Since you're talking about a lot of my family and some of my friends, I'm going to try again to help you understand where they are coming from.
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You're a good guy, Jack, but sometimes -- like now -- you come across as an elitist jerk.
It's not "rich people" they resent. It's not East Coasters they resent. It's not business owners, real estate magnates, or really any other profession. I mean, these are folks who adore Warren Buffet.
And they adore Warren Buffet because he is wealthy, but still "down home." Quite literally. He still lives in the same house in Omaha that he bought decades ago.
And the opposite of "down home" is an elitist. They resent elitists. They resent people who view them as nothing more than living in a flyover state. They resent people who think they know better than them simply because they went to an Ivy League School instead of the state university system. They resent people who expect them to focus on the top of Lazlo's pyramid (self-actualization and esteem) while not recognizing that they are suffering utterly from economic collapse; they resent people who won't even recognize that their neighbors are dealing meth and resorting to violence, that their schools and neighborhoods are falling apart, and that the very social fabric they've depended on since the end of WWII is rapidly disintegrating.
They supported Donald Trump for the same reasons. He spoke to them in a way that came across as maybe not fully "down home," but not elitist. They did not perceive him fully because they lack the political education and awareness that you and I do. They were fooled, but they are not rubes and dumb-asses. It's just incredibly difficult to pay attention to politics when you're sitting at the kitchen table, hungry 'cause dinner goes to the kids, not you, trying to figure out with your spouse whether you should pay the bill to repair the car, buy a new pair of shoes (hoping you get that job interview next week), or try to set aside a few bucks for the future because you know that sewer line out back is on the verge of collapse and you're overdue for a new roof by at least five years.
President Obama touched on this in his farewell address. I'll leave you with a couple paragraphs before I head off to the gym.
You're a good guy, and given the trajectory of your life, you're going to have the opportunity to really change the world in the future. I just hope you start trying to understand the people you are so prone to dismiss off-hand.
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Going forward, we must uphold laws against discrimination – in hiring, in housing, in education and the criminal justice system. That’s what our Constitution and highest ideals require. But laws alone won’t be enough. Hearts must change. If our democracy is to work in this increasingly diverse nation, each one of us must try to heed the advice of one of the great characters in American fiction, Atticus Finch, who said, “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view…until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.”
For blacks and other minorities, it means tying our own struggles for justice to the challenges that a lot of people in this country face – the refugee, the immigrant, the rural poor, the transgender American, and also the middle-aged white man who from the outside may seem like he’s got all the advantages, but who’s seen his world upended by economic, cultural, and technological change.
For white Americans, it means acknowledging that the effects of slavery and Jim Crow didn’t suddenly vanish in the ‘60s; that when minority groups voice discontent, they’re not just engaging in reverse racism or practicing political correctness; that when they wage peaceful protest, they’re not demanding special treatment, but the equal treatment our Founders promised.
For native-born Americans, it means reminding ourselves that the stereotypes about immigrants today were said, almost word for word, about the Irish, Italians, and Poles. America wasn’t weakened by the presence of these newcomers; they embraced this nation’s creed, and it was strengthened.
So regardless of the station we occupy; we have to try harder; to start with the premise that each of our fellow citizens loves this country just as much as we do; that they value hard work and family like we do; that their children are just as curious and hopeful and worthy of love as our own.
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