A Growing Coalition or a Dying Idea?

               Published in Marietta (GA) Daily Journal, 2/5/22

            What do truckers, welders, plumbers, farmers, electricians, mechanics, bricklayers, miners, oil drillers, and cops have in common? For one thing they’re the ones who keep the country running. They’re all essential workers.

            Well, maybe not cops. We must not need cops too badly. If they were essential, Democrat mayors would not have caved to the Defund the Police madness. But those mayors and others who caved are now seeing the error of their ways. With no help from the President and the Attorney General, the citizens of Chicago, Portland, Minneapolis, Atlanta, and many other Democrat-run cities are finally making headway in bringing attention to unparalleled crime. Cops are essential. We should convey our appreciation to them whenever we get the chance, even if they have just handed us a speeding ticket.

            What do Canada and the USA have in common? A few things stand out. They are both representative democracies and they are both currently governed by leftist, progressive leaders. Canada and the USA both have an out-of-power conservative party, the Tories and Republicans, respectively. Interestingly enough, both countries are experiencing the undeniable rise of populism.

            Ah, populism. That dreaded prospect faced by the tyrants or elites of every land. That rising up of common folk who have had enough of kooky ideas, mandates, gender ideology run amok, the war on parents, the notion that whiteness equals racism, neglect of due process, the outlandish claim that one’s sex is an option, social media censorship, cancel culture, and general condescension from those running the show. In America they’re called deplorables. Currently in Canada they’re called truckers. The Canadian truckers who made their way to Ottawa from every corner of the nation weren’t operating from a sudden impulse. Their protest was not birthed by but was fed by a disdain for their national government’s shutdowns brought on by the coronavirus. Our reticent neighbors to the north are no longer reticent.

            Resistance to Covid mandates was preceded by another different reality, a restlessness among the working class that was building among American and Canadian workers. Donald Trump did not create America’s restless army of workers. He recognized it and stepped up to lead it. Call it a peasant’s revolt, an awakening of nationalism, or whatever we wish, the restlessness was real and its restless members were numerous enough to elect their candidate. In large measure the divide that resulted was a divide between urban and rural America, between Peoria and Silicon Valley, between America’s workers and the managerial elite.

Two well-known conservative political writers, Salina Zito and Victor Hanson, foresee the outcome of these developments a bit differently. In her book, “The Great Revolt,” Zito, syndicated columnist for the Washington Examiner, expresses optimism for the populist winners of the 2016 presidential election.  She subtitled her book “Inside the Populist Coalition Reshaping American Politics.” As her subtitle suggests, the political involvement and influence of working Americans, most of whom were energized by Trump, is here to stay primarily because it was always bigger than Trump.  Hanson, professor of classics at California State University, titles his more recent book “The Dying Citizen: How Progressive Elites, Tribalism, and Globalization Are Destroying the Idea of America.” Hanson foresees defeat of the newly energized working class, arguing that open borders and the concept of “global citizenship” is turning us into non-citizens. “Citizenship,” he asserts, “exists within delineated borders wherein there is allegiance to a particular place.” What was once the Americanization of the globe, Hanson declares, “has ended up as the globalization of America.”

The great divide that Zito and Hanson are addressing is not actually political. It is based on class. At the heart of both their books is the belief that the American worker is being slighted. That belief is defensible. Members of Congress give more heed to the “Super Zips,” (zip codes of the well-to-do) than to working America. Neither of our political parties actual lays claim on the white working class. Under Trump’s leadership the white working class became a Republican constituency, but given the way political winds blow, how long will that last?

As for how Zito and Hansen swing, I’m reminded that Hillary Clinton did poorly with the working class in 2016, particularly in the Midwest. Go back over a half century before that. How surprised Democrats must have been when FDR and Truman’s leadership through a depression and a world war was forgotten and Republican Dwight Eisenhower was given a spectacular victory.

Nothing in politics is permanent, but working class voters best remember these two eternal truths: “The squeaky wheel gets the grease” and “Problems worthy of attack prove their worth by fighting back.”

 

Roger Hines

2/2/22