For years, political scientists have wondered why so many poor and working-class citizens of so-called “red” states vote against their economic self-interest.
The wages of production workers have been dropping for 30 years, adjusted for inflation, and their economic security has disappeared. A smaller share of working-age Americans hold jobs today than at any time in more than three decades.
For them, a job is precious — sometimes even more precious than a safe workplace or safe drinking water.
This is especially true in poorer regions of the country like West Virginia and through much of Southern and rural America, where the old working class has been voting Republican. Guns, abortion and race are part of the explanation. But donÂ’t overlook economic anxieties that translate into a willingness to vote for whatever it is that industry wants.
This may explain why Republican officials who have been casting their votes against unions, against expanding Medicaid, against raising the minimum wage, against extended unemployment insurance, and against jobs bills that would put people to work, continue to be elected and re-elected.
They obviously have the support of corporate patrons who want to keep unemployment high and workers insecure because a pliant working class helps their bottom lines.
As someone who has lived in the south for the past half of my life it always puzzled me why people in this region always vote against their self interests and defend the same people who exploit them . I attribute it to a plantation mentality ...
