Display:
New Deal policies became a bad thing when it became clear that the bounty would have to be shared with blacks. So an effect of the success of the civil rights movement was to turn a large chunk of the white working class against government intervention.
by Colman (colman at eurotrib.com) on Fri Feb 3rd, 2012 at 05:07:30 PM EST
[ Parent ]
I'm not sure if this is fully accurate - although it's widely stated and I would have agreed until recently. It may be that the demographic change was also important. College educated office workers lack the same ethos of solidarity and the same tradition of industrial unions as factory workers - and the new deal transformed many of the former into the latter.
by rootless2 on Fri Feb 3rd, 2012 at 05:19:57 PM EST
[ Parent ]
It's a hell of a coincidence, and so much of the rhetoric is racially charged.
by Colman (colman at eurotrib.com) on Fri Feb 3rd, 2012 at 05:23:24 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Obviously a big part of it, but I'm not sure it's the whole thing. Race is the dark matter of US politics though, whenever you see something changing direction with no apparent cause, it is likely to be race.
 
by rootless2 on Fri Feb 3rd, 2012 at 06:16:40 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Display:
Login
. Make a new account
. Reset password
Occasional Series