Letters

In the immortal words of Forrest Gump, “Stupid is as stupid does.”

In collecting my thoughts on what this election means, I remind myself that any explanation within days of an election is not likely to be accurate. I think real wisdom will only come once the dust settles, the finger-pointing stops and the need to fill space on cable news with instantly developed opinions subsides.

With that said, I have been thinking throughout the last several months about a warning issued 10 years ago by a billionaire hedge fund guy from Seattle (Nick Hanauer), who made his money being an early investor in Amazon. He warned the 1-percenters that by letting income disparity between the top and bottom rungs of the economic ladder grow out of hand, hollowing out the middle class, they/we were setting society up for a huge backlash, where there would be a tipping point where the guys with the pitchforks would rise up (think: France 1789).

That tipping point may have arrived. White liberals (mea culpa) and Democratic politicians (mea culpa, Quoque) have not focused on this, I believe, for two reasons.

First, while the wealth of the plutocrats got way out of hand, the college-educated and professional classes saw their wealth and incomes rise, too. They/we saw no urgency in reigning in the party, because we were ancillary beneficiaries.

Second, we convinced enough of the plutocrats to help fund our Democratic campaigns and our favorite charities that we didn‘t want to make waves or alienate the plutocrat donors.

The irony here is that the guys with the pitchforks came for the leadership that most stands with and cares about them, and not the cynical hate-mongerers who fueled their resentment of the upper class (represented by the “establishment” and the status quo in government). Those with the pitchforks have brought into political power the economic overlords who most benefit from the income and wealth disparity, and oppose unions, universal and affordable health care, housing and educational opportunities, and DEI initiatives that could help to reduce the disparity.

But, why? you ask. Because we (Democrats/liberals) have yet to figure out how to fight in an arena where the other side doesn’t play by the rules and long-established norms. For better or worse, we are institutionalists who believe in the rules.

Forget the “facts.” The facts are that a Democratic administration dealt with the aftermath of a pandemic, prevented a recession, brought back jobs, stabilized employment, increased wages and the power of unions, addressed the disintegration of our infrastructure, tried to alleviate student loan debt, and brought the inflation created by the necessary fiscal response to the pandemic under control.

But the pitchforkers didn’t buy it.

Christopher D. Kelley

East Hampton