Bernie was asked why NOC--not-owning-class--folks vote against their own interests. He said if he knew that, he'd be way ahead of the game.John Oliver (this links to the 14-minute segment which aired last year) offers a creative answer: American optimism. He says:
A few months ago, Pew research revealed that 65% of Americans believe the wealth gap is increasing, and 60% believes our system unfairly favors the wealthy. But, and here's the key, 60% also believe that most people who work hard enough can make it. Or, in other words, Yeah, I can clearly see this game is rigged, which is what's going to make it so sweet when I WIN THIS THING!!! WOOOOOOO! . . . Experts even appear on TV telling us how to handle our future winnings. . . because it is never too early to begin protecting your imaginary lottery winnings from crippling estate taxes.
I suspect the reasons for this cognitive dissonance are a bit more sinister, based not in optimism but terror. NOC terror is a staple of political control. We are terrified of being shut out of the trough and having too little to survive. Those who live on wages, even in good times, are always under threat of losing their means of support, which is a very strong motivation to stay in line.
When prosperity is somewhat shared, i.e. between 1950-1975, the NOC relax. And nothing terrifies the sociopathic portion of the 1% which compulsively seeks control more than the thought of a relaxed NOC at the door. So they squeeze us to remind us that we thrive at their pleasure.
The staging of the squeeze is important. The mechanism of the squeeze is hidden behind the curtain while the attention is guided to the dazzling Power Balls of American capitalism and we are invited to see ourselves as having made it, as at last safe, secure and provided for, and, then, drum roll, please: Voila! our jobs, pensions and rights disappear.
It is time to recognize ourselves, temporarily, as the NOC. We are not scattered against racists and environmental rapists and sexists and capitalists, etc., in this part of the struggle. At this stage, we are all fighting the control department of the owning-class. Their money distorts the democratic process both in elections and in normal, government functioning. It keeps our legislators more deaf to our petitions than they ought to be. It keeps our regulators handing out wrist-slap fines and waivers of criminal consequence to confessed, recidivist, scofflaw corporations.
For this single battle, all of our liberation identities are subsumed under the single, immensely powerful identity of Not-Owning-Class. When we get owning-class money out of our politics, the breath-sucking array of urgent issues which big money now holds over our heads will be several powers of magnitude easier to hose away like the putrescence it is.