Sign of the times: The Gentrification of the Democratic Party

The new gentrified Democratic donkey

Although private sector labor unions are still a big influence on the Democratic Party the policies actually followed by Democrats once in office is distinctly anti-working class. Democratic Party politicos tend to work hardest for policies favored by the gentrified college educated professionals that inhabit the suburban areas. And  if you are a non-unionized blue, pink or white collar working-class stiff the Dems don't do much for you; you just don't have enough clout.

"...California, New York and Washington, D.C. represent progress due to the enlightened social and environmental rhetoric espoused by the media, academics and politicians based in these regions. But in reality,"says demographer Joel Kotkin, who studies these things," this new ruling class seems likely to create an American future that looks a lot like today’s Great Britain, with a significant affluent population concentrated in core cities and some affluent suburbs that lives an exciting life at the top of the world economy, surrounded by a large underclass and a fading middle class."

Modern Democrats will fight to the death to make sure urban, unionized public employees like bus drivers, cops, firemen, teachers and bureaucrats get top pay and benefits, and gold-plated retirements that they can take at age fifty in return for their money and votes. The rest of us peons with no clout get downsized, privatized, out-sourced,  and displaced by immigrants and are then told to shop at Wal-Mart for the best value for our food stamps. I wonder what FDR would say about all this? Wall Street banksters and well connected corporate CEOs are green-lighted to scam the system in every way possible. And then merely wrist slapped and then bailed out if they fail. It's no accident that in recent years as much money from the financier class goes to the Dems as to the Republicans. State socialism for the rich and laissez-faire for the poor.

"The genius of our ruling class", says Gore Vidal, "is that it has kept a majority of the people from ever questioning the inequity of a system where most people drudge along, paying heavy taxes for which they get nothing in return."

Indeed.