Lawrence Ferlinghetti Speaks
“Pity” is a well-chosen word here; it’s a shame what has happened to the United States.
People all over the world are trying to understand the “Trump phenomenon.” Here’s an explanation I came across just yesterday that has some appeal; it’s a variant on the “Trump is the result of the problem, not its cause.” A guy said that an entire class of people, in this case working class whites, found themselves unable to prosper regardless of how hard they worked, causing great frustration. They’re also sitting on the anger associated with not being able to express their racist views without social ostracism. Along comes a guy who explains that their misery is not their fault, but that of immigrants, powerful bankers, politically correct rich liberals and the Washington elite.
This hits them like snorting a line of cocaine (“loss of contact with reality, an intense feeling of happiness, or agitation” – Wikipedia). They just can’t get enough of it, and the euphoria renders them unable to examine the hard facts that refute their cult leader’s lies and childish, dangerous behavior. The fact that he has a television channel that adds credibility to all this insanity makes matters even worse.
The irony here is that these people actually did get squashed, but not by immigrants stealing their jobs, Muslims terrorists, transgenders in the military, gun control proponents, etc., but by economic policies that, since about 1980, have funneled nearly all new wealth to the top 1%. Sadly, the perpetrators of these policies have been incredibly effective in hiding this truth.
Lawrence Ferlinghetti, who will celebrate his 100th birthday in March, certainly has nailed it. And yes, it’s a pity indeed.
Craig,
Lawrence Ferlinghetti, may or may not have ” nailed it “, you certainly have not!
The temerity of your condescending definitions of stereotypes you despise, never ceases to astound me!
The President never claimed the ills of the American working class were caused by “immigrants stealing their jobs, Muslims terrorists, transgenders in the military or gun control proponents” That’s just you, distorting and dissembling, isn’t it?
Nor did the President restrict the US working class to include only “White males” , which is probably why so many Hispanic and working class blacks voted for Donald Trump. In fact, the largest beneficiary of his policies have been black male blue collar workers. (the President get’s ’em a job, not increased welfare).
The President identified two main problems in the US economy;
1) Globalization of unfair terms to the USA. He blamed the causes of poverty and despair among the older American economy as being the export and neglect of older American industries due to allowing unfair foreign competition and trade policies.
2) American obsession with being the “leader of the free world” while neglecting the interests of the US economy and US taxpayer.
He believed the US taxpayer was being neglected, abused and seeing taxes squandered by elitist bureaucrats and political ideologues on wasteful projects, military adventures fighting never ending wars, too much government, the American Taxpayer have their pockets picked by foreign governments so US politician can indulge in talkfests and Photo ops.
He was concerned about the growth of China, the economic and social cost of uncontrolled immigration, and the pointlessness of international posturing.
That was his election platform !
That’s why people voted for him. That’s why his supporters continue to vote for him, because he has worked hard to deliver on his promises and objectives.
So where the hell do you get off, claiming to have an affinity with working class America, when really you despise, belittle and have nothing but contempt for the ordinary American ?
Like the rest of the current Democrat Party, you are middle class, self-satisfied, hypocrites inhabiting affluent suburbs, who eagerly cry “higher wages for the American worker” , while making sure you buy cheap foreign imported goods that reduce employment for American workers!
You whine about the mythical, “1%” , yet your hero’s are Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, who avoids more $20.4 billion in sales taxes alone, (he personally pays less than 0.6% tax). You complain about money in politics, yet Bezos bought the Washington Post just to please the Democrats.
How about billionaire Democrat activist Tom Steyer ? Steyer spent over $150 million on his Democrat political ambitions, yet despite ranting on about raising tax, actually pays almost no tax himself and gained much of his wealth as a skilled purveyor of tax haven manipulation schemes, such as his service to his wealthy clientele to avoid the highest of U.S. taxes and penalties by establishing arcane tax shelters such as blocker corporations, and other equally complex tactics most Americans have never heard of, or used.
President Trump certainly has his faults, and he’s certainly made some errors, but one thing of which he can’t be accused is the sort of smug, self righteous hypocrisy of the American left.
I’ll be sure to pass along your disdain for the guy’s theory next time I speak with him. 🙂
Seriously, in terms of “despising,” I try to despise evil acts and not the people who commit them. That was a big deal at the Quaker school I attended K- 12.
Additionally, I more feel sorry for them than despise them. They were, and continue to be, duped. I think that’s fairly clear in my piece if you read it with no intent to criticize it unfairly.
Craig,
I’m guessing your Quaker School didn’t teach you being condescending and “feeling sorry” for those your consider less intelligent and “easily” duped because they don’t agree with you, is a virtue ?
I’m also guessing that you unconsciously acquired such a patronizing, self-serving, hypocritical smugness about the time when you adopted elitist left wing political philosophy?
In Australia we have a term for such people, “Chardonnay Socialists”. (combination of suburban wine snobbery with pretentious fashionable Leftist political philosophy”).
It must be very distressing to discover a genuine revolt among those whom you always considered a subservient constituency about whom you felt smugly superior, while claiming to nobly represent.
You must indeed feel outraged, when these ingrates threw off your ideological oppression and found a voice with a political leader who didn’t talk down to them, who was genuinely one of them, articulating exactly how they felt and their aspirations.
Worse, to your shock and horror, you discovered these “deplorables” were equal citizens and not only could vote, but would vote in large numbers against your political posturing !
Naturally, you can’t accept President Trump’s policies might actually be more perceptive and relevant than your ideological fantasies. Your outrage at the President and his supporters daring to take part in political life as equal citizens, is so great that you must destroy this presidency with the same ardour as putting down a peasant’s revolt. .
No President has attracted such hysterical opposition from such a self-entitled political class and media. Instead of blaming yourselves, you must find a scapegoat, or at least invent one.
Your hatred of Trump is not based on his policies, but because he (and his supporters ) refuse to play their parts according to your delusional political and social drama.
The desperation by the media to destroy the President is unprecedented. The NYT, CNN, New Yorker, Washington Post, Bloomberg and other mainstream media have all abandoned any pretense of unbiased journalism. The once famous serious media outlets are now largely owned or financed by billionaire political allies pursuing a fixed political agenda.
The most ludicrous conspiracy theories, are peddled by once respected serious media organizations as “factual”. Anything, no matter how ludicrous, inaccurate, or fanciful is justified in the cause of “Get Trump”. The theory of “if you throw enough mud, some must stick”. now takes the place of serious investigative journalism.
For the “never Trumpers” , anything, and anyone is justified as long as they hate the President and his upstart supporters.
In the middle of a Government shutdown, created by a battle between a democrat controlled lower house and a President determined to fulfill his election pledges, comes a starling allegation from Buzzfeed, the more disreputable little brother of Left-wing media outlet, Huffington Post.
The allegation, which dominated all mainstream outlets, and immediately accepted by excitable democrats and sections of the media, as well sourced and verifiable fact, was the allegation sourced from unnamed, “law Enforcement officials”, that Micheal Cohen gave evidence proving President Trump instructed him to lie to Congress about his activities in Russia.
The “evidence” included testimony from Micheal Cohen,supported by “independent” documents, recordings of the President giving these instruction, both verbal and in writing and had been verified by “independent” witnesses.
Buzzfeed has been wrong so many times about “Trump” stories, (remember Manafort’s fictitious visit to the Czech Republic) it would be reasonable to believe any serious journalist would treat such an allegation with circumspection, until confirmed by Mueller’s office. But no, CNN, NYT,WP etc, all repeated the allegation as if verified and confirmed.
Nor did the hysteria subside when Peter Carr, official spokesman for Mr. Mueller took the unprecedented step issueing a statement denying the allegation:
“BuzzFeed’s description of specific statements to the Special Counsel’s Office, and characterization of documents and testimony obtained by this office, regarding Michael Cohen’s congressional testimony are not accurate,” .
The NYT was so reluctant to abandon the story it even published a report stating Mueller’s statement “wasn’t clear” about detail, so the Buzzfeed allegation should be read as accurate !
In the words of Alan M. Dershowitz;
“The anti-Trump pundits have been wrong so often that the only people who persist in believing them are Trump opponents who dream of seeing him forced out of office and maybe even winding up in prison”.
In the meantime, all this contempt for political opponents has lead to a situation where the leaders of the Democrat majority are so arrogant they now refuse to negotiate with the President, announcing their rejection of anything he has to say, even before he speaks!
The real root cause of all this hatred arises from the belief by the Democrats, and other Trump haters, that a ‘moral consensus’ exists in the USA, for which they, and they alone, are entitled to speak.
Assuming this mantle of “morality” , it’s only natural that like you, these folk assume themselves to be superior to others, especially the “deplorables”.
Therefore, President Trump must be impeached because morality demands his removal. The voters who put Trump and the GOP Senate majority in office don’t really count, since they are either stupid, or lately, just Russian pawns.
The President himself, and his family, must always be de-humanized and demonized, because that make it easier to atact him and his supporters as racist, Nazi, white supremacists,(even Black, Hispanic or Jewish supporters), by concentrating of false stero-types, “Never Trumpers” are able to justify the vilest public and private behavior as not only morally correct, but praise-worthy.
I believe you are quite sincere you believe you are only despising evil acts and not people, but that’s not clear at all !
In comment after comment, you attack the President on personal basis, along with his supporters. This “moralistic” approach would be more acceptable if you were equally censorious with miscreants among political liberals and fellow travelers.