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
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Thanks Aleksandre, William and Enrico. I appreciate it.
My cartoons express strong opinions but I don't have the answers. I just hope that my cartoons elicit thoughtful conversations on political issues.
Aleksandre, you're right... I think Bernie Sanders has been the best and most articulate leader in opposing Trump. I agree with you that Sanders is the best voice to both point out the Democratic Party's flaws and to be an authentic voice for the working class.
William, I agree with you that Trump is conning his working class supporters and his policies will deeply hurt them. By the time they snap out of their cult-like devotion to Trump, I worry that it'll be too late.
You make a good point that there were benefits to NAFTA. But everything that I've read states that those working class communities in the Midwest were deeply hurt by NAFTA.
Here is a PBS documentary called “Two American Families: 1991-2024” that follows a Black working class family and a White working class family over 3 decades in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, as they struggle to to adapt to a new, global economy and the trend towards part-time, lower-wage work.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VClQ_TlXT2U
Good one.
It isn't jobs. Trump left office with millions of jobs less than the day he started. Even before covid, Trump's tariffs were killing 10 jobs for every job that they 'saved'. Biden had a perfect jobs record of gains every month of his term. Globalization is a net positive for jobs. NAFTA created 2 to 3 jobs in the US for every job that was lost. As the linked articles say in various ways, Trump lied and got people to believe that black was white and to vote against their own best interest.
I believe Bernie Sanders would have beaten Trump in the 2024 election. He was and still is able to look at the Democratic Party's errors, and more importantly has always been in touch with the working class.