The "Unnecessariat" and the rise of Trumpism.

[playwrite]

(07-17-2016, 08:22 PM)Odin Wrote: A really depressing blog post about how those currently left behind by out "new economy" and are completely ignored by mainstream politicians. I grew up around the rural "unnecessariat", so this really hits close to home for me. Lots of people out here in "flyover country" killing themselves directly by suicide or indirectly by drugs because they have no hope in their lives.

Much of this could go away if people would just come to grips with reality.

First, it is now more than obvious that the big drivers in economic activity are large cities.  These cities do need to be connected and supported by smaller cities, towns and rural areas - up to a point.  There are limits to the support needed and people need to grasp those limits and decide if living in less urban areas is worth the limitations that imposes.

Second, we need to completely trash all the economic 'thought' about the unthinking limits or dangers of federal debit and deficits.  There needs to be considerably more federal expenditure on infrastructure, particularly to connect the large urban economic powerhouses with each other as well as the supporting areas - there needs to be high speed rail as well as networked driverless highways that can get people in and out of these power centers so people can live in low-cost and even idyllic settings but draw incomes from their contributions to the economic centers.  Infrastructure for extremely fast Internet connections everywhere would also give those farther afield more options to plugging in and gaining from the economic powerhouses.  Their needs to be greatly increased social expenditure in education and R&D to give people more means to plugging in and to continue to the new goods and services that people don't even know about but will insist on having in the near future.

The biggest barrier to getting to that is actually from the low-informational voters of the "Unncessariat Region" that have been thoroughly manipulated by a Randian elite that want the Unnessariat to continue to be exactly that.