Ron Brownstein On Obama's False Consciousness

Ron Brownstein is the latest to take up the "What's the matter with Obama's parroting of What's The Matter With Kansas" topic, following Paul Krugman and Prof. Bartels.

But Obama’s words are worth scrutinizing because they reflect a bedrock belief on the left, the conviction that Republicans have seduced blue-collar whites by diverting their focus from economic issues toward the emotional social issues that Obama cited. That perspective reached its apotheosis in "What’s the Matter With Kansas? How Conservatives Won the Heart of America," the 2004 best-seller by Thomas Frank that portrayed Republican blue-collar gains as a form of mass “derangement” driven by the “hallucinatory appeal” of “cultural wedge issues like guns and abortion.” Physically, Obama was in California when he described the working-class as “bitter,” but mentally he was in Frank’s Kansas.

...Most important, the idea that working-class people have been uniquely bamboozled to vote on their cultural affinities rather than their economic status ignores the parallel change at the top of the income ladder. As Obama might have noticed in San Francisco, a growing number of upper-income and well-educated Americans are also voting against their “class interests,” preferring Democrats even though the party routinely supports raising taxes on top earners. In presidential elections from 1960 through 1972, Democrats won, on average, only 37 percent of the votes of white college graduates. Since 1992, they have won an average of 47 percent. Those voters (especially the ones with graduate degrees) have trended Democratic largely because they hold liberal positions on the same social and foreign-policy issues that helped Republicans crack the working class. Culture is replacing class as the glue of both parties’ coalitions.

That is all very well, but I am going to take a bold step in a brand new direction and offer the notion that working class Americans aren't idiots.  People who wonder where the Democratic vision of prosperity through higher taxes and stricter regulation would take us need look no further than Europe.  And I will echo Michelle Obama by saying that in my adult lifetime I have never been proud of Europe's ability to create jobs or absorb immigrants. 

Even today (OK, as of 2006, following the 2004 bamboozlement), their employment and growth statistics lag the US.  Higher unemployment rates, lower employment rates, lower employment growth, lower GDP growth - why should American workers, or anyone else, believe that America can tax and regulate its way to growth when Europe's decades long experiment has failed to do so?

A 2008 employment report shows that the European employment rate is now 66%; their unemployment rate has dropped to levels not seen since the early 1990's, plunging to 6.9%; this is in contrast with the current US rate of 5.1%.

A Puzzle I Can't Solve:  The Euro report linked and copied here shows a US employment rate in the low 70's; the US statistics show an employment rate of 66%, which is at roughly the same level as the New Europe.  Presumably the people who compile these Euro stats have their reasons, and are doing something to make the numbers comparable.  Que pasa?

WELL, YES:  This is the "What's the matter with Sweden?" argument that swirls through the net from time to time.

Comments

[clarice]

"In presidential elections from 1960 through 1972, Democrats won, on average, only 37 percent of the votes of white college graduates. Since 1992, they have won an average of 47 percent. Those voters (especially the ones with graduate degrees) have trended Democratic largely because they hold liberal positions on the same social and foreign-policy issues that helped Republicans crack the working class. Culture is replacing class as the glue of both parties’ coalitions."

Might I suggest another reason for the shift? The dumbing down of America's universities--from admissions to course work to grades and graduation figures.
When half literate people are admitted to college to major in auto education or area studies and graduate at half levels, you really mustn't expect them to exercise the same level of rational choice that grads use to when they had to be qualified to enter, do the work and majored in engineering/math/science/or liberal arts and social studies programs that were substantive.
As for "especially those with graduate degrees"--in a booming economy , what sort of folks stick around for graduate degrees, and did you notice--men are not-- at least not in the number women are?

[clarice]

**and graduate at hIGH levels**

[Bartels and James]

"In presidential elections from 1960 through 1972, Democrats won, on average, only 37 percent of the votes of white college graduates. Since 1992, they have won an average of 47 percent. Those voters (especially the ones with graduate degrees) have trended Democratic..."

More education does not necessarily translate into more wealth. So when the author writes "Democrats even though the party routinely supports raising taxes on top earners" it isn't really supported.

Bush crushed Kerry at the upper incomes. $100k and up 58% Bush, 41% Kerry. $200k+ 63% Bush, 35% Kerry. But Kerry won the post-grad education 55% to 44%. So Kerry wins the Philosophy, African studies and Home economics grads and the unemployed/welfare folks while Bush wins the others.

http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2004/pages/results/states/US/P/00/epolls.0.html

[Rick Ballard]

"Qu[e] pasa?"

The definition of the "civilian noninstitutional population" in the US includes everyone above 16 years old. That's the divisor used for the workforce participation rate of 66%. The EU report cited uses their definition of the population constituting the divisor:

The employment rate is calculated by dividing the number of persons aged 15 to 64 in employment by the total population of the same age group. The indicator is based on the EU Labour Force Survey. The survey covers the entire population living in private households and excludes those in collective households such as boarding houses, halls of residence and hospitals. Employed population consists of those persons who during the reference week did any work for pay or profit for at least one hour, or were not working but had jobs from which they were temporarily absent.

(from Eurostat).

Appples to apples comparison would require that the US divisor drop everyone above the age of 64 plus the 15 year olds. That would raise the US rate to 80%. Use the BLS stats here and the Census stats here to derive the numbers.

[Scott Meyer]

Bartles and James:

"So Kerry wins the Philosophy, African studies and Home economics grads and the unemployed/welfare folks while Bush wins the others."

You made my weekend.

[Rick Ballard]

"But Kerry won the post-grad education 55% to 44%. So Kerry wins the Philosophy, African studies and Home economics grads and the unemployed/welfare folks while Bush wins the others."

True, but the real kicker is the inclusion of teacher credentials as "post-grad". One might as well toss in UAW membership as post-grad. More material for a "How to Lie Using Statistics" course.

[MikeS]

This is a bit of a mind bender for me. It seems that Thomas Franks created a false consciousness about the consciousness of working-class Americans.

[Barney Frank]

Excellent spadework Rick.
And in case any of our prog friends are reading that is not a coded reference to BO.

[George G]

Clarice, I watch your comments here with respect and, while not always agreeing 100%, can agree to disagree on the odd accasion. The denigration of "area studies" is however a recurring theme of yours and I'm a bit curious about that. As an example how does a "half literate" student cope with much less even graduate at "half levels" with becoming literate and conversationally capable in Japanese, Chinese or Korean. Language is just one component of the course work and the remainder at least as demanding (ok, that's moderately sarcastic ;-) as any liberal arts or social studies program - at least at those universities who are serious about these disciplines.

[Rick Ballard]

Thanks Barney. I did screw up the percentage though - it's actually 76%. The 15 year olds have to be added rather than subtracted.

[Chris]

Why can't the progs understand that the rubes also find it in their economic interest that the country be defended?

[Barney Frank]

Why can't the progs understand that the rubes also find it in their economic interest that the country be defended?

Because the progs can't understand why anyone would want AmeriKKKa defended.

[Chris]

BF,
Good point.

[SteveMG]

Why can't the progs understand that the rubes also find it in their economic interest that the country be defended?

The progressives think the only significant threat to America is from within - from the neoconservatives, the Christianists, the right. The threat from abroad is minimal if not non-existent and is only used by the right to scare people into voting for them.

E.g., Keith Olbermann.

[Walter]

Rick,

Do you have to subtract armed services and 'employed' prisoners from the numerator and denominator and 'unemployed' prisoners from the denominator to translate from US to Euro statistics, or are they already taken out?

...auto studies...

My brother has a PhD in that. Oddly enough, he is an exemplar of your hypothesis, as he is no doubt one of the more liberal MechE professors at CalPoly-SLO. Though most of his colleagues with similar experience tend to sit on the right side of the aisle. (This may be related to the usually mandatory service in Detroit and environs.)

[Barney Frank]

Walter,

I think both samples exclude prisoners and military and are measures of 'non institutional' and 'civilian' labor only.

might be interesting to see what effect public sector, either civilian or military, had on the stats.

[clarice]

Thanks, George G--I am certain some area studies programs are substantive-- Most however--womens/hispanic/ black/native American etc-- are absurd pastiches of easy courses designed to provide employment for idiot leftists like Ward Churchill and celebs like Spike Lee while giving those improperly admitted something to do for a couple of years until they graduate and can get work in pet stores or as community organizers or holding womens workshops decrying the patriarchy.

[Walter]

...teacher credentials..

My youngest brother finished his PhD in physics last May. He decided to teach at his old high school.

Public service, giving back, and all that. No problem, right? After all, he's been teaching sections for 18-year-olds for a few years--what's the difference with teaching 17-year-olds?

Turns out he needed to go back to school to get certified.

Blows me away that a person with an english degree and a year of 'knowledge aquisition theory' is allowed to teach physics but that he wasn't qualified.

In fact, because he used an accelerated qualification program, he is not allowed to teach calculus without additional schooling. No wonder why math and science are so difficult for our students to learn if the teachers have never used the subjects in their daily lives.

[clarice]

In DC you cannot teach physics in the high schools without getting credentials from the local college--one of the things you need to get certification for is teaching remedial English.
This, of course, is a national disgrace where local institutions gang up with local school boards and unions to keep employed everyone except those with the talent and drive to actually teach.

[Porchlight]

Walter,

This is just one method that the educrat establishment uses to ensure that no one with actual knowledge (who might take issue with the agreed-upon pedagogy) enters the education field. If it is too much of a pain in the ass, the science Ph.D. will find better employment elsewhere, leaving a higher percentage of dupes for the ed schools/classrooms.

[Porchlight]

Clarice, I see we are on the same page. I also agree with your assessment of area studies (perhaps excluding languages, as George G pointed out). Essentially, area studies allows a student to go to college and major in himself.

[Barry]

"their unemployment rate has dropped to levels not seen since the early 1990's, plunging to 6.9%..."

As I read the chart, the "plunge" is to 7.9%.

[Walter]

A quick google yields a 1994 estimate of < 10% employed in US prisons. My quick back of the envelope calculation ((.1*2,000,000+1.00*2,000,000)/4,000,000) = 2.1/4 = 52.5% employment. Seems that including the excluded would bring the US closer to the Euro number.

[Rick Ballard]

Walter,

Barney is correct about prisoners. I'm not sure how the EU regards the military but the BLS A-1 table drops them from both sides of the equation. Why? It probably goes back to a definition that would regard the draft as "involuntary" employment.

The problem I have with the composition of the worker participation rate as published by the BLS is that the 66% figure leads people to believe that there is a pool of 34% of the population available for employment. T'ain't so. Trim out the over 65's,the full time students between the ages of 16 and 22 and 8,000,000 women who are expecting or caring for a child less than a year old and 66% becomes 90%. Then trim out the mentally deficient, the hopelessly addicted and the just plain unemployable - 4%/8% and the 'additional population available for employment' isn't very large at all.

We're actually in for a very interesting period if the Boomer/geezers hang it up at the "old" expected rate. The "new" expected rate is dependent upon observations made by the BLS during the '90's - when the tail of the cohort of those born just prior to or during the Depression reached retirement age. Now there's a real apples and oranges comparison.

I'm not betting on the Boomers staying on the treadmill. Contrary to leftist generated misconceptions, as a group they have stashed away more than enough to retire any time they choose.

[Ann]

Speaking of American universities, this is scary:

Harvard Goes Halal

[Walter]

Errata:

"knowledge acquisition theory"

"2.2/4 = 55%"

And that was with preview!

[hoosierhoops]

Clarice, I see we are on the same page. I also agree with your assessment of area studies (perhaps excluding languages, as George G pointed out). Essentially, area studies allows a student to go to college and major in himself...

uh huh. I'm glad nobody brought up student-athletes..esp. basketball players.. the graduation rate isn't that good.

going to the airport in 1 hour to see Jordan..Woo-hoo!!

[Ann]

If you haven't read Steyn today, it is a must read:

Mark Steyn: Guns and God? Hell, yes

Did you know that a writer for the London Daily Mirror said this in 2004:
"Were I a Kerry voter, though, I'd feel deep anger, not only at them returning Bush to power, but for allowing the outside world to lump us all into the same category of moronic muppets. The self-righteous, gun-totin', military-lovin', sister-marryin', abortion-hatin', gay-loathin', foreigner-despisin', nonpassport ownin' rednecks, who believe God gave America the biggest d*** in the world so it could urinate on the rest of us and make their land 'free and strong.'"

[Ann]

HH,

We will all be there with you.....Woo-hoo!!

[Walter]

Ann,

It probably doesn't come as a surprise to you that I'm in favor of teaching Islamic finance. After all, if we can't get them to invest here or hire us to invest for them there, how can we fleece provide good service to them?

If Harvard has only this year allowed people to postpone exams because of religious reasons, I'll eat my hat (And I have the hat to this day!).

The use of the profits to subsidize terrorism is wrong, but also illegal already. Are we really ready to make the argument that muslims may not earn money because some of them might spend it on bad things? Should we apply that reasoning to suburban kids and fast cars/smoking accessories?

The call to prayer? I am not so much in favor, but I seem to recall hearing church bells over the din in the Yard. It's hardly an establishment of one over the other. Harvard pretty long ago gave up any pretension that it is a religious institution. (Now, if BC went that way, I'd be a bit more excited).

My local church lets most within a half-mile know that services will start in 10 minutes so that we can make it there on time. (It then lets us know when the services start, so that we can feel guilty about being late--or smug about making it on time. I love my church.) I'm in no position to throw stones. So to speak.

[George G]

Clarice, Thank you for expanding on the subject of "Area Studies" and appreciation also to Porchlight for chiming in. I'm on the other side of the world and, having digested both of your posts, it's obvious the definition of what constitutes these degree programs is different in the US. To the outsider they look much the same on the surface eg degrees from the University of London School of Oriental and African Studies are known heavy stuff and have been for almost a century while Latin American studies at Yale along with the Hispanic subset appear to be in the same league. The contamination caused by the examples you both cite must be very disappointing to the academics in the serious faculties.

[clarice]

You're welcome, George. To have a better view of area studies here's the dope on aa professor at the U of Ariz Women's studies program:
http://www.u.arizona.edu/~mirandaj/

Or you can read about Ward Chrchill--numbskull, liar about his background; lacking all academic credentials and known plagiariser.

[DebinNC]

Several years ago the NYT Magazine had a story about Yale's admittance of the former spokesman for the Taliban. I'm sure the elites at both Yale and the NYT were flabbergasted when this news wasn't well-received among the unenlightened who took issue with Yale's welcoming someone from a regime whose many sins included denying education to females. My favorite quote was from the clueless Yale Admissions Office head:

"Richard Shaw said the admissions office had once had another foreigner of Rahmatullah's caliber apply for special-student status. "We lost him to Harvard," he says. "I didn't want that to happen again."'

[Porchlight]

The contamination caused by the examples you both cite must be very disappointing to the academics in the serious faculties.

I hadn't thought of it that way, George, but I'm sure that must be true. Thanks for pointing it out. As Clarice indicated, area studies in the US is unfortunately one of the least rigorous "discplines" in academia.

[GMax]

The contamination caused by the examples you both cite must be very disappointing to the academics in the serious faculties.

I can assure that on most campuses in the US any disappointed faculty will be encouraged and taught through various shunning and other penalties, not to vocalize any sort of disappointment or even to suggest that the programs become more rigorous. It is an apostacy that will be greeted with much more than stoney silence.

The reception that big liberal Lawrence Summers got when he strayed from the one true path is not lost on most academics who need the income.

[MayBee]

porchlight: Essentially, area studies allows a student to go to college and major in himself.

ha! Perfect!

[Patrick R. Sullivan]

Well, Obama likes some people who cling to guns:

Talk about a Jay-Z move. It's a seminal moment in the campaign, the merging of politics and pop culture: in which a presidential candidate — a self-confessed hip-hop and Jay-Z fan — references a rap hit and a dance move.

Within hours, there were video mashups on the Web depicting Obama dusting himself off as Jay-Z urges, "If you feelin' like a pimp ... go and brush your shoulders off. ... Get that dirt off your shoulder."

[Patrick R. Sullivan]

Speaking of clueless educrats:

With shocking speed, a 13-year-old autistic boy in the Issaquah School District wrapped his teacher in a headlock, punched her in the head and stomach, and shoved her against cabinets.

Two special-education aides in the room were held at bay as the boy started to kick at them.

It wasn't the first time he had attacked classroom staff nor would it be the last.

The 2006 incident is at the center of a labor dispute between educational assistants, who want to retain contract language that lets them opt out of working with students whose behavior poses a safety threat, and the district, which argues that aides and teachers can't choose whom they'll work with.

"We have a legal and moral obligation to educate everyone," said Sara Niegowski, Issaquah School District spokeswoman. "We don't choose who comes in the door."

[richard mcenroe]

Barack Obama has daddy and abandonment issues that make Steven Spielberg look like he was raised by Ward Cleaver.

Pretty much every life choice he has ever made seems to have been guided by a desire to emulate a created image of a father he never knew.

That's harmless enough in a movie director, but it concerns me in a man who wants to be responsible for the safety of a country.

[Soylent Red]

a self-confessed hip-hop and Jay-Z fan

This is one of the primary reasons to wake up at night and pray Obamessiah doesn't become POTUS: A President who confesses allegiance to the MTV culture of ignorance and coarseness.

If he is elected, we will truly have seen the final triumph of form over function.

[clarice]

Actually Soylent, on that score I think he thinks that MTV culture is beneath him BUT like his membership in that goofy church,it fits. He's decided he has to play Black American sometime and MTV and Wright are how he sees that culture.
Frankly, I think he belongs nowhere exactly--as Spengler noted, he is really his mother's son, an anthropologist observing the natives.

[Barry]

The reception that big liberal Lawrence Summers got when he strayed from the one true path is not lost on most academics who need the income.

Nor was it supposed to be "lost".

[Soylent Red]

I'd like to get a look at his iPod Clarice. You can tell a lot about a person by the music they listen to.

Probably his is a mixture of emo-weenie crap and Gil Scott Heron.

[Porchlight]

I agree, Soylent. Gil Scott-Heron, LOL. But of course!

Meanwhile, on Bush's iPod (a couple of years ago)

[clarice]

Soylent..I want an IPOD but I've no idea how to program one. When you get here, I will feed you and in exchange you will help me pick out an IPod and show me how to download music to it.
Deal?

I'm a great cook.

[corwin]

Rick,
A point about the DEms with grad degrees;over half are in ed or social work type degrees.These aren't "real' grad degrees in the sense of the recipients possessing more skills/knowledge or intellect than Bachelor's level folks

[Soylent Red]

Roger that Clarice. I just made the switch over to iPod from another brand.

Now I'm straight crazy for the iPod.

[clarice]

I know I'd be crazy for it, too,Soylent, if I could only figure it out. Then I could get docking stations for it here and my apt in Fla and have music wherever I want to.

[Paul Zrimsek]

I'll tell you what's wrong with Sweden. They're clinging to their blondes and herring out of economic frustration.

[MayBee]

For a meal from you clarice, I would be willing to fly out to DC to program your iPod. ;-)