frigidweirdo
Diamond Member
- Mar 7, 2014
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Here's a good video from the economist on Youtube. Usually I don't like posts that force you to watch a video, but I think this is a good one.
Social mobility in the US is low.
Global Social Mobility Index - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
Here's a list based on the Global Social Mobility Index.
The US is 27th on the list.
This video says that education is a big problem in social mobility in the US. The way schools are funded, the way colleges accept students and the like is all a problem.
Then they point to current social unrest being caused by this.
Clearly Trump supporters are unhappy with how the US is. Trump's slogan says it all. People think the US isn't "great" any more and they want to change this. How do they want to change it? Well, I doubt they even think about this as they're more likely to be people who haven't had an education that has prepared them to think about this. They know something's wrong, someone comes along and says he'll change it, they want to believe.
Same with Sander's supporters. People who want Socialism or socialism or Communism or something they don't even know. They just know they want change and they'll vote for that change without really knowing what they're voting for. These people are, again, not necessarily well educated, or even if they are they don't see the bigger picture.
Both sides here know there's a problem. The problems are there, but people aren't aware of what they are. They're pushing for change, any change really, no matter how dangerous or useless or pointless it might be.
My personal view is the electoral system keeps these barriers up. The current way of electing people is mostly about negative voting. People are voting AGAINST something because people like Sanders can't get to be the presidential candidate. Trump, against all odds, managed to get the candidacy and win the election which is probably why he has such fervent supporters.
But Trump didn't change anything and won't change anything for the better. He didn't identify the problems and put in place decades long plans to bring about a change in the way people vote, in the way people get educated, in the way people get selected for universities.
Unfortunately this report only started in 2020. So we can't look back and see the changes. But clearly it has changed. Post WW2 there was huge social mobility. Now it has petrified to a huge extent and this is causing problems no one wants to deal with.