Progressives Must Stop Wealth Bashing
“Socialism never took root in America because the poor see themselves not as an exploited proletariat but as temporarily embarrassed millionaires.”
Chances are if you’re someone who participates in the online left discourse you’ve come across that Steinbeck quote before. The quote is often used to make the argument that not only are working class people being exploited but that the “American Dream” is just that. (A sentiment I tend do agree with by the way.)
So if the point is true what’s the problem? Like most everything else with the left, it’s messaging.
The left has a tendency to bash wealth and it’s a serious problem. While I’m sure any lefty reading this is rolling their eyes ready to call me a class trader or neoliberal hear me out.
It’s one thing to correctly critique and bash people like Jeff Bezos and others who obtained their wealth through government manipulation and worker exploitation. Most people agree with that. However, it’s another to bash someone who lives in a single family home in a nice suburban neighborhood.
And before people start freaking out about the perils of single family housing (another losing message by the way) the point here is not about policy. It’s messaging.
Most people realize they will never be Jeff Bezos. They can’t relate to that. But someone who has enough financial mobility to put themselves and their family in a better living situation? That’s a future that feels attainable for most people and is something people literally work their entire lives to achieve.
So what am I proposing? We need to totally rethink how we re-frame the conversation around wealth. I would do that by making it VERY clear that the left not only likes wealth but CELEBRATES it. You can still encourage wealth while correctly pointing out the corruption and exploitation obscene wealth often relies upon.
Wealth is not the problem. Ill-gotten gains is. That’s the message.
So instead of calling people neoliberals for not having read Marx lean into that capitalist messaging that has been engrained in the culture since birth. Americans have basically been bred to believe in excellence and that you can have a better life here than anywhere else. I believe we even have a term for that. Instead of bitching about it in a Facebook post that changes no ones mind actually LEVERAGE IT!
You can’t totally upend cultural norms and expect to win. Not quickly anyway. If I was stumping I would more or less say the following,
“You want that American dream? You want to be a doctor, a scientist or start a business? You want to own a nice home in a neighborhood that’s safe and has good schools? Imagine how much more achievable that dream would be if you didn’t have to worry about extreme debt from getting an education. If you could quit that shit job and forge your own path and not worry about losing your health insurance in the process. If public schools across America received federal support so the quality of an education is not determined by imaginary lines. The American dream is built upon taking risks and that’s a great part of our culture. Now imagine if you had the flexibility to take that risk and know it wouldn’t end in financial or medical ruin. THAT IS WHAT WE WANT. We’re not here to tell you that thing you were told since you were a kid is a myth. Our goal is to make it possible again.”
— Jack Marchese
(Neoliberal shill or radical leftist communist depending on who you ask.)
