Paul "Nostradamus" Krugman Nailed it Eight Years Ago. It's NOT The Economy, Stupid.

[TrollBuster9090]

It's racial identity. The fear of caucasians (of which I'm one) that they will become a minority. However, we've been saying for generations that minorities are well treated in America. Even saying they're preferentially treated with quotas and reverse discrimination (Thank you, Frank Luntz!) If true, there should be no fear of us becoming the largest minority in a cultural mosaic. So, it's clearly not true.

But Krugman's point explains elegantly why the economy couldn't possibly have been better in 2024, and yet, so many people were receptive to the propaganda lie that the economy was terrible. The GOP, and its scion, Trump created a false economic permission structure through which to funnel their basest instincts.

[DSandra]

1. Honestly, I'm part of the "bottom 80%", and it is bleak

I can’t afford an apartment, I’ve had to get used to more expensive things, and the threat of automation still looms. People only get paid enough to barely get by, essentially working hard for survival only, and most sellers now pretty much mostly target the top 20% and have pretty much abandoned the bottom 80%.

I know better to never trust Republicans, plus I’m transgender and a minority, but I can see how some people would be desperate, especially when they don’t know better about the causes of inflation, corporations jacking up costs, and the stuff that Biden did for red states, and how abysmal historically that Republicans are when it comes to the economy.

[Yavin4]

2. The reason why you, and many others like you, are struggling is due to lack of public investments by the govt.

Specifically, lack of investments in housing, public transportation, education, and healthcare. The optimal way of structuring an economy would be for anyone to work any job and have a decent, dignified life. Be able to live in affordable housing, car independent, and access to a quality education and healthcare. You shouldn't have to be a millionaire to have such things.

[Cobalt Violet]

5. Yeah, it's the cost of living. It's brutal.

I'm in the bottom 20%.

The people might call it "the economy" because it's their economy.

[MaryMagdaline]

9. Yes. "Economy" for poor people means only two things

Wages and living expenses.
Wages have not gone up in any meaningful way in 40 years
Living expenses have gone up astronomically.
That is the economy that poor people mean.
It doesn’t mean anything to poor people that the stock market is at an all time high or that people’s houses are 3 times the value from when they bought them. Poor people have no sticks and they don’t own houses.

The fact that Joe Biden oversaw a perfect landing with low unemployment and reduced inflation, doesn’t reduce their economic strain.
However I’m shocked that Biden didn’t get credit for raising child tax credits and eliminating student loans for millions of people.
Americans without college degrees seemed to resent that more
I’m also shocked that Harris only got 55 per cent of college educated.
Krugman is right about the racial component to this election.

[yardwork]

12. The problem is that wages are too low.

I am so sorry that you're facing all this. I see it with my three sons as well.

The price hikes during COVID haven't helped, and housing is ridiculously expensive, but the big, big problem is that wages haven't kept up.

Also, corporations walked away from their social contracts. When I graduated from college in the early 80s, we were in a recession. My first job was waitressing at a hotel. I was guaranteed a 40 hour week, with the same hours every week. With benefits! I took the job because it included health insurance. Companies don't do that anymore.

Companies pay low wages with no fixed hours or benefits because they can get away with it. We needed a strong Democratic majority in Congress, a Democratic president, and a liberal majority in the Supreme Court to turn that around. We lost the chance in 2016.

I am sorry to say this, but I don't think it's going to change anytime soon. Trump and the Republicans will make it worse.

My advice to everyone is to try to get a higher paying job.

[BaronChocula]

3. I made a similar post last week

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100219681277
(And we're back to the "Economic Anxiety" excuse)

I'm glad to have some backup.

I know it's true that there are people who are living paycheck to paycheck and they are stretched as stretched can be. But that's been the case in every election cycle. The race to confidently spout varied ignorant hypotheses began on Wednesday with one cadre devoted to insisting the economy was the first and foremost driver to voters. It's what they did in 2016 before more adept journalists took the time to realize "economic anxiety" was cover language for "too many dark and trans etc. people."

[Hugin]

4. Second only to the lazy Democrats cadre...

Which is a dog whistle all of it’s own.

Sorry they couldn’t make it to the fucking polls. It was made clear that they’d be needing to bust their asses to survive. Oh, look at the lines!

[Jarqui]

6. To me, they did that on other issues too like immigration

Republicans have been lying and deceiving my whole life.

Remember "Trickle Down economics" where the money never trickled down?

Nixon, Reagan, Bush I, Bush II, Trump - all elected with dirty tricks or worse.

If the shoe was on the other foot, is this how MAGA would react? How quickly Jan 6th fades from memory.

Anyone who thinks the Republicans lying and deception is going to stop any time soon is delusional.

Are we supposed to play nice when they destroy Obamacare? Voting rights? Equality for LGBTQ+ rights? Climate change efforts? Gun control?
Be polite while they fill the courts with Aileen Cannons?

Were Germans supposed to be polite to the Nazis when they took over?

Assuming they get control of the House (they're favored - 80-90% chance when I last looked): what active legislation that was passed in the last 30 years can they not overturn?

It will be another 2-4 years of them consolidating their control over the election process, etc. Which will make it tougher to combat next time.
Do you really think the Trump admin will honestly report jobless figures, economic numbers, immigrant numbers, etc?
And I'm supposed to be polite when they don't?

This whole thing feels like we're heading into the dark ages and I'm probably not going to live long enough to see us come out of it. I appreciate people who are trying to put up a resistance. Every day of the campaign, I made an effort to combat this. My posts on twitter got filtered out so no one could read them - I couldn't even fight back online like I have in the past while this was going down.
Social media is corrupt. Established media is playing both sides afraid to take a stand. The judicial system is corrupt. Republicans are corrupt. The President-elect is corrupt and bringing in his corrupt buddies.

It is hard to find a place to fight back. Here, we're preaching to the converted.
This is as bad a political situation as I've witnessed in my lifetime.
I will NEVER accept it gracefully. NEVER!!

[Kaleva]

8. But you'll still accept it?

Even if not gracefully?

[Jarqui]

13. No, I don't

I'm still suspicious of the result.

I'm not into conspiracy theories.
Facts and evidence rule the day for me.
So I'm waiting for those.

We do have a career liar and crook whose fraud went well beyond the statute of limitations. His company, CFO & lawyer were all convicted of fraud & tax evasion felonies. He broke laws trying to deny the 2020 result. He was in a very desperate situation: win or jail. So we have motive.

Dominion, Smartmatic, GA election workers and Trumps 61 election cases exposed the vulnerabilities of the election system with Trump and the Republicans getting a front row seat.
Greg Palast documented his various concerns with this election.
Republicans put many of their people around the election including 2020 election deniers.
And roughly, nearly half the observers were sympathetic to Republicans
Somewhere in there is potential means and opportunity.

To me the circumstances are so overwhelming, it is like the odds of Trump not cheating are slim.

People are following up to see if their ballot got counted.
There will be some inevitable recounts, etc
Others are pouring over the data.
etc
Lets see what facts and evidence come out. That's the thing Trump did not have any of in 2020.

[Kaleva]

14. Thanks for your articulate reply!

[Mike 03]

7. Fascinating. Multiple highly intelligent people I

deeply respect have diametrically opposed theories about what happened on Tuesday, and they all sound convincing.

[JCMach1]

10. Because ultimately issues were just the sideshows

Even racism and misogyny.

There were just the means to an end activated through voter suppression largely carried out in social media.

That's what Elon and Thiel were busy doing. Not GOTV, but NOGOTV to get Dem voters on the couch.

Information, morals, lies, conspiracies... All that mess was used.

All of it was aided and abetted by the Russians. How soon we forget that we busted just one of their influence scenes. It's in the record though, but literally just the tip of a very large iceberg.

[yardwork]

11. The MSM never corrected Trump's lies about the economy.

They would fact check little nitpicky things each candidate said, but they never took on Trump's big lies: Biden is the worst president ever, he ruined our economy, etc, etc.

Trump told Big Lies and the media ignored them. Who cares if they pushed back a little on Haitians eating cats. They allowed the big lies.

[Quixote1818]

15. The thing is, it IS about the economy for around 20% of the people in the middle who decide elections

For Trump's base it's not about the economy. It can be about more than one things like every election in history.