affairs of the individual but management of the economy. America up until the 80s had a greater leaning towards laissez-faire economics than the UK which resulted in very high income inequalities which some have argued, became counterproductive to the health and stability of the American economy:
It’s argued that the “legacy of America’s great laissez-faire experiment is undermining the future well-being of America’s young workers and, in turn, their children. It is time to return to policies explicitly aimed at reducing income inequality by raising wage levels; increasing the taxation of top incomes and the regulation of the financial sector; increasing job and health security; and above all, increasing public and private investments in skills, neighborhoods, and public infrastructure.”
Probably something the Democrats need to get into their messaging in the final days of the campaign before it is too late.
embarrassing. In the US, when we hear “working class” it is synonymous with “wage sensitive jobs” like factory workers, landscapers, delivery drivers, hospitality staff, etc. They are most often paid by the hour. They live “paycheck to paycheck” and worry about being replaced by cheaper labor, or in Tesla factories, robots… the next over-simplified segment is often called “middle class” which are salaried and (mostly) earn bonuses and have decent health insurance. Some like to be known as “professionals” if they are accountants, lawyers, brokers, sales managers, etc. If you have a safe position within a stable profession- along with some investments or inheritance- then the label is often “upper middle class” The so-called Reagan Republicans were a large bloc of voters that worked in small towns with factories… steel mills in Pennsylvania and automobile plants in Michigan… furniture factories in North Carolina. These have all shutdown or are struggling to survive. so, I would argue that the US definition of “working class” is evolving from the stereotypical white man who used his hands to build something (cars, appliances, infrastructure) to, most often, a person of color who is working to earn enough to buy food and pay rent… sadly, they don’t see things getting better for the next generation… that is a profoundly dangerous trend in the US. When the working class “lose hope” it does not bode well
