Posts tagged conservatives
In any case, the success of modern Republicanism isn’t all that hard to understand anyway. Rich people like it for obvious reasons. Social conservatives like it for obvious reasons. And the white working class — well, they might not actually like it all that much, but they mostly dislike liberals even more. And this is no surprise. After all, we spend an awful lot of time trying to make them feel guilty. Your hunting trips? It’s a slaughter of innocent animals. Your 15 mpg pickup truck? It’s wrecking the planet. Your sexist jokes? It’s workplace harassment. Your air conditioner? Keep it above 80, pal. That lazy family in the Section 8 housing down the street? Show a little compassion for the less fortunate, will you? There’s good reason for all this stuff, but it’s also understandably irritating. Is it really any wonder that plenty of people are turned off by it? And if there’s a large bloc of irritated registered voters, is it surprising that some political party somewhere is going to take advantage of this irritation by assuring them that heartland values are the real America, racism is a liberal scam, global warming is a myth, and social welfare programs do more harm than good?