The Reddening of America

Two cultures and American politics

Move over economic interests. American voters seem to care more about allying with people who share their cultural tastes and outlook.

These days there are two broad cultural classes in American. First, a “higher,” north-eastern, college educated, often allied in dress and manners with Europe. Their wealth is often inherited across several generations or recently minted due to their education related statuses and technical qualifications. “Lower” classes consume “pop” culture, read few books, eat at fast-food restaurants and follow trends and interests promoted by mass-market advertising.

Today such a “lower class” is growing rapidly. While the advertising world does recognize niche markets, its ‘bread and butter” audiences, those to whom they reach out and “convert,” are those that respond to ads that address mass tastes in food, appearance, popular cures, and, in general, lifestyles that express the symbolic appearances of wealth while avoiding any deep appreciation of art and ideas.

I am assuming that we are presently seeing an unprecedented spread of mass popular culture that widens the gap between “two Americas.”

For our purposes, this is a division that seems to explain more of the popular vote in recent elections than wealth. Trump, for example, presents to the public as culturally lower-class and seems authentic to his electoral base. Harris, on the other hand seemed out of place at a MacDonald’s window, as would many leaders of the Democratic Party.

At this point in my post I need to stop and correct a perception of my position possibly caused by a lack of sensitivity and depth in what I have just written. In my defense I believe it is very difficult in a short essay to do justice to cultural descriptions. If as many have said, there are two general cultures in America today that people call “higher” and “lower,” we need to try to avoid making value judgements about either and recognize that they are both generalizations that do not capture either the sincerity or complexity of actual behavior. A strong case can be made for the possibility of developing a deeper and more intense response to art, nature and ideas. Those who claim such abilities and patronize such “high culture” experiences, may or may not be sincere. They may be simply conforming to social expectations, living as they do within “the bubble” that claims to value such objects of high fashion and taste. And there are clearly many aspects of so-called lower culture that have the authenticity of lived experience or simply provide real entertainment value. And many people reject either identity.

Cultural groupings are very difficult ideas to discuss and relate to political behavior. In this case both “high” and “low” can be unfairly pejorative terms. Keeping this in mind, let me return to the central ideas of this post.

For many, the explicit nature of economic and social interests are vague backdrops to current partisan voting. The “he is one of us” reason for voting for a candidate, always part of American politics, is now stronger than ever. As well, the once significant appeal of “virtuous” leadership and the promise that those of elite position and friends, i.e. the Hollywood “glamorotti,” will “look after your interests,” seems now to carry little weight.

It matters more that “we the people” should rule than that we should benefit from that rule. Any candidate who can draw the line between “our way of living” and that of a mistrusted elite, will win elections today. And will be able to win by larger and larger margins, as skillful marketing expands further and further the boundaries of membership in mass culture and its ability to define itself as a political force.