I don’t know how to categorize this…. maybe as a rant? politics? In the news?
There is a furor going on right now about Obama and his comments on people in small towns. I can’t for the life of me figure out why. Someone asked him a question, to which he responded, “You go into these small towns in Pennsylvania and, like a lot of small towns in the Midwest, the jobs have been gone now for 25 years and nothing’s replaced them, and it’s not surprising that they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren’t like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations.”
What is wrong with that? One of the things that i like about Obama is that he, more than the other candidates, tells it like it is, and usually people appreciate it. To me, he is, again, telling it like it is. When you take away the jobs that support a community, any community, the people in that community get desperate and angry and frustrated and bitter. They turn to things that give them comfort (religion), things that give then a sense of power (guns and the right to own them), and they look around for who to blame (companies that hire illegals who will work under the radar for so much less, or that ship jobs overseas, or buy cheap imports to save a buck). It is a problem. It is not “elitist” to say so, it is not saying anything against anyone, it is just the way it is.
Why the furore? I have heard about this on the news all day today. Obama’s opponents apparently have the country, particularly the state where the comment was made, all whipped up into a frenzy about it.
I don’t understand 1) why anyone is upset, and 2) why anyone lets those who so obviously have an ulterior motive turn it into some sort of insult.
Honestly!
Because:
1) Those who do not remember history are condemned to repeat it.
And it is hard to remember history when you are desperate and angry and frustrated and bitter. Hard to see how good you have it, how to gather the energy to not turn desperation into frustration or anger into bitterness.
This is why I think everyone needs to volunteer all the time. Spend 2 hours a week in a soup kitchen. Voila, instant anti-bitterness serum.
and
2) Because certain of his Right opponents have deep, deep ulterior motives that go way beyond any single campaign, and anyone who’s going to actually define the problem (whichever problem is on the table) is a huge threat.
Scared people looking for a scapegoat can be very easily led. To do anything. I’ve been listening to the Right for a long while now. The way they promote fearfulness is the scariest thing about them.
People who say “Everyone is lying to you except for me. I am the only person who will tell you the truth” (as verbatim a quote as my memory will provide from one of those Right commentators) aren’t looking for an audience that thinks. They aren’t looking for an informed debate.
Forget speaking truth to power … it’s speaking truth to the people that terrifies the power of today.
He didn’t leave wiggle room. Not everyone in small towns that have been stripped of their industry get bitter. But his comment almost makes you think so.
He actually gave a reason for where the problem started, how people react, and why they react that way. On a hot topic issue that people don’t usually push. In a way that doesn’t make everyone feel things are going great. Of course he’s made this a nice target for anyone else to hit.
Personally, I like it when a candidate speaks a bit more plain. I’d love to have a candidate that made people think. However, I know my desire is not the majority opinion.
I’ve got a book about design titled “Don’t make me think”. Premise being that people will like things they don’t have to think about to use. I believe the same idea applies to… well, everything. “People” don’t want to think.
Agreed!! Which drives me CRAZY.
‘People’ generally (some type of people, anyway) want to be seen as thoughtful and of having researched, well thought out opinions … without having thought about it! Drives me Flat Out Crazy.
At work, watching the TV heads, etc. etc. etc.
I think perhaps people do not like seeing themselves in a negative way. They may be bitter, may be clinging to religion, guns, etc, but they do not like to be seen that way. It makes Obama or anyone else who says something that can be construed as negative or insulting, an easy target. Stick a name on it (elitist) and you can stir up resentments even better.