Indignation is righteous about world’s weakening middle class
Some readers blasted my column on Brexit over the weekend, venting their anger with a global economic system that benefits a few, hurts many and leaves most in limbo.
They railed against an amorphous elite — which apparently includes me — that belittles the working class and ignores their concerns.
“Your comments that ‘bluecollar white voters with little education and low income’ drove the vote for Britain to leave the EU is a typical self-hating, white-liberal elitist reaction to anything that deviates from their politically correct, Pollyanna view of the world,” Rob Dalhoff wrote in a typical email.
To Rob and all the angry readers, I say this: Your indignation is righteous, and for the good of the country and the world, those with power must ensure globalization’s benefits are more evenly disbursed.
Exit polls, however, do show that blue-collar, white voters carried the day for the Brexiteers, while residents of wealthy, white-collar districts voted
“Remain.” Voters over the age of 55 also swamped younger voters, who largely consider themselves European.
The data also shows us that Brexit supporters share similarities with supporters of anti-globalization movements in France, Italy and the United States. Take Donald Trump’s “Make America Great Again” motto, insert the name of almost any industrialized country, and you’ll find a group of angry voters ready to join that cause. Almost any Bernie Sanders speech railing against the economic elite would also translate well.
Nationalist and populist movements are gaining strength because globalization has hurt a significant portion of the middle class in Western countries and alienated even more.
Middle-class America hasn’t seen a significant increase in take-home pay in 40 years, when adjusted for inflation, and median household income is actually down 6.9 percent since 2000. The rich have gotten much richer, but the proportion of poor households has increased from 16 percent in 1971 to 20 percent in 2015, and the middle class has shrunk to less than half the population from 61 percent in 1971.
Deregulation in the 1980s has helped corporations keep a lid on wages, making Wall Street investors happy and wealthy. The pay ratio between a company’s highest- and lowest-paid employee has blown up to 205-1, while Congress has rolled back laws guaranteeing basic benefits such as health insurance or paid sick days.
The Social Progress Index finds that while the U.S. ranks 8th in the world for per capita GDP, it ranks 19th when it comes to 53 social and environment measures.
“In the U.S. we see real weaknesses relative to other countries of similar wealth on safety, on the education system, the health care system and the environment. Even on rights,” said Michael Green, executive director of the Social Progress Imperative, which released new data Tuesday. “There are real grounds for discontent among the public in terms of their real quality of life, relative to the average GDP of the country.”
America’s poor performance coincides with Congress lowering taxes on the wealthy, disabling labor unions, cutting funding for public education and curtailing employment laws. High marginal tax rates, strong unions, good schools, new roads and worker protections boosted the U.S. economy after World War II, and the reverse is proving true.
Middle-class anger, therefore, is well-founded, but one thing I have learned from covering nine wars and dozens of elections is that messianic leaders promising wholesale change and easy solutions never deliver. Protest votes can be satisfying to cast, but as many Brexiteers are discovering, winning has consequences.
Some leaders have chosen demagoguery, falsely blaming their nation’s shortcomings on foreigners, immigrants, minorities, bureaucrats and the wealthy; basically anyone who can be classified as “the other.” To distract voters from actual issues, politicians and business people trumpet sovereignty and patriotism, which, as Samuel Johnson warned in 1775, “is the last refuge of the scoundrel.”
Trump and Sanders prove the debate is no longer about conservatives versus liberals, or socialists versus capitalists, because both men have blurred those lines. The divide is between nationalistic populists and internationalist free traders, of which I am one because I know first hand the world’s inter-connectedness.
Destroying economic blocs, canceling trade agreements, erecting border walls, sparking class wars and stoking tribalism will not improve the lives of Americans. Making imported goods more expensive, cutting exports, reducing immigration and waving the flag will not create jobs, improve our schools or make retirement more comfortable.
But neither will maintaining the status quo. Rather than ridicule the righteously indignant as ignorant or xenophobic, smart leaders must address their legitimate complaints about unresponsive government, worsening standards of living and an exploitative economic system. We need better schools, higher wages, affordable health care, campaign finance reform, more job training and greater opportunity for all.
Otherwise anger will rise, revolution will come, and the losses will be profound.