Liberals Don't Understand Trump Voters

The more I see of Donald Trump, the more contempt I have for him. Forget trying to assuage the legitimate fears of his opponents - his response is to slam them. He is almost the textbook right wing troll - never engage in reasoned discussion - denigrate and insult those who disagree with you.

Some folks say that we liberals don’t understand or sympathize with the concerns of Trump voters. I don’t think that is completely true. Trump voters fall into three groups, the first one is those with serious economic concerns.

I understand they want better paying jobs with more security. To me that comes from the opposite of the GOP agenda - higher minimum wages, more support for education, more affordable health care, more job training, guaranteed jobs, and income support for those out of work. Essentially, they voted against every bit of that. Those things are the keys to Franklin Roosevelt’s Second Bill of Rights.

The second group of Trump voters are those who are comfortable financially and see the economy strictly as a zero sum game. The only way others can get ahead in their view, is if they lose. They have no intention of losing whatever financial security they’ve gained, so their response is calling for lower taxes and cutting “entitlements”. They feel that lazy undeserving people are living off their tax dollars.

Well, the bulk of “entitlements” consist of Social Security and Medicare, which are wholly funded by payroll taxes. Given the cap on taxable benefits, only upper income taxpayers would be hurt by raising the cap. Raising the cap would ensure the liquidity of Social Security and Medicare for another generation.

Beyond that, the bulk of people who are helped by “welfare” programs fall into two groups, those who want to work and those too young, too old, or too disabled to work. There are certainly a few who want to bilk the system, but they are far outnumbered by those who simply want a fair chance to make a decent living. We have too long seen middle class white taxpayers being pitted against lower income people by those who seek only to gain from that conflict.

The third group of Trump voters are those who voted to preserve white privilege, male privilege, Christian privilege, and straight privilege. There they are quite right – I do not sympathize with those people. I support rights for all people, not just straight white Christian men.