Raging Cynic

    It was over a good coffee yesterday that I came to a sudden sad epiphany. Hillary’s proud and loud core of, what’s the term?, “working white,” supporters who are so vocal about her beating her dead horse into a powder are looking to handicap themselves. It’s a pretty clear demographic split between more educated, higher earning Democrats supporting Obama and the less educated, minimum wage Democrats supporting Hillary. Wooing her core, Hillary routinely promotes short-sighted solutions to pressing issues (look at this “gas tax holiday” plan of hers), and short-sighted attacks on Obama (i.e. the red phone ad where she claims she’s more qualified because of years in Washington which, following that logic, means we should vote for McCain).

Let us assume the Hillary, like most who occupy the office of President will plan on a second term. Naturally, she will look to court the same group of her supporters who elected her the first time to form the foundation of her support base. Establish a strong base, and spread out from there; standard strategy. What initiatives, then, can we expect Hillary to take with regard to the lower-class? Well, if she wants their support in 2012, she’ll want them to stay in the lower-class. Take the axiom that “demographics are destiny;” if Hillary’s supporters become, demographically, more similar to Obama supporters (more educated, higher wages, less rural), they become less-likely to support her because she’s no longer looking out for their interests.

This simply means that she isn’t looking out for their interest now. Hilary has a vested interest in hampering the social mobility of America’s lower strata.

Does this change anything? Probably not. Some of the most destructive and treacherous agents of politics and political change have been supported overwhelmingly by those groups who had nothing to lose but their lives and whatever modicum of freedom they had previously enjoyed. The person who justifies his actions by saying “it can’t get any worse” is often proven wrong; a desperate choice isn’t a thoughtful decision.

The alternative is clear. Where Hillary would want to keep the lower class cemented in place (or better yet for her, grow it), Obama would want to improve earnings and education to grow his supporters. Isn’t that the American Dream? The pinnacle of Social Mobility? To have our highest elected official WANT to help us become wealthier and more educated?
But then, it’s your vote.

Just caught a commercial for the latest generation of Subaru SUV. Seems fantastic. Just not in that “wow that’s swell” way; more in the “are they serious?” way. The only thing they say in the whole 30-second spot is that it’s bigger. A bigger SUV; great. Now, it may have a better MPG, may have more safety options, maybe it’s a resigned interior or drive-line to make it safer and more reliable. But they don’t say anything on that; it’s just bigger.

Are we still wallowing in the era of monster-SUVs? Now, among my California urbanite circle, taking plastic bags instead of a canvas tote out of the supermarket is looked down upon (not that it stops people).

All the same, it can’t be denied that high-gas prices aren’t keeping the gas-guzzlers and mammoth SUVs off the road. Dealerships, even here in California’s Bay Area which boasts some of the nation’s highest gas prices, keep lining SUVs at the front of their lots.

Is there a solution? Several years after Ireland passed laws forcing supermarkets to charge customers for a plastic bag, nearly everyone’s switched to canvas bags and walking out with a  plastic bag has become shameful. Taxes on autos and gasoline in Asia seems to be keeping auto purchases from ballooning even more than they might be want to. So what would it take for Americans to wake up to the fact that we’re addicted to a practice that’s making our lives shorter, our environment more toxic, our economy weak, even our government subject to gross manipulation.

By the way, May 15th is bike to work day here in the Bay Area. Even if you don’t have a bike, give mass transit a shot. Google maps does a good job of offering directions using public transit.