This, and not economic anxiety, is what elected Trump.

[Cosmocat]

57. Everything you note is "culture"

A different flavor from what I see in the North East, but everything you note, "sharing the wealth," "spending on social programs" is us vs "them" code.

Strict religious conservatives are the holy grail of "culture" based voting.

Conservative good, liberal bad!

I take heart in being a progressive because we are right on pretty much all issues, and advocate for the rights of others.

BUT, my primary reason for being a progressive is our own financial well being.

I see the necessity for social security, and in fact that is should be expanded.

I see how jacked up our health care system is and the need for a single payer system.

I see how people with money and influence, individually and corporations, are able to compromise high level politicians and funnel tax payer dollars into their interests, and work to tilt taxation to put more of the burden on the average tax payer so they can have more money than they know what to do with.

These things are not some mystery, they are clear as day.

And, peoples ACTIONS speak louder than their words.

They can spew all the senseless canned talking points that put a veneer on their views and actions possible. They can even not be honest about themselves about it.

But, when they crawl over glass to vote for politicians who, today more than ever, out and out fuck them every possible way from an economic and financial standpoint, they are NOT voting for their economic best interest.