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| Nine Workmen by James Chapin |
There is a good column by E.J. Dionne in the WaPo about the disappearance of the working class from popular culture.
I've been noticing for many years that the working class is disappearing from our LANGUAGE as well.
It's not just the Republicans, who of course hate everything about the working class, and only recognize that some people do actual labor when they are self-employed entrepreneurs like Joe the Plumber.
But Democrats and mainstream liberals never utter the words "workers", "labor", or "working class" anymore either. For several years, they have been using "middle class" as code for working class. It's not the same thing, folks.
In the broadcast emails I see from the AFL-CIO and other union groups, they are no better. The best they can do is "working familes". There the cuddly word "families" is used to soften the scary word "working".
We are long overdue to introduce a discussion of class into our politics, but if everyone seems to think it is off limits to even utter the words "working class", that's going to be hard.
I've been noticing for many years that the working class is disappearing from our LANGUAGE as well.
It's not just the Republicans, who of course hate everything about the working class, and only recognize that some people do actual labor when they are self-employed entrepreneurs like Joe the Plumber.
But Democrats and mainstream liberals never utter the words "workers", "labor", or "working class" anymore either. For several years, they have been using "middle class" as code for working class. It's not the same thing, folks.
In the broadcast emails I see from the AFL-CIO and other union groups, they are no better. The best they can do is "working familes". There the cuddly word "families" is used to soften the scary word "working".
We are long overdue to introduce a discussion of class into our politics, but if everyone seems to think it is off limits to even utter the words "working class", that's going to be hard.
