Q: Where do you think this hatred of the poor comes from? It’s always been there, but it seems to be getting worse.
Crabapple: I think sometimes you demonize what you fear becoming, and if you’re a middle-class person, your grasp on security and stability has gotten more and more tenuous over the years. The buy-in to having a safe, comfortable life has gotten higher and higher, and you’re actually quite close to becoming poor. You’re one mistake, one illness away. To emotionally cope, you say: "These people are scum, they’re fucking lazy, I will never become like them because I’m better than they are." By the same token, we all think that we can become millionaires. So we think: "Don’t tax those people, because my plumbing business is just one year away from putting me in that strata." So I think that it’s based on aspiration and fear. Taibbi: I think that’s exactly right. I also think it’s been exacerbated by lobbying and mass media. There are interests that want to deregulate the economy, and so have to come up with justifications. There’s a sweeping public relations effort to tell ordinary people that entrepreneurship is what drives America, and that it’s lazy people who took out mortgages they couldn’t afford who are to blame for the crash. So there’s a lot effort to accelerate the blame and adulation. full: http://www.theawl.com/2014/04/a-conversation-with-matt-taibbi-and-molly-crabapple _______________________________________________ pen-l mailing list [email protected] https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l
