Where have all the blue collar progressives gone? There were so many in my father's generation. Construction workers carrying a copy of Leaves of Grass or Emerson in their pocket. Bus drivers who'd recite Shakespeare. Janitors reading philosophy. I've met each but that was a very long time ago.
With media today, it's hard to compare the past with the present. Are there more whackos today or are we just hearing about them more? I think there are more. I think there are more because our educational system is dysfunctional, especially where it counts most in the lower grades. Elementary school teachers should earn more than college professors because their job is so much more important. But they must do their job right. We've incorporated too much social engineering into early education, worrying about a child's self-esteem, for example, more than their ability to read, write, think logically, and be creative not as a function of "self expression" but as a daring leap into thinking in new ways, putting ideas together in new ways. We've created generations of philosophical wimps.
I miss the literate farmers of old: "Take the two old parties, mister. There's no difference that I see. But with a Farmer-Labor Party, we could set the people free. I don't want your millions, mister..."
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Glad to see you followed through on this. It's a fascinating question, probably with lots and lots of answers. The mass move from the country to the city, to white-collar as opposed to blue-collar work, the largely (but not completely) artificial red/blue divide, the center/left's embrace of Wall Street in a way that would make Reagan proud. And "values" -- the right's keen realization that it could drive a wedge between workers and manager/progressives on overstated, underthought social issues. Progressives happily attended God's funeral without stopping to think that a lot of their natural allies either mourned the death or don't believe it ever happened. Hubris: Don't mock people you want on your side. Jesse Helms was a true villain, but he was no dummy: the culture wars of the 80s/90s drove millions of Americans away from true progressive causes.
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