I'll read the Haala book this weekend in preparation for the Tue. discussion. I remember the Butz declaration; his Big Biz orientation plus loathsome class prejudice and outright racism. I'm from the labor side of the old Farmer-Labor Populist movement; veteran of the fight to stop the neolib Dems from abandoning the New Deal and the majority working class. We lost. I know next to nothing about farm issues, but hey, we all eat! And I'm smart enough to know who does know.
The story Jim tells from the farmer side is achingly familiar. "Your farmers are voting for Reagan" is an early version of "your workers are voting for Trump." The D party elite and their upper middle class loyalists simply denigrate the desperate, never asking WHY votes in places like Mingo Co. WV went from 69.7% for the D presidential candidate in 1992 to 13.9% in 2020. Direct correlation with mass layoffs that fund stock buybacks benefitting only CEOs and banksters. Stats from Les Leopold's 2024 book /Wall Street's War on Workers./ The response to Leopold when he tried to advise D leadership was the same as to Jim--they didn't listen. We workers reacted like the farmers: "not fooled R policies are any good, but they do see the once proud-and-true farmer party sold them out..." Similarly, we see what was our New Deal party as neolib mutation sold us out; we're not stupid nor fooled by Rs, either.
That old Farmer-Labor coalition must be revived!!!
Q: 1.) Am I right about the similar experiences of farmers and labor? Although very different groups, aren't we both absolutely necessary for a healthy economy yet irrelevant to 1%ers, multinational corporate interests, and the financialized extractive econopathy now dominant? If the Ds want to win, shouldn't they be on our side, not serving the rich and powerful?
I READ THE BOOK--recommend highly, will post review to Amazon (buy there only to be able to do reviews.) I've been angry at the D party elite for decades because they abandoned labor. Now I know they did the same to rural people and family farms. I'm amazed the heartland kept up its side of the old farmer-labor Populism for so long; including forming coalitions with BIPOC and LGBTQ groups all centered on our common need for economic populism. The worst aspect of the book is it's clear we could have had it all along!!! Instead,the neolib Ds went for supporting corporate centered economics and timid, abstract policy pushing candidates. Who won? The few. Who lost? 80+% of us. But yeah, we workers are stupid for rejecting the meager rationalization of voting "lesser of two evils." Turns out no version of evil was necessary whatsoever.
And ever since the farmers started to believe in the Republicans the Republicans continued the Democrats "play book". More and more corporate farms. Now those family farms that managed to get by thru these years may be getting squeezed out again. Maybe for more corporate take over, or, could this be a "land grab" to get large parcels of land to build the AI Data Centers? There are already signs of possible pollution as a result of data center construction. For example in GA and WI.
Read what Jim said in the piece above. They don't "believe" the Rs; they just can see the Ds betrayed them in support of mega-corporate policies. Similar experience for us, the working class majority. But yeah, bet you're right about land grabs and why.
I'll read the Haala book this weekend in preparation for the Tue. discussion. I remember the Butz declaration; his Big Biz orientation plus loathsome class prejudice and outright racism. I'm from the labor side of the old Farmer-Labor Populist movement; veteran of the fight to stop the neolib Dems from abandoning the New Deal and the majority working class. We lost. I know next to nothing about farm issues, but hey, we all eat! And I'm smart enough to know who does know.
The story Jim tells from the farmer side is achingly familiar. "Your farmers are voting for Reagan" is an early version of "your workers are voting for Trump." The D party elite and their upper middle class loyalists simply denigrate the desperate, never asking WHY votes in places like Mingo Co. WV went from 69.7% for the D presidential candidate in 1992 to 13.9% in 2020. Direct correlation with mass layoffs that fund stock buybacks benefitting only CEOs and banksters. Stats from Les Leopold's 2024 book /Wall Street's War on Workers./ The response to Leopold when he tried to advise D leadership was the same as to Jim--they didn't listen. We workers reacted like the farmers: "not fooled R policies are any good, but they do see the once proud-and-true farmer party sold them out..." Similarly, we see what was our New Deal party as neolib mutation sold us out; we're not stupid nor fooled by Rs, either.
That old Farmer-Labor coalition must be revived!!!
Q: 1.) Am I right about the similar experiences of farmers and labor? Although very different groups, aren't we both absolutely necessary for a healthy economy yet irrelevant to 1%ers, multinational corporate interests, and the financialized extractive econopathy now dominant? If the Ds want to win, shouldn't they be on our side, not serving the rich and powerful?
I READ THE BOOK--recommend highly, will post review to Amazon (buy there only to be able to do reviews.) I've been angry at the D party elite for decades because they abandoned labor. Now I know they did the same to rural people and family farms. I'm amazed the heartland kept up its side of the old farmer-labor Populism for so long; including forming coalitions with BIPOC and LGBTQ groups all centered on our common need for economic populism. The worst aspect of the book is it's clear we could have had it all along!!! Instead,the neolib Ds went for supporting corporate centered economics and timid, abstract policy pushing candidates. Who won? The few. Who lost? 80+% of us. But yeah, we workers are stupid for rejecting the meager rationalization of voting "lesser of two evils." Turns out no version of evil was necessary whatsoever.
And ever since the farmers started to believe in the Republicans the Republicans continued the Democrats "play book". More and more corporate farms. Now those family farms that managed to get by thru these years may be getting squeezed out again. Maybe for more corporate take over, or, could this be a "land grab" to get large parcels of land to build the AI Data Centers? There are already signs of possible pollution as a result of data center construction. For example in GA and WI.
Read what Jim said in the piece above. They don't "believe" the Rs; they just can see the Ds betrayed them in support of mega-corporate policies. Similar experience for us, the working class majority. But yeah, bet you're right about land grabs and why.
Representing all Americans is the way to go...politically.