Reply #115: Congratulations, QC [View All]

[sharonking21]

My heart is with all three groups--the working poor, the working class, and undocumented workers. I do not object at all to your postings--they are quite thoughtful. It is too late at night for me to intelligently discuss what you put up here, but here are a few thoughts.

There are some here on DU who unthinkingly rail against the undocumented workers and these I have no patience with--my attitude here is a product of my bourgeois education since I did most of my post-graduate work in history and know the drawbacks of nativist thinking.

You can see some of my earlier posts on the above topic and on the topic of exactly how much of a burden undocumented workers really are--I think they are not given enough credit--at the thread:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=132&topic_id=1696018

However, my father was a house painter and growing up, I very much led a working class life, so I also understand fully and in gory detail why the working class fears undocumented workers.

K-W's post about having to do the spadework that initially built the labor movement is relevant I think.

Winning Democratic control back would also help.

We used to think that free trade would solve problems like Mexico, but now we are no longer so sure, are we? Perhaps in the long run, but that is cold comfort to the working poor of today.

Also, it would be nice if Democrats hadn't lost most interest in the issues surrounding poverty, housing, the working class, and the working poor. Hate to say it, but LBJ seemed to be the last president to really try to address these problems. And the Democrats of today seem to think that Clinton's stab at welfare reform solved all the problems. Sometimes I wonder if the "What's the Matter with Kansas" type of phenomena are truly based on the Republican values thing or if they feel abandoned by us.

Have you read, or had your class read, Shepler's The Working Poor? I loved Nickle and Dimed. Wish I could make it required reading for everyone.