candidates since 1980, which includes 43 percent for Trump. The true question has to do with whether the irrationality is located in the individuals, or the social structures. To hear it from Trump supporters and the Tea Party, as Arlie Hochschild has done in Strangers in Their Own Land: Anger (2016), just who by the and Mourning on the American Right they’re “hard workers” “play rules” and never ask for but fall behind socially and economically in an America betrayed by “handouts” elites who (affirmative action beneficiaries, immigrants, and refugees). The favor “line jumpers” turn of many such voters to a populist strong man who promises to defend the against “little man” forces squeezing from above and below is far from surprising in this context. So, what forces are really at work here? What factors engender this line thought? The standard analyses by liberals and leftists alike usually involve one or both of these two explanations: 1) that results from the ideological means False Consciousness Capital’s controlling of production (i.e. mass media, the culture industry, policy networks, etc.) to workers’ thinking; and 2) the of workers in defense of traditional white male privilege. While Racism and Sexism structural- and individual-level racism and sexism do exist, and certainly impacted the election, this explanation ignores the increasing precarity of working people. It also ignores the corporate all takeover of the post-Reagan Democratic Party. Moreover, the former line of thought is problematic in presenting Capital as all-powerful, and workers as passive ideologues. The inadequacy of these answers warrant a turn to political economy, and the outline of a structural shift therein. Both the Libertarian Right and the Neo-Liberal Left have their own narratives about the economic decline of working- and middle-class. For the liberal Right: 1) Industry has America’s left the country because unions are too powerful they destroy productivity, increase labor costs, – and make America uncompetitive; 2) corporate job creators have been victimized by taxation, and bloated government to pay for socialist welfare schemes; and 3) illegal
candidates since 1980, which includes 43 percent for Trump. The true question has to do with whether the irrationality is located in the individuals, or the social structures. To hear it from Trump supporters and the Tea Party, as Arlie Hochschild has done in Strangers in Their Own Land: Anger and Mourning on the American Right (2016), they’re just “hard workers” who “play by the rules” and never ask for “handouts” but fall behind socially and economically in an America betrayed by elites who favor “line jumpers” (affirmative action beneficiaries, immigrants, and refugees). The turn of many such voters to a populist strong man who promises to defend the “little man” against forces squeezing from above and below is far from surprising in this context. So, what forces are really at work here? What factors engender this line thought? The standard analyses by liberals and leftists alike usually involve one or both of these two explanations: 1) False Consciousness that results from Capital’s controlling the ideological means of production (i.e. mass media, the culture industry, policy networks, etc.) to workers’ thinking; and 2) the Racism and Sexism of workers in defense of traditional white male privilege. While structural- and individual-level racism and sexism do exist, and certainly impacted the election, this explanation ignores the increasing precarity of all working people. It also ignores the corporate takeover of the post-Reagan Democratic Party. Moreover, the former line of thought is problematic in presenting Capital as all-powerful, and workers as passive ideologues. The inadequacy of these answers warrant a turn to political economy, and the outline of a structural shift therein. Both the Libertarian Right and the Neo-Liberal Left have their own narratives about the economic decline of America’s working- and middle-class. For the liberal Right: 1) Industry has left the country because unions are too powerful – they destroy productivity, increase labor costs, and make America uncompetitive; 2) corporate job creators have been victimized by taxation, and bloated government to pay for socialist welfare schemes; and 3) illegal