America's zero sum thinking about public goods is a product of racism, sexism, and classism, roughly in that order.
-
America's zero sum thinking about public goods is a product of racism, sexism, and classism, roughly in that order.
But it's deliberately exacerbated by companies jacking up prices while reducing the quality of goods and services so people start compulsively hoarding and gatekeeping access to things they once took for granted.
"Well, I need and deserve this more than 'those people' do."
And it's amazing how effective this capitalist mind-fucking is.
-
This is why conservatives promote austerity at every turn because financial precarity exacerbates every little form of social division, like the summer heat makes everyone's temper flare, and the longer these problems are allowed to fester, the more people feel like the democratic system can't or won't fix it.
It's a subtle, systemic nudge toward the idea of a strongman who will sweep all these "rules and regulations" aside and eliminate all the "moochers" so they can get their due.
-
It's a red flag when ostensibly liberal politicians agree with austerity and the need for dramatic cuts in benefits and services, including the need to tighten restrictions and means testing so only "the good volk" can get access -- especially instead of raising taxes on the ultra-wealthy to cover the difference. Not to mention when they promote massive police funding to counter the mysterious rise in social unrest.
-
America is a system designed to protect the wealth and power of white male oligarchs while crushing dissent and marginalized communities with militarized police and an unforgiving, outrageously expensive legal system, intentionally driving people into debt, homelessness, prisons, and unregulated economies without legal protections (e.g., migrant workers) to extract labor by force. And everyone in the middle is kept financially precarious so they turn on each other and don't ask questions.
-
And it works so well because America is inherently just that racist and misogynistic and xenophobic to begin with. It's literally baked into the founding documents of the country.
-
America was founded on the belief only white male landowners matter, especially the wealthy, and everyone else is irrelevant or enslaved.
You still see that mindset everywhere. It's very popular on the right.
Every time America inches toward dismantling that system, the ruling class revolts and promotes an insurrection among lower class white men in the guise of "populism."
And nowadays, with oligarchical control, they dial up the misery until everyone is at each other's throats.
