“These are the voters who have gone through the most traumatic economic and cultural change in America in the past thirty years; technology, global wage competition, and a nationalizing, secularizing culture have upended the way of life of the American blue-collar manufacturing worker more than they have for any other subgroup. In their eyes, they have lived by the rules and done everything they were supposed to: they worked hard, prayed hard, raised their kids to do the right thing, coached their kids’ softball games, served as ushers at their churches, were civically engaged, and asked only to watch their favorite team play football on Sundays and to have a chance to give their offspring a slightly better economic situation in their hometowns when they were done. But the world did not return the favor. Big companies did not cater to them to earn their business anymore, big media did not share their values, big Hollywood made them the butt of their jokes, and big business and big government showed them the door when technology replaced their job skills.”
From the recently published book: The Great Revolt: Inside the Populist Coalition Reshaping American Politics, by Salena Zito and Brad Todd
