Ownership society
President Bush tonight, on home ownership:
"When you own something, you have a vital stake in the future of this country"
Now, this was the standard private-land-is-good lead-in to a social security stump speech, and attention largely goes unpaid now. But I think it's worth remembering that this logic, which I first heard from Newt Gingrich days after the election, hinges principally on demeaning the value of renters. Now, that's probably a safe bet for Republicans to call people who rent their homes immoral or irresponsible, but is that really where we want to take this? I mean, surely they're used to blame-the-victim politics and poor-hating, but come on! Now it isn't enough just to have a job and raise your kids, but you actually have to live in the suburbs to be acceptable?
"When you own something, you have a vital stake in the future of this country"
Now, this was the standard private-land-is-good lead-in to a social security stump speech, and attention largely goes unpaid now. But I think it's worth remembering that this logic, which I first heard from Newt Gingrich days after the election, hinges principally on demeaning the value of renters. Now, that's probably a safe bet for Republicans to call people who rent their homes immoral or irresponsible, but is that really where we want to take this? I mean, surely they're used to blame-the-victim politics and poor-hating, but come on! Now it isn't enough just to have a job and raise your kids, but you actually have to live in the suburbs to be acceptable?
posted by onlooker at 11:05 PM
2 Comments:
The "ownership society" rhetoric troubles me greatly - not only because I am not a huge fan of Algeresque claptrap - but mainly because I believe it could prove a damn effective shibboleth over the long-term. Most working class/poor Americans (unlike, say their cohorts in western Europe) believe they will eventually be able to achieve wealth, or at least middle class "respectability". This is particularly the case with working-class Latinos and whites.
In short no one in America is a renter, just a future homeowner.
Check out the great new polling data from the new “Class Matters” series in the NYT. Half of all Americans oppose the estate tax! Previous studies have found that one of the main reasons people oppose the estate tax is that they think they might become rich one day. Twenty years ago about 50% of Americans believed it was possible to start out poor, work hard and become rich. Today 80% think such a feat is possible. In reality, social mobility has declined over the last few decades (it turns out few of the .com millionaires came from the projects).
Nonetheless the myth grows unabated …
No surprise. Have you got a link to any of the NYT stuff?
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