American Progressives And Their Need To Win Back The Working Class

A few decades ago, the working class communities in the Midwest of the U.S. were solidly Democrat and supported progressives like Eugene Debs, Walter Reuther, Jesse Jackson and Paul Wellstone.

As their economic fortunes decline with globalization, these working class communities have supported Donald Trump due to his promises to turn around their economic decline.

Though Trump draws his electoral strength from these working class voters, Trump's economic policies are diametrically opposed to the economic interests of the working class. His policies consist in weakening the ability of unions to organize in the workplace, cutting on safety and wage theft regulations that protect workers, and reducing social programs that help struggling working class families.

During the 1990s, these working class communities were hard hit as the jobs that had given them a stable middle class life were outsourced to other countries. The jobs that remained paid half as much as the jobs that disappeared and didn't provide health care benefits.

The working class in the Midwest grew disillusioned as Democrats joined Republicans in passing free trade agreements that undercut unions' leverage due to outsourcing.

American progressives need to win back the working class. Or else Trump will hurt them the way he is hurting other vulnerable communities.

"Democrats Must Become the Workers’ Party Again" by Sherrod Brown for The New Republic
https://newrepublic.com/article/192078/democrats-become-workers-party-s…

"Trump Will Lower American Workers’ Standard of Living" by Robert Davis for Jacobin Magazine
https://jacobin.com/2024/12/trump-tariffs-immigration-labor-inflation

"Trump’s Assault on Labor. Donald Trump’s bait and switch with American workers is his greatest fraud of all. While uttering meaningless platitudes about fighting for workers, he is setting back the labor movement in ways that previous administrations could never do." by Paul Prescod for Jacobin Magazine
https://jacobin.com/2019/10/donald-trump-labor-unions-workers

"Donald Trump Is a Fake Populist" by Alex Shephard for The New Republic
https://newrepublic.com/article/192011/donald-trump-fake-populist