Trump's Cult "Voting For Its Own Impoverishment"

Nobel Prize laureate Paul Krugman's column this morning in the New York Times explores the continuing economic decline of Trumpland: the areas of the country that strongly support con artist and demagogue Donald "Rump" Trump and are losing. His cynical campaign promises to revive the coal, steel and aluminum industries won't bring those industries or the jobs back, nor will a trade war with China. Krugman notes:

"Things have been falling apart on multiple fronts since the 1970s: Political polarization has marched side by side with economic polarization, as income inequality has soared.

And both political and economic polarization have a strong geographic dimension. On the economic side, some parts of America, mainly big coastal cities, have been getting much richer, but other parts have been left behind. On the political side, the thriving regions by and large voted for Hillary Clinton, while the lagging regions voted for Donald Trump."

Much of the problem is based on poorly educated workforces in those regions, which haven't adjusted to the new economy. The regions that have attracted industries that require highly educated workers are doing better than those that don't, and higher educated workers bring higher wages, which bring better better schools and quality of life for their communities. But these poorer regions repeatedly elect Rethuglicans that are doing them harm:

"Many of the states that have refused to expand Medicaid, even though the federal government would foot the great bulk of the bill — and would create jobs in the process — are also among America’s poorest.

Or consider how some states, like Kansas and Oklahoma — both of which were relatively affluent in the 1970s, but have now fallen far behind — have gone in for radical tax cuts, and ended up savaging their education systems. External forces have put them in a hole, but they’re digging it deeper.

And when it comes to national politics, let’s face it: Trumpland is in effect voting for its own impoverishment. New Deal programs and public investment played a significant role in the great postwar convergence; conservative efforts to downsize government will hurt people all across America, but it will disproportionately hurt the very regions that put the G.O.P. in power" (emphasis added)

That's the price of not paying attention as a citizen (or in class) and getting played over wedge issues and lies.