I'm sure in this very long thread some folks believe that those items you list are symptoms of the problem and that the root causes are much more simple. That huge chunk (I'd estimate it at well into the tens of millions of US adults) feels disenfranchised (right now they literally feel that in way in that they believe their vote doesn't count, but also figuratively) because opportunity has been "taken" from them. Taken is in quotes because though it's partially true it's also a victim mentality.
The rioters/protesters are largely white as opposed to the more-diverse BLM protesters (more on that later). These people feel like the US Government, in general, and that includes moderate republicans, has failed them in the past several decades by sending their jobs overseas, or by allowing immigrants into the country who have taken their jobs. They feel like they're being left behind, which, in truth, they are. Blue collar jobs have been exported, en masse, over the years, and that's been a bi-partisan effort resulting in lifting countless people out of poverty outside the US, but putting incredible pressure on people inside of the US, particularly the middle class, who feel like they have few or no prospects.
And of course the irony here, when compared to the BLM protests, is that if a sizable segment of these rioters/protesters weren't racist they would understand that this is how Black American have felt _for a couple of hundred years_. Important note: this is not to say that these rioters/protesters are even close to being as poorly treated as the black community. Outsourcing their jobs and giving their former wages to owners/capital in the form of profits is SO FAR from the historical treatment of black Americans that someone will read this and consider it laughable to even compare the two. But they are getting a taste of what it's like when the government stops working for them, the formerly very privileged (not relative to the 1% but certainly to black americans) white middle class.
All of the polarization stems from that. "You've taken my opportunity and everyone else seems to be getting theirs and I no longer have mine. Fuck you. I'm going to break shit until you listen up."
The loss of jobs and transfer of production abroad was driven by the widespread introduction of MBA degrees and consequent recognition of how offshoring could increase profits plus simple capitalistic greed. All politically implemented by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, one of the greediest and most powerful of the capitalistic organizations in the USA.
Now, with Dems in control, USCoC is back in the driver's seat:
If you had written your entire comment without the "No" at the beginning I would be nodding my head in agreement with you. Instead I'll ask: do you think the "MBAs" operated/operate in a vacuum devoid of government oversight/regulation or do you think they were/are aided and abetted by said overseers/regulators?
Maybe they were storming the capitol because they thought the ghost of Jack Welch was in there.
Great analysis, although I think it's important to understand all the outsourcing of blue collar jobs and manufacturing was mostly driven by consumer demand for low prices. It's still true today. Most people can pay 2x as much for something made in the USA, but choose not to.
Good point, but I'd adjust your "mostly" to "also" because the profit motivation, I suspect, came first. And at some number the 2x is probably not true (like paying $600 vs $1200 for a fridge is a pretty huge ask for a lot of folks).
That said, I would agree most people could afford it today if we'd kept some of that exported wealth stateside, or if we'd spread the wealth that did remain stateside out more evenly over the past 40 years instead of our policies benefiting those with capital so disproportionately.
> The rioters/protesters are largely white as opposed to the more-diverse BLM protesters (more on that later)
> And of course the irony here, when compared to the BLM protests, is that if a sizable segment of these rioters/protesters weren't racist they would understand that this is how Black American have felt _for a couple of hundred years_.
Why is what people look like so important to you? It sounds as if you are saying that if a group of thousands of black Trump supporters did exactly the same thing, it would be ok. And that the BLM rioters over the summer were somehow more acceptable because they were more diverse.
How is that not pre-judging people by how they look?
Whenever I ask people this, they essentially tell me that while they can't know exactly what an individual is like by their skin color, they can use skin color as a proxy for other characteristics, and make inferences about how that person has been treated in life by how they look.
So in a roundabout way, yes, they are making unjustified pre-judgements based on people's skin color.
Is this really ok?
You can see interviews with David Duke where he clarifies that he doesn't hate every black person, he just assumes that black people in general are not compatible with our society, but that there are individual exceptions to this. Klansmen will tell you in interviews that they don't hate black people purely because of how they look, but how they act, and that they are using their skin color to infer how they will act.
Height is a visible characteristic that is strongly correlated with success in life, do you use that to judge people as well?
The truth is that purely through numerical probability you can make pre-judgements about people based on their appearance. I for one however go out of my way not to. That doesn't mean that I am blinding myself to people's physical characteristics or trying to erase them of course. It merely means that I won't condemn or excuse people's actions because of how they look.
The rioters/protesters are largely white as opposed to the more-diverse BLM protesters (more on that later). These people feel like the US Government, in general, and that includes moderate republicans, has failed them in the past several decades by sending their jobs overseas, or by allowing immigrants into the country who have taken their jobs. They feel like they're being left behind, which, in truth, they are. Blue collar jobs have been exported, en masse, over the years, and that's been a bi-partisan effort resulting in lifting countless people out of poverty outside the US, but putting incredible pressure on people inside of the US, particularly the middle class, who feel like they have few or no prospects.
And of course the irony here, when compared to the BLM protests, is that if a sizable segment of these rioters/protesters weren't racist they would understand that this is how Black American have felt _for a couple of hundred years_. Important note: this is not to say that these rioters/protesters are even close to being as poorly treated as the black community. Outsourcing their jobs and giving their former wages to owners/capital in the form of profits is SO FAR from the historical treatment of black Americans that someone will read this and consider it laughable to even compare the two. But they are getting a taste of what it's like when the government stops working for them, the formerly very privileged (not relative to the 1% but certainly to black americans) white middle class.
All of the polarization stems from that. "You've taken my opportunity and everyone else seems to be getting theirs and I no longer have mine. Fuck you. I'm going to break shit until you listen up."