This third post[1] on the problems and future of the Democratic Party digs more deeply into the character of the class that the Democratic Party represents. We claim to represent the interests of people who have been excluded unjustly from the benefits of American prosperity, but because of our inability or reluctance to see class oppression, we have become the party of what Thomas Picketty calls “the patrimonial middle class.” What is that class?
The Patrimonial Middle Class
In Capital
in the Twenty-First Century, Picketty shows that in the years
since World War II, a new class has emerged. At the beginning of the twentieth
century, the top 10% of the population owned almost everything that could be
owned, and the rest of the people owned almost nothing. Today, the top 10%
still owns a wildly disproportionate share of the wealth, and the bottom 50%
still owns almost nothing. However, the 40% that lies between the top 10% and
the bottom 50% now owns a substantial amount of the country’s wealth.
Individually, many in this group do not own much, but they own something, and
collectively, they own a great deal. Picketty calls this new class
“patrimonial” because its members are able to pass their wealth on to their
children. The patrimonial middle class is predominantly white, but it includes
many Asians and a sizable and growing number of black
and Hispanic people.
What does the wealth of the patrimonial middle class consist
of? First, it includes family homes. Members of the patrimonial middle class in
the United States typically own their homes. When the parents die, the children
may either sell the houses or choose to live in them. Members of the
patrimonial middle class may also own small businesses like restaurants, farms,
professional practices or construction contracting businesses. The children of
the owners of the businesses may take them over or sell them. Members of the
patrimonial middle class often own investment portfolios as well through such
vehicles as 401k or IRA accounts, and they too can be passed to children.
Characteristics of Members of the Patrimonial Middle Class
Members of the patrimonial middle class share certain
characteristics. First, they are usually educated; they have degrees from
universities. They speak grammatically “correct” English, and such speech has
always been a class marker, even in the United States. Working-class people do
not sound like members of the patrimonial middle class, and the difference is
obvious to everyone. In J. D. Vance’s Hillbilly Elegy,
there is a poignant moment where the author describes the “hillbillies’”
reaction to Obama. To them, Vance says, Obama sounded like the law professor
that he was, and they knew that such a person could never understand or
empathize with them. In contrast, most Democrats were inspired by Obama. He
sounded like them, and they knew immediately that he was one of them.
The fact that members of the patrimonial middle class are
educated points to their second, important characteristic: Most of them have
technical or professional qualifications that allow them to live financially
comfortable lives. They own houses; they have retirement accounts; and they are
able to pay for all or part of their children’s university educations. The members of the patrimonial middle class
do not worry every day about how they will feed their children or pay their
rent. They do not live in slums, and they are rarely evicted by landlords. They
have health insurance and do not fear the financial consequences of getting sick.
So, while they may resent social injustice and while they
may work for a more equitable society, they do not feel viscerally that they
are themselves oppressed by our country’s ruling class. This sets them apart
from people like J. D. Vance’s hillbillies or those in Matthew Desmond’s Evicted.
Those people know in their hearts that the system is rigged against them. They know too that the people who make up the
base of our party are part of that system.
The Base of the Democratic Party
The base of the Democratic Party comes mainly from the
patrimonial middle class. If you volunteer to work for your local county party,
you will encounter in the party’s office teachers, nurses, engineers, lawyers,
computer programmers, accountants, journalists and small business owners. Many
of the people you meet will be retired. Many of them will be women. These volunteers are
the people who do the work of turning out the voters on election day. These are
the people who walk from door-to-door to canvass for local candidates. They
write posts like this one or letters to the editors of their local papers. They
are the base of the party.
The next post in this series will discuss some of the
political consequences of the make-up of the Democratic Party.
[1]
The previous posts may be found at Fox
Cities Progressive: The Party of the Patrimonial Middle Class and Fox
Cities Progressive: How We Stopped Thinking About Class in Politics
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