So, so true for so, so many. You don’t get it unless you’ve lived it. I think it was James Baldwin who said that being poor is very expensive. It’s also exhausting and all-encompassing. It leaves room for very little else. ✌️
And isn’t that their intention though? Accompany that with private Christian school vouchers to keep people ignorant and the inability to contracept and what do you get? Lots of slaves to do all the back breaking work that keeps the oligarchs supplied with luxury houses, boats, cars, planes!!
Whose intention? Those who want to keep folks poor and ignorant? Then yeah. I think the poor themselves would prefer not to be that, even though ignorance is bliss. 😶
A mis-definition of bliss-the bar for happiness gets lowered so much, I imagine some places iin the US for example, a person feels happy on a Sunday if they made it through the week without getting randomly shot/killed while shopiing at the mall, or didn't get displaced from their home by a random flood or forest fire in parts of Californiia or British Columbia!!
Maybe that’s called being thankful, giving thanks to the mystery of the universe, one’s own abilities and survival instincts and whatever and wherever one finds a supportive community?
And yes different words can connote varied meanings for all of us and that is part of what makes miscommunication so common. Having faith in each others best intentions matters, but hard to do when tffg and his goons are so easily handed so much power
https://scholarlycommons.law.wlu.edu/powellmemo/ The outline for the oiligarchs to "retake their stuff" after the 60s threatened their world (including Project 25), some insight into trumps sickness and the Christian Nationalist role in J6.
Barbara Ehrenreich said something about it too. I remember being nickel and dimed, like the title of her book. Like calling in sick at work because I didn't have money for gas, because I had to buy groceries and my ex was late with child support. And car repairs were another thing that destroyed my finances literally for months. "Working poor" is not just an expression. Millions of people live "hand to mouth" as my mother used to say. Not everyone is college material, or they might not be able to afford to travel to college. People forget that daycare costs a fortune, rents are going up and when you spend every waking moment working, keeping house, doing laundry, parenting, dealing with creditors calling you at work, when do you have time to pay attention to political stuff?
Jess, it seems that you described MY life in my 30s. I too was trying to teach, raise a son on my own, pay my bills, and just get through the times of depression and fear that I wouldn't have enough strength to get through the week.
I never even really thought about politics. I assumed that political figures were honest, and had the public's best interests at heart. I thought Ronald Reagan was wonderful. I didn't know he brought in trickle-down economics, and I wouldn't have known what it was if I had.
Eight years ago, it suddenly dawned on me that many
more people than I ever dreamed, didn't care if politicians
were NOT honest. Didn't care that Donald Trump was a
despicable, dangerous person, let alone president.
That's when I started reading, listening to people like Bob Woodward and others who saw the truth about Trump.
I'm still in disbelief about all those followers of Trump who
cheer his vulgar, hate-filled, off-the-wall comments. They may be poor or too busy, but they have time to listen to his rants, and to buy $300 assassination sneakers.
I woke up when Donald Trump showed up and "showed" himself.
We’ve been trying to get rid of our crooked congressman for decades! He’s had multiple investigations and he’s known to be one of the most corrupt in congress. When I tell people that most people around here say “ all politicians are crooked “. I point out that no, they’re not but if you keep voting for the ones you know are you give the rest permission to be. It’s so frustrating 🤬
I understand Johnelle. Texas has a corrupt Attorney general that somehow avoids conviction. Our governor only listens to two West Texas billionaires and is working like crazy to get rid of public schools and hardworking teachers. I am so hopeful now that we have this new energy in the Democratic Party, I just pray we all survive the election and the aftermath.
Far too many people never make it past your second paragraph. They may think that some politicians are rotten apples, but they're adamant that their own politician is above reproach and would never get caught with their fingers in the cookies jar or shafting their constituents. I guess that's good in the sense that human nature skews towards a positive outlook, even if reality may not agree.
For everything after the second paragraph, give yourself a pat on the shoulders because far too few people get to that step. Part of this does boil down to juggling the struggles and challenges of day-to-day life (as you and Jess mention), but part is also because some people shut down their minds and base all of their political decisions on one sound-bite or scrap of information ("the Democrats want to take my guns away" or "gas was cheaper under Trump"). The first part requires US to expand our own mental horizons to understand that there are lots of people out there that simply don't have the time to read and post comments on blogs. But the second part is just sad. That's why the person-to-person stuff Jess does is so vital.
Eric, thank you for your comments! It's been especially hard because I'm surrounded by Trump supporters, and no matter how I try to "educate" them about him, they insist that my beliefs are not valid.
I spent the last few years before retiring working at a location of a regional supermarket in New England. (I had spent 30 years in a cubicle and wanted to do something on my feet instead of on my butt.) Despite being only 15 miles from Boston, in deep-blue Massachusetts, this supermarket was located in an ultra-red pocket of Trump supporters - the place where people cover the sides of their houses with huge Trump banners. During the height of the pandemic we were under mandatory mask requirements when indoors. The MAGA crowd refused to wear masks, and store management didn't enforce the requirement for fear that these shoppers would take their business elsewhere. At one point we had about 40% of store staff either absent due to having covid or being in contact with someone else that had covid. Since the bottom line is all that matters, the remaining staff was required to cover all of the absences so that services wouldn't be compromised. That was the point at which I said "bye bye". I had planned on working a couple more years, but life was literally too short to continue working in those conditions. Fortunately I was eligible for Social Security, so that did make the decision easier.
But even without the whole covid thing, many of these MAGA shoppers were downright scary. I bounced around between various service counters (bakery, meat, deli, seafood, food service, etc), and some of the conversations and comments these customers had between themselves sent shivers down my back. "Gas costs too much - Biden's fault", "There's no toilet paper on the shelves - Biden's fault", "I have a hangnail, Biden's fault". Yes, some of it was ridiculous, and would be amusing if spoken by a level-headed person. And it was no different in direct conversations with the customers. They lived in a paranoid mindset that everything wrong was Biden's fault (which I can understand - sometimes we need a scapegoat in order to cope), but these people sincerely believed that Biden was deliberately doing things against them personally.
I wish I had the magic answer on how to get your neighbors to wake up reality. Try not to get too discouraged. Make your vote count in November. Maybe Trump will finally have the self-destructive breakdown we've all been waiting for. But if it does happen, you know what the response will be - - - - - - "It's Biden's fault"!!!
Eric, I appreciate your long reply. Toward the end of the pandemic when people were still wearing masks, i went to a restaurant for a family birthday meal. I couldn't believe that customers were showing up with no masks. What's worse is that the Salad Bar was open- no distancing or masks required. People touching spoons, brushing up against each other.
I couldn't help it. I called the owner/manager over and asked her why she didn't require masks and why the salad bar was open.
She implied that she was NOT going to turn away customers.
I didn't go back to that restaurant until a month ago. I'm sure the owner cared less whether I was there or not, but I cared.
The pandemic was awful and life changing in so many ways and I'm sorry to those who lost family members and jobs. I'm thankful I wasn't teaching. I'd probably be running around in circles down the street with my bra on the outside of my clothes.( I heard that from a comedian who said she could never be a teacher.)
Anyway, after eight years of feeling hopeless, I'm now feeling optimistic that maybe some of Trump's voters in past elections have "seen the light about his darkness."
The "Biden's fault" knee-jerk is a sign of the silo from which they draw their news and opinion. It's all they get on Fox and Newsmax, let alone even worse sources. These are sources whose purpose is to reinforce biases with which the viewer walked into the room to turn on the TV or digital streaming device. Big money in it. Glenn Beck couldn't keep selling gold bars without it.
You have to move on when you run into that. They are zombies.
If/when Harris/Walz win, "Biden's fault" will look quaint. That poor woman will be blamed for everything going back to the Plague.
It’s a lot to digress , ask them “what have republicans signed into law or passed legislation for working families in the last 40 yrs”? I never get a answers. Farm bill? Was one…. Prove me wrong, is what I say, otherwise ignorance is bliss - planting a seed or a rational thought like Jess explained can have a ripple effect on both sides
here’s a handy tax code rate for the wealthy for each president starting with -
Woodrow Wilson 91%
Roosevelt 99%
Johnson 74 - 90 %, except roaring 20s, then -
Reagan dropped the tax rate to 25% , then to 27% and now 30% which killed the middle class
RE : businesses left money in the companies to grow middle class and pay workers higher wages
Unions created middle class with tax code in 1945-63 - 90 % for top earners
You should listen to what they have to say…very very simple and if you’re gathering your info from NPR it is just propaganda…it’s a shame that more people truly do not understand the whole “global” position of our political discord…keep on voting liberals and democrats and soon the WHO, WEF, UN, etc., will be running our lives and controlling our movements…wake up!
“Gas was cheaper under Trump,” was an idea planted by the oligarchs who fund him even before Biden was inaugurated. I started to see FB posts where people would post their local gas prices and say- (usually verbatim) “I’m posting this as a marker for comparison . Gas prices are bound to go up under Biden” Then when they did go up as we exited the pandemic, there were millions of preprinted stickers of Joe Biden on the pumps. Hardly grassroots when it’s the same across the US. #astroturfprotest
I love your writing style, it resonates and connects Midwestern folks! I’m from NW Iowa, a place that is deeply religious and supports Republicans 100 percent. We were told who to vote for, we wondered what those evil democrats looked like, they must be so radical! I moved to the city of Des Moines and experienced life. There is a diverse world and more to life than farming and church. Both 2016 and 2020 elections were a wake up call for me. Thanks for sharing your story and uniting us!
My Dad was from Sac City, Iowa and was a diehard Democrat. Not sure what woke him up, or when, but after meeting some of his distant relatives, I'm sure glad he was who he was.
Great piece, as always. It's so interesting that the horrible anti-Obama screed was the thing that kind of woke you up. It shows that you never know what will resonate with a person (and in what way--your response was certainly not what the person intended). That shows the potential value of other rural progressives like you who are able to speak out.
Sometimes I think it's part of the Republican plan--keep people so crushed and ignorant that they can't get up to any trouble.
I’ve been thinking that for years. True Democracy relies on an educated public. Defunding and not supporting broad and well financed Public Education is the death of Democracy. As the 2025 plans demonstrate abolishing the Department of Education is a Priory. Connect the dots
This is what I say too, all the time! You can't have democracy without widespread literacy and education that helps people learn to think critically, so they can vote their own minds. Uneducated and poor=sheep for oligarchs to control.
I have deep rural midwestern roots; my parents both got educated and raised me in eastern Massachusetts where so many people are so educated they can't get their heads around how different life is in rural middle America. I detest the expression "fly-over states." Here too I try to bridge some of these gaps by reminding people that hen folks are isolated and struggling they can only adopt what some local authority figure tells them to think/believe/vote. Tea Party legislators argued in Concord, NH to abolish public education in New Hampshire, and that's why. My white Christian parents and grandparents raised me to be a white Christian, but their one infallible, non-negotiable, holy grail was Get Your Education.
I’ll just share that I was doing calling yesterday in swing states for the Harris/Walz campaign. I spoke with one undecided woman who identified herself as Christian when I asked her what issues were important to her in this election. She explained that she had moved from Texas to Michigan and wasn’t paying all that much attention to the election. I asked her if she had any questions that I that would help her decide. She wasn’t sure what Trump’s 34 felony convictions were about and she wanted to know more about Tim Walz. I elaborated on both of her questions but it served as a reminder that not everyone has the information or has sought out information. In the end, she said she was still undecided but that the information I provided was really helpful and something she will take into consideration. It was a good conversation. More of it needs to happen.
I am from a small town in Central Pennsylvania. While the church I attended never told us who to vote for, the town (close to a major university Penn State) was overwhelmingly Republican. I was working for Bank of America as a debt collector in 2008 while still going to college and saw a lot of the harm first hand. It wasn't until I left that are and started thinking critically about how policy hurts and helps people that I changed. I had a good high school in rural PA, but it took higher education to give me the tools to think critically about what was going on
Not from a rural area and not considered poor, but I can truly relate to how you came to politics. A combination of 2008, retirement and DJT changed everything for me. Until then I thought I was a smart, informed business person who knew how our government worked. NPR was my initiation as well. I have spent several years now educating myself and realized this movement to authoritarianism has been in progress for many years. The corruption in the GOP has been well documented for years. Statistics show what I believed was dead wrong. Living in a very red backward state did not help. A few sessions of C-span voting and hearings makes it even clearer! I just wish I had known more when I was younger but I am hopeful my grandchildren will be different. They are much more informed and involved than I ever was at their age. We appreciate you and your hard work!!!!
I can't help being reminded of what Hillary Clinton said years ago about a "vast right-wing conspiracy," and was castigated for. But you know, she was absolutely correct!
Jess, you just told my story. While the particulars are not exactly the same, overall it’s the similar experience. Thank you for reminding me. I can be judgmental, “how can they vote against their interests?” and forget how consuming survival is.
Everybody remembers the story about Saul of Tarsus, journeying to Damascus atop his donkey, when suddenly there's a light that knocks him on his ass right off said donkey and he gets seriously schooled (not to mention blinded to really make the point clear) about how to treat other people? Yeah, that's me, except I didn't have some brilliant light or anything. I was (metaphorically) on a blessed donkey that kicked and bit me over and over again until it finally got through my head that I'd been a completely and inexcusably mean and judgmental jerk because I wasn't paying attention.
I've always been a Democrat and voted accordingly. But this recognition was something else. I don't make some "jokes" anymore about trailer parks or teeth or grocery stores or what have you. I'm not looking for a round of applause. I'm looking to hear "well, it TOOK YOU LONG ENOUGH." It took me WAY too long to start being a decent human being and I still flunk it on occasion. I guess the TL;DR point is yes, there is a Democrat "elitist" PoV out there and most of us don't have even a flimsy excuse. None of us do if we call ourselves "Christian."
Fortunately for people like me there's a Jess Piper. A light, a clarifying signal so that somebody on an irritable donkey can finally get the donkey's point.
A Jewish official who persecuted Christians until said donkey incident. Now commonly known as "St. Paul," who wrote a lot of letters to other Christian communities after his rather dramatic conversion. Some pretty good, some pretty awful.
I relate to this. You are absolutely correct. I voted Republican my whole life because’ that’s what you do’. It was easy. I had small kids, no job and very little news. I started to wake up in the late 80’s but still not aware enough to do the hard thinking. I woke up when Obama came to town. I learned, really studied, listened. I became a Democrat.
This post is why I’m a paid subscriber to your Substack Jess. Your compassion, empathy, generosity and hard won smarts just shines through your stories. I wish you lived next door to me. But I’ll make do with your newsletter and I hope you run for office again.
I grew up in a God-fearing Bible-believing Word-'o-Gawd following cult, and I have heard FROM THE PULPIT several times that "you can't be Christian and vote Democrat." Those churches are basically voter factories for the Republicans, and they hide behind their tax-exempt status while they're glorifying their lord and savior Donald Trump. If Jesus walked into their church they would probably ask him not to come back. Ticks me right off.
I almost wrecked the car on Sunday, a house had a Harris Walz yard sign, not on their quiet street but in the back of on the major street. Then I saw another one yesterday. These are both houses that never had D signs!
So, so true for so, so many. You don’t get it unless you’ve lived it. I think it was James Baldwin who said that being poor is very expensive. It’s also exhausting and all-encompassing. It leaves room for very little else. ✌️
And isn’t that their intention though? Accompany that with private Christian school vouchers to keep people ignorant and the inability to contracept and what do you get? Lots of slaves to do all the back breaking work that keeps the oligarchs supplied with luxury houses, boats, cars, planes!!
Whose intention? Those who want to keep folks poor and ignorant? Then yeah. I think the poor themselves would prefer not to be that, even though ignorance is bliss. 😶
“If ignorance is bliss, why aren’t more people happy?” Thomas Jefferson
A mis-definition of bliss-the bar for happiness gets lowered so much, I imagine some places iin the US for example, a person feels happy on a Sunday if they made it through the week without getting randomly shot/killed while shopiing at the mall, or didn't get displaced from their home by a random flood or forest fire in parts of Californiia or British Columbia!!
Maybe that’s called being thankful, giving thanks to the mystery of the universe, one’s own abilities and survival instincts and whatever and wherever one finds a supportive community?
And yes different words can connote varied meanings for all of us and that is part of what makes miscommunication so common. Having faith in each others best intentions matters, but hard to do when tffg and his goons are so easily handed so much power
Well said!!
Maybe the wrong guy to quote since he was really busy with his slave Sally procreating…
I don’t throw my babies out with their bath water. People who screw up can still do good things.
The American oligarchs. A few reads for you, Al:
https://scholarlycommons.law.wlu.edu/powellmemo/ The outline for the oiligarchs to "retake their stuff" after the 60s threatened their world (including Project 25), some insight into trumps sickness and the Christian Nationalist role in J6.
https://drvincentgreenwood-89455.medium.com/the-science-behind-donald-trumps-dangerous-personality-disorder-49b3f8e416de
https://icjs.org/charismatic-revival-fury/
feel free to share and greetings from the left coast in northern California.
I think you misread my sacrcasm…but thanks.
Sometimes it doesn't hurt to add a [/s] tag for folks who don't know us.
I got it. Just adding more to it.
That's what I think, too. Certain parts of the 1% (not all) realize that they need a lot of uneducated people to do the work that keeps them rich.
Barbara Ehrenreich said something about it too. I remember being nickel and dimed, like the title of her book. Like calling in sick at work because I didn't have money for gas, because I had to buy groceries and my ex was late with child support. And car repairs were another thing that destroyed my finances literally for months. "Working poor" is not just an expression. Millions of people live "hand to mouth" as my mother used to say. Not everyone is college material, or they might not be able to afford to travel to college. People forget that daycare costs a fortune, rents are going up and when you spend every waking moment working, keeping house, doing laundry, parenting, dealing with creditors calling you at work, when do you have time to pay attention to political stuff?
I get it.
Very true. I spent years living like that.
100% agree! …from experience.
Jess, it seems that you described MY life in my 30s. I too was trying to teach, raise a son on my own, pay my bills, and just get through the times of depression and fear that I wouldn't have enough strength to get through the week.
I never even really thought about politics. I assumed that political figures were honest, and had the public's best interests at heart. I thought Ronald Reagan was wonderful. I didn't know he brought in trickle-down economics, and I wouldn't have known what it was if I had.
Eight years ago, it suddenly dawned on me that many
more people than I ever dreamed, didn't care if politicians
were NOT honest. Didn't care that Donald Trump was a
despicable, dangerous person, let alone president.
That's when I started reading, listening to people like Bob Woodward and others who saw the truth about Trump.
I'm still in disbelief about all those followers of Trump who
cheer his vulgar, hate-filled, off-the-wall comments. They may be poor or too busy, but they have time to listen to his rants, and to buy $300 assassination sneakers.
I woke up when Donald Trump showed up and "showed" himself.
Thanks for not just your words, but your ACTIONS.
We’ve been trying to get rid of our crooked congressman for decades! He’s had multiple investigations and he’s known to be one of the most corrupt in congress. When I tell people that most people around here say “ all politicians are crooked “. I point out that no, they’re not but if you keep voting for the ones you know are you give the rest permission to be. It’s so frustrating 🤬
I understand Johnelle. Texas has a corrupt Attorney general that somehow avoids conviction. Our governor only listens to two West Texas billionaires and is working like crazy to get rid of public schools and hardworking teachers. I am so hopeful now that we have this new energy in the Democratic Party, I just pray we all survive the election and the aftermath.
YES! Vote ALLRED!
It’s so weird to me.
I agree!
Far too many people never make it past your second paragraph. They may think that some politicians are rotten apples, but they're adamant that their own politician is above reproach and would never get caught with their fingers in the cookies jar or shafting their constituents. I guess that's good in the sense that human nature skews towards a positive outlook, even if reality may not agree.
For everything after the second paragraph, give yourself a pat on the shoulders because far too few people get to that step. Part of this does boil down to juggling the struggles and challenges of day-to-day life (as you and Jess mention), but part is also because some people shut down their minds and base all of their political decisions on one sound-bite or scrap of information ("the Democrats want to take my guns away" or "gas was cheaper under Trump"). The first part requires US to expand our own mental horizons to understand that there are lots of people out there that simply don't have the time to read and post comments on blogs. But the second part is just sad. That's why the person-to-person stuff Jess does is so vital.
Eric, thank you for your comments! It's been especially hard because I'm surrounded by Trump supporters, and no matter how I try to "educate" them about him, they insist that my beliefs are not valid.
https://i.imgflip.com/90hm54.jpg
Pam, I sympathize.
I spent the last few years before retiring working at a location of a regional supermarket in New England. (I had spent 30 years in a cubicle and wanted to do something on my feet instead of on my butt.) Despite being only 15 miles from Boston, in deep-blue Massachusetts, this supermarket was located in an ultra-red pocket of Trump supporters - the place where people cover the sides of their houses with huge Trump banners. During the height of the pandemic we were under mandatory mask requirements when indoors. The MAGA crowd refused to wear masks, and store management didn't enforce the requirement for fear that these shoppers would take their business elsewhere. At one point we had about 40% of store staff either absent due to having covid or being in contact with someone else that had covid. Since the bottom line is all that matters, the remaining staff was required to cover all of the absences so that services wouldn't be compromised. That was the point at which I said "bye bye". I had planned on working a couple more years, but life was literally too short to continue working in those conditions. Fortunately I was eligible for Social Security, so that did make the decision easier.
But even without the whole covid thing, many of these MAGA shoppers were downright scary. I bounced around between various service counters (bakery, meat, deli, seafood, food service, etc), and some of the conversations and comments these customers had between themselves sent shivers down my back. "Gas costs too much - Biden's fault", "There's no toilet paper on the shelves - Biden's fault", "I have a hangnail, Biden's fault". Yes, some of it was ridiculous, and would be amusing if spoken by a level-headed person. And it was no different in direct conversations with the customers. They lived in a paranoid mindset that everything wrong was Biden's fault (which I can understand - sometimes we need a scapegoat in order to cope), but these people sincerely believed that Biden was deliberately doing things against them personally.
I wish I had the magic answer on how to get your neighbors to wake up reality. Try not to get too discouraged. Make your vote count in November. Maybe Trump will finally have the self-destructive breakdown we've all been waiting for. But if it does happen, you know what the response will be - - - - - - "It's Biden's fault"!!!
(PS - sorry for the long reply)
Eric, I appreciate your long reply. Toward the end of the pandemic when people were still wearing masks, i went to a restaurant for a family birthday meal. I couldn't believe that customers were showing up with no masks. What's worse is that the Salad Bar was open- no distancing or masks required. People touching spoons, brushing up against each other.
I couldn't help it. I called the owner/manager over and asked her why she didn't require masks and why the salad bar was open.
She implied that she was NOT going to turn away customers.
I didn't go back to that restaurant until a month ago. I'm sure the owner cared less whether I was there or not, but I cared.
The pandemic was awful and life changing in so many ways and I'm sorry to those who lost family members and jobs. I'm thankful I wasn't teaching. I'd probably be running around in circles down the street with my bra on the outside of my clothes.( I heard that from a comedian who said she could never be a teacher.)
Anyway, after eight years of feeling hopeless, I'm now feeling optimistic that maybe some of Trump's voters in past elections have "seen the light about his darkness."
n
The "Biden's fault" knee-jerk is a sign of the silo from which they draw their news and opinion. It's all they get on Fox and Newsmax, let alone even worse sources. These are sources whose purpose is to reinforce biases with which the viewer walked into the room to turn on the TV or digital streaming device. Big money in it. Glenn Beck couldn't keep selling gold bars without it.
You have to move on when you run into that. They are zombies.
If/when Harris/Walz win, "Biden's fault" will look quaint. That poor woman will be blamed for everything going back to the Plague.
It’s a lot to digress , ask them “what have republicans signed into law or passed legislation for working families in the last 40 yrs”? I never get a answers. Farm bill? Was one…. Prove me wrong, is what I say, otherwise ignorance is bliss - planting a seed or a rational thought like Jess explained can have a ripple effect on both sides
here’s a handy tax code rate for the wealthy for each president starting with -
Woodrow Wilson 91%
Roosevelt 99%
Johnson 74 - 90 %, except roaring 20s, then -
Reagan dropped the tax rate to 25% , then to 27% and now 30% which killed the middle class
RE : businesses left money in the companies to grow middle class and pay workers higher wages
Unions created middle class with tax code in 1945-63 - 90 % for top earners
You should listen to what they have to say…very very simple and if you’re gathering your info from NPR it is just propaganda…it’s a shame that more people truly do not understand the whole “global” position of our political discord…keep on voting liberals and democrats and soon the WHO, WEF, UN, etc., will be running our lives and controlling our movements…wake up!
“Gas was cheaper under Trump,” was an idea planted by the oligarchs who fund him even before Biden was inaugurated. I started to see FB posts where people would post their local gas prices and say- (usually verbatim) “I’m posting this as a marker for comparison . Gas prices are bound to go up under Biden” Then when they did go up as we exited the pandemic, there were millions of preprinted stickers of Joe Biden on the pumps. Hardly grassroots when it’s the same across the US. #astroturfprotest
I could relate to this.
Also, I think rural folks sometimes forget how bad it got under tRump. https://www.forbes.com/sites/chuckjones/2019/08/30/amid-trump-tariffs-farm-bankruptcies-and-suicides-rise/?utm_source=FBPAGE&utm_medium=social&utm_content=2603772109&utm_campaign=sprinklrForbesMainFB#530ee1682bc8
I love your writing style, it resonates and connects Midwestern folks! I’m from NW Iowa, a place that is deeply religious and supports Republicans 100 percent. We were told who to vote for, we wondered what those evil democrats looked like, they must be so radical! I moved to the city of Des Moines and experienced life. There is a diverse world and more to life than farming and church. Both 2016 and 2020 elections were a wake up call for me. Thanks for sharing your story and uniting us!
My Dad was from Sac City, Iowa and was a diehard Democrat. Not sure what woke him up, or when, but after meeting some of his distant relatives, I'm sure glad he was who he was.
Great piece, as always. It's so interesting that the horrible anti-Obama screed was the thing that kind of woke you up. It shows that you never know what will resonate with a person (and in what way--your response was certainly not what the person intended). That shows the potential value of other rural progressives like you who are able to speak out.
Sometimes I think it's part of the Republican plan--keep people so crushed and ignorant that they can't get up to any trouble.
It’s exactly their plan.
I’ve been thinking that for years. True Democracy relies on an educated public. Defunding and not supporting broad and well financed Public Education is the death of Democracy. As the 2025 plans demonstrate abolishing the Department of Education is a Priory. Connect the dots
This is what I say too, all the time! You can't have democracy without widespread literacy and education that helps people learn to think critically, so they can vote their own minds. Uneducated and poor=sheep for oligarchs to control.
I have deep rural midwestern roots; my parents both got educated and raised me in eastern Massachusetts where so many people are so educated they can't get their heads around how different life is in rural middle America. I detest the expression "fly-over states." Here too I try to bridge some of these gaps by reminding people that hen folks are isolated and struggling they can only adopt what some local authority figure tells them to think/believe/vote. Tea Party legislators argued in Concord, NH to abolish public education in New Hampshire, and that's why. My white Christian parents and grandparents raised me to be a white Christian, but their one infallible, non-negotiable, holy grail was Get Your Education.
*priority*
"Good Trouble"
Hon. John Lewis, rip
I’ll just share that I was doing calling yesterday in swing states for the Harris/Walz campaign. I spoke with one undecided woman who identified herself as Christian when I asked her what issues were important to her in this election. She explained that she had moved from Texas to Michigan and wasn’t paying all that much attention to the election. I asked her if she had any questions that I that would help her decide. She wasn’t sure what Trump’s 34 felony convictions were about and she wanted to know more about Tim Walz. I elaborated on both of her questions but it served as a reminder that not everyone has the information or has sought out information. In the end, she said she was still undecided but that the information I provided was really helpful and something she will take into consideration. It was a good conversation. More of it needs to happen.
Thank you!!!
I am from a small town in Central Pennsylvania. While the church I attended never told us who to vote for, the town (close to a major university Penn State) was overwhelmingly Republican. I was working for Bank of America as a debt collector in 2008 while still going to college and saw a lot of the harm first hand. It wasn't until I left that are and started thinking critically about how policy hurts and helps people that I changed. I had a good high school in rural PA, but it took higher education to give me the tools to think critically about what was going on
Not from a rural area and not considered poor, but I can truly relate to how you came to politics. A combination of 2008, retirement and DJT changed everything for me. Until then I thought I was a smart, informed business person who knew how our government worked. NPR was my initiation as well. I have spent several years now educating myself and realized this movement to authoritarianism has been in progress for many years. The corruption in the GOP has been well documented for years. Statistics show what I believed was dead wrong. Living in a very red backward state did not help. A few sessions of C-span voting and hearings makes it even clearer! I just wish I had known more when I was younger but I am hopeful my grandchildren will be different. They are much more informed and involved than I ever was at their age. We appreciate you and your hard work!!!!
I can't help being reminded of what Hillary Clinton said years ago about a "vast right-wing conspiracy," and was castigated for. But you know, she was absolutely correct!
Yep.
The “vast Right Wing conspiracy” gave us DJT and Trump v. U.S., which gutted the heart of our democracy: No one is above the law.
Never too late to learn new things.
Jess, you just told my story. While the particulars are not exactly the same, overall it’s the similar experience. Thank you for reminding me. I can be judgmental, “how can they vote against their interests?” and forget how consuming survival is.
Everybody remembers the story about Saul of Tarsus, journeying to Damascus atop his donkey, when suddenly there's a light that knocks him on his ass right off said donkey and he gets seriously schooled (not to mention blinded to really make the point clear) about how to treat other people? Yeah, that's me, except I didn't have some brilliant light or anything. I was (metaphorically) on a blessed donkey that kicked and bit me over and over again until it finally got through my head that I'd been a completely and inexcusably mean and judgmental jerk because I wasn't paying attention.
I've always been a Democrat and voted accordingly. But this recognition was something else. I don't make some "jokes" anymore about trailer parks or teeth or grocery stores or what have you. I'm not looking for a round of applause. I'm looking to hear "well, it TOOK YOU LONG ENOUGH." It took me WAY too long to start being a decent human being and I still flunk it on occasion. I guess the TL;DR point is yes, there is a Democrat "elitist" PoV out there and most of us don't have even a flimsy excuse. None of us do if we call ourselves "Christian."
Fortunately for people like me there's a Jess Piper. A light, a clarifying signal so that somebody on an irritable donkey can finally get the donkey's point.
Thank you, friend.
Humility. It is grace.
What is Saul of Tarsus? Non-christian here.
A Jewish official who persecuted Christians until said donkey incident. Now commonly known as "St. Paul," who wrote a lot of letters to other Christian communities after his rather dramatic conversion. Some pretty good, some pretty awful.
Thank you for that information.
I relate to this. You are absolutely correct. I voted Republican my whole life because’ that’s what you do’. It was easy. I had small kids, no job and very little news. I started to wake up in the late 80’s but still not aware enough to do the hard thinking. I woke up when Obama came to town. I learned, really studied, listened. I became a Democrat.
This post is why I’m a paid subscriber to your Substack Jess. Your compassion, empathy, generosity and hard won smarts just shines through your stories. I wish you lived next door to me. But I’ll make do with your newsletter and I hope you run for office again.
This is a very valuable reminder, or eye opener, to those of us who were luckier in the birth raffle sweepstakes. Thanks for keeping it real, Jess
I grew up in a God-fearing Bible-believing Word-'o-Gawd following cult, and I have heard FROM THE PULPIT several times that "you can't be Christian and vote Democrat." Those churches are basically voter factories for the Republicans, and they hide behind their tax-exempt status while they're glorifying their lord and savior Donald Trump. If Jesus walked into their church they would probably ask him not to come back. Ticks me right off.
I almost wrecked the car on Sunday, a house had a Harris Walz yard sign, not on their quiet street but in the back of on the major street. Then I saw another one yesterday. These are both houses that never had D signs!
Once again, you have humanized the reality for so many young and rural people. You always add to my greater understanding of “why?!”. Thank you!
I truly appreciate your thoughtful perspective. Thank you