Hard Work

David Sirota over at Open Left has an interesting, if longish post about the class-based value sets of the major parties and how that impacts the Democrats' designs on working-class votes this season. Go read it all.

Done with that? Good.

I think what this gets at that really irks me is that a lot of the rhetoric floating around lately seems to denigrate outright the accomplishments of working-class voters who haven't ascended to the mighty heights of presidential candidates. Namely, all this talk about how the Obamas' parents worked hard, and due to that hard work they ascribe their own opportunities and success.

First, yay to acknowledging parents' role in establishing their children's social status. Really, I don't see how we can have an honest discussion of privilege without recognizing the role that historical factors and inheritance have in shaping our experience of the world and our relative difficulties getting through it.

But what the f? Can we please cut out this "hard work" crap unless we're recognizing also the hard work of all those that, you know, don't get rich, can't send their kids to college, and don't become members of the political elite? Michelle Obama and Joe Biden and Barack Obama all had parents and guardians who worked damn hard to provide for their families, sure, but so to did millions of other US Americans who nonetheless could not, due to myriad structural factors, provide that same opportunity to their children. What are we saying to those people, when we ascribe the success and position of our leaders only to the false myth of a hard work meritocracy?