> However, working people don't see themselves as fuckups (because they're not), and they don't have a lot of patience with weirdos. So they aren't going to feel comfortable with the gay marriage/ social worker part of the left (the old union guys were socially very conservative for the most part).
I'm not sure if this was always the case though. In the 60s and 70s it seemed that the weirdos and labor guys were able to work together because they had the same goals. And we have seen this recently with the labor protests in Wisconsin: they were started by university TA's but picked up by sanitation workers, cops, firefighters and the like.
I don't think it's fair for the working class folks to just write off everyone else just because they're "weirdos." Social issues can be just as important economic ones. Plus I think it's extremely shortsighted that someone will not be able to work with me on shared goals just because I don't go to church or eat ribs. I know these are just examples you brought up, but it's dangerous for people to never reach beyond "one of us."
The mistake of the Democratic Party was to abandon the unions and to embrace corporations as a source of funding. This continues to this day as Obama never supported the Wisconsin workers.
I'm not sure if this was always the case though. In the 60s and 70s it seemed that the weirdos and labor guys were able to work together because they had the same goals. And we have seen this recently with the labor protests in Wisconsin: they were started by university TA's but picked up by sanitation workers, cops, firefighters and the like.
I don't think it's fair for the working class folks to just write off everyone else just because they're "weirdos." Social issues can be just as important economic ones. Plus I think it's extremely shortsighted that someone will not be able to work with me on shared goals just because I don't go to church or eat ribs. I know these are just examples you brought up, but it's dangerous for people to never reach beyond "one of us."
The mistake of the Democratic Party was to abandon the unions and to embrace corporations as a source of funding. This continues to this day as Obama never supported the Wisconsin workers.