Elitism and wealth, though often linked, are not the same. The term nouveaux riche highlights this difference: it refers to those who have gained wealth but lack the cultural status of the traditional elite. One can be rich without being part of the elite, as elitism is more about attitudes of superiority tied to education or social influence than money alone.
In American politics, Democrats are often branded as elitist due to their perceived condescension towards certain demographics, such as rural communities or southern voters. Critics argue that some Democrats dismiss these regions as culturally or intellectually inferior, suggesting that rural areas offer little value or substance. This perception of elitism stems from more than just economic disparity; it reflects a cultural and ideological divide. The urban-rural schism is not simply about money, but about who holds the power to shape discourse, values, and the future of society. Such perceptions fuel populist resentment, where rural or working-class voters feel alienated or belittled by what they view as a metropolitan, highly educated, and culturally insulated elite.
You can see some of this elitism right here in the comments in fact.
Because it's convenient to have bad faith actors sowing discord before any election.
Tankies (sleeper conservatives that they are) can't rely on logic, merit or hope for a better tomorrow, so they cause as much chaos as possible to their perceived 'enemies'. This chaos includes the encouragement of unrealistic statements and general cognitive dissonance.
My true thoughts are that they went too far and started to believe their own drivel as generations of hexbears rose and fell and shit themselves into .ml
Republican voters are illiterate morons who perceive anyone trying to teach them something as "elite". They don't attribute elite status to salary because the vast majority of them earn less than $40K a year and think that Trump is a good ol boy that would love to have a beer with them. They have no concept over how much money Trump has let alone Musk, and the ones that do are convinced that one day they'll also have billions of dollars. What sane people call "elite", Republican voters and MAGAts call "role model" and what Republicans and MAGAts call elite, we call "productive political discourse".
Democrats believe they alone should be the alternative to the Republican party. Their refusal to replace First past the post voting in the states they control is them telling us they know better then everyone else.
This is one of the greatest scams that conservatives get away with IMO, not just in the US but it happens in the UK and other places too. Conservatives get in, go hog wild cutting taxes, selling off public assets and throwing huge contracts to their friends, and then as soon as the other side gets back in they find that they have to now balance the books, the conservatives start complaining and saying they're the fiscally responsible ones.
It's literally happening right now in the UK - we just got rid of the Tories finally after about 15 years, and the new Labour government immediately found a £20 billion hole in the economy which they now have to make harsh cuts to sort out, and they're the ones getting criticized for it by the media.
Because the Democrats abandoned working class voters in the 80s and 90s to court the professional-managerial class in a pivot towards the center, and the Republicans were able to win over these disaffected blue-collar voters with resentment politics.
Why haven’t Democrats embraced economic populism? Because for too long they’ve drunk from the same campaign funding trough as the Republicans – big corporations, Wall Street, and the very wealthy.
Because democrats value egalitarianism and
education. Good education is expensive. The businesspersons that have expended the most effort to offshore our jobs to the serious detriment of working-class America have had some of the most expensive and exclusive educations of all, and they are some of the wealthiest people on the planet… (conservatives fullstop here and ignore the rest: …who are also likely voting conservative). Couple that with the fact that expert (educated) advice and direction is often in direct conflict with the myopic goals and views of the uneducated. Don’t dump shit everywhere (but it’s cheap, easy, and fun to roll coal and pour used motor oil on the ground!), don’t cut down all the trees (but mah lumber is more expensive!), and maybe wear a mask (grandma was gonna die eventually anyways, at least I can bring her Covid from the Applebees take out!)
So it’s really easy for the conservatives to paint education = evil, and then of course they couple that with feel-good bullshit like “common sense” and small-town American wisdom that is completely meaningless but makes the uneducated feel smart or like they have control of their situation.
Because Republican voters never, ever seek evidence or utilize basic critical thinking when their hatred steeped biases are confirmed.
A sufficiently hatemongering, and therefore trusted conservative talking head could say "Kamala Harris is a secret Aids Virus in a skin suit made of harvested fetuses made human size by George Soros' double secret reverse shrink ray!"
And you'd cue thunderous Republican voter applause with shrieks of "I FUCKING KNEW IT!"
It's because Democrats are not willing to become anti-elite or anti-rich or anything like that, they'd piss off their donors. Only Trump was able to do this because everyone knows he's lying. His donors know it's all a show.
Corporate politicians are the same regardless of whether there is a D or an R in front of their name. They will vote in the interests of their donors every time, without question.
Because they are? Let's not pretend several billionaires don't have Democrats on their payroll too. Are we just ignoring the existence of pelosi and her corporate democrat ilk to make this point? Dems and Republicans are in the pockets of corporate america and billionaires. It's not a secret that this country is a thinly veiled oligarchy
As I said, Harris is waging a good campaign. But she and many of her fellow Democrats could be more vocal about how ultra-wealthy individuals and giant corporations are undermining and corrupting America.
No, she is leading a good campaign by comparison. Overall, her entire message is back to neoliberalism and not facism, which is definitely the better choice. But objectively she is in the pockets of corps and thereby is not doing a good campaign the way FDR’s was good.
Kamala Harris’s campaign should strike a more populist note
I agree, if we could get Kamala to agree then I'd feel a lot more confident about her beating trump.
I don't understand why people want to blame everyone except Kamala and her campaign for her campaigns failings tho.
The media is always mad at Dem voters for not being excited for Dem candidates, probably because the wealthy owners of the media are the same ones donating so the left most option isn't really all that "left".