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Obama Working Class Analysis

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The Appalachian working-class could not connect with Obama, because he comes from a completely different social-class. Vance points out that “Not a single one of my high school classmates attended an Ivy League School. Barack Obama attended two of them and excelled at both. He is brilliant, wealthy, and speaks like a constitutional law professor-which, of course, he is. Nothing about him bears any resemblance to the people I admired growing up” (Vance 105). This creates the feeling of isolation and the mindset that they are not politically represented, which strengthens oppositional culture and rejection of establishment. Specifically because the people of Appalachia were caricatured as hillbillies and the idea was perpetuated that “the southern …show more content…

The white working-class preceded by justifying their positions through scapegoating. “There is a cultural movement in the white working-class to blame problems on society or the government, and that movement gains adherents by the day.” (Vance 193). This explains the resentment of the working-class toward immigrants. The working-class feels like that the political elites concern themselves with immigrants, while neglecting the white working-class. This aligns with 73 % of Trump supporters that believe that “discrimination against whites is now as big of a problem as discrimination against minorities” (Nelson). Therefore, the working-class feels neglected by the establishment and therefore is hostile towards representatives of the political establishment. This is especially present in states with low immigration and high unemployment. The white working-class sees the fault in politics and therefore seeks serious political change. “Struggling blue-collar voters side with whichever candidate, Republican or Democrat, promises the greatest change” …show more content…

. . Governments could award public research centres-in the mould of America’s National Institutes of Health or Europe’s CERN-to cities which prepare the best plans for policy reform and public investment. This would aid the diffusion of new ideas and create an incentive for struggling places to help themselves (“Left

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