Open Letter to Blue Collar Workers
Here are some thoughts. Maybe they make sense; maybe they don’t. You decide.
I’m a Democrat but in the first debate Donald Trump’s message about job loss resonated with me.
I come from a blue collar family. Dad worked at the Philadelphia Navy Yard and Mom was a mother and homemaker first, although she did work part-time in retail, but only after my sister and I were in high school. On mostly Dad’s salary, my sister and I were able to go to college. And Dad’s government pension supported Mom until she passed. And his government-paid Blue Cross/Blue Shield medical coverage lasted throughout the 21 years she survived Dad.
I recall in 1964, while I was still in high school, how Mom and Dad sweated the possibility the Philadelphia Naval Yard might be shut down. I didn’t realize at the time what Dad losing his job might mean. Maybe we would have had to sell our house and move in with relatives. Maybe I might not go to college. But the government closed the Brooklyn Navy Yard instead and so life went on as normal, at least for workers in Philadelphia, but not those in Brooklyn.
These memories came back during the first debate. I had previously watched a YouTube video about the fate of Carrier Air Conditioner workers when their company decided to move production to Mexico. (Mr. Trump frequently refers to Carrier as an example of American jobs fleeing the country.) I imagined Dad living today, losing his job, and having to work for $10/hour at Walmart, maybe delivering pizzas at night, and Mom getting similar jobs, all to make ends meet. I could understand why people might vote for Mr. Trump.
But something else I learned as a kid—and have never seen any reason to doubt—is that the Republican Party is the party of big business while the Democrats are the party of the average working guy.
Think about it. Do you or your parents get Social Security? Are you or they covered by Medicare? Which party established Social Security and Medicare? Not the GOP, who I think of as the party of “Greed Old People”.
And then there’s Obamacare. For all its flaws it’s an effort to provide medical coverage to people who otherwise didn’t have it, to people who sometimes postponed medical exams only to see a doctor too late and find they were going to die. It’s happened. Or people who lost their homes to pay for medical bills. And what party fought for Obamacare? And what part fought against it and tried to repeal it over 50 times?
Obamacare has flaws. But if Republicans had cooperated rather than fought it tooth and nail maybe it would have fewer flaws. Lots of Democrats wanted medical coverage for everyone but didn’t think they could get it through the Congress.
So even if Mr. Trump had the personal virtues of a saint you’d still be giving your vote to the part of Greedy Old People.
But, as you may have noticed, Mr. Trump is no saint. In fact, I can’t think of even one instance where Mr. Trump did anything to help anyone other than Mr. Trump. Can you? (Sure, his businesses employ people but does he create businesses to help other people or to help himself?)
But I can think of lots of blue collar and technical people he has screwed by refusing to pay for work they did. (Doesn’t he claim he hires the “best people”? Then why doesn’t he pay them? If their work is as shabby as he says then he can’t be hiring the best people, can he?) And then there’s Trump University, which seems to have been a massive rip off of people trying to better themselves. And let’s not forget the Trump Foundation, where he uses other people’s money as a slush fund for his own benefit (he hasn’t given any of his own money to his foundation since 2008).
So I get why you’re feeling frustrated and worried and hoping for a better life. But if you give your vote to Mr. Trump and the party of Greedy Old People because you think that they are going to help you then I think you’re making a big mistake.
So how can you improve your life? Here’s what I think you need to do.
First, give Hillary a Democrat Senate and House so she can actually get something done and do some good for the country and for you.
Second, after the election keep at her and Congress. Don’t fall into a political sleep only to wake up four years later to find nothing has changed. Remember, it’s the squeaky wheel that gets the grease.
Don’t fall the age-old lie of the tyrant: “Everything is terrible but give me your vote and I’ll fix everything for you.” It’s not that easy. It won’t happen. It never has. You’ve got to stay involved and demand change. You’ve got to make your voice louder than the voices of banks and big business and pharmaceutical companies and whoever. They want change, too, but change that’s good for them but maybe not good for you.
Well, that’s about all I have to say. I hope you’ve found some truth in what I wrote.
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