[Peace-discuss] Why It's Time to Bannish "Average Joeism"

Mon Oct 20 13:14:32 CDT 2008

You've proven my point. Ricky. The middle class is not a homogeneous group of white collar white folks... but it's people like Steve Early who insist on making it so. And damn his eyes for getting you fired.
 --Jenifer 

--- On Mon, 10/20/08, Ricky Baldwin <baldwinricky at yahoo.com> wrote:

From: Ricky Baldwin <baldwinricky at yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: [Peace-discuss] Why It's Time to Bannish "Average Joeism"
To: "David Green" <davegreen84 at yahoo.com>, "John W." <jbw292002 at gmail.com>
Cc: "Peace Discuss" <peace-discuss at anti-war.net>
Date: Monday, October 20, 2008, 11:25 AM

I think this actually has a lot to do with America's bizarre love-hate relationship with socioeconomic class.  I saw a documentary once about how many Americans, across how many socioeconomic lines, consider themselves "middle class": it's almost everybody, rich, poor, and in-between.  This is partly what Steve Early is getting at, I think.  We find it uncomfortable to talk about our country as class-stratified.  Our working class has been trained or otherwise developed an unhealthy habit - at least it's widespread - of thinking of ourselves along the lines of what we might aspire to be: "well off," "comfortable," living the "American dream".  It's a country where anyone can be president, right?

But there's another side of America, too, a sort of parallel universe of class, in which poor people and working class people have to scrap - well, for scraps.  We fight bosses, landlords, the government, and each other, and there's a lot of resentment - and pride - associated with this culture, these cultures.  You can see it in many different forms, in the cowboy hats and Rebel flags, pick-up trucks or loud motorcycles, blue jeans and T-shirts, country music, in the loud thumping bass, darkened windows, low-riding cars, mag wheels, gold teeth, and yes it gets all mixed up with race and sex, but there's a lot about class in there, too.

I know Steve Early, used to work with him, have read a fair amount of his writings, and I have more than one bone to pick with him.  (He even helped me lose my job once.)  But what he's saying here is hard to deny.  Whatever terms you want to pick, or pick at, it's the political pandering - and media condescension - to the millions of people in this country who have to worry about paying our bills.  McCain brought up "Joe the Plumber" because he's fighting for our votes and he knows that we know he owns 10 houses or whatever it is.  Joe Biden has been trying to tie himself to some kind of working class roots, and so have the others, because they know a lot of people do not identify with or trust them.  We see them in their fancy suits and ties, hanging with the glitzy movie stars, spending millions and millions, etc. - and they're afraid we won't vote for people we don't trust to work for our interests.

To some extent they're right about that.  But I know a lot of people who understand that voting isn't the same as inviting someone for dinner.  We don't have to like them.  We don't have to trust them.  We just have to know what we want to get out of this election, and after.
 Ricky 

"Only those who do nothing make no mistakes." - Peter Kropotkin

From: David Green <davegreen84 at yahoo.com>
To: John W. <jbw292002 at gmail.com>
Cc: Peace Discuss <peace-discuss at anti-war.net>
Sent: Sunday, October 19, 2008 12:07:49 PM
Subject: Re: [Peace-discuss] Why It's Time to Bannish "Average Joeism"

Well, of course I don't, assuming they serve as a voice of the people.

From: John W. <jbw292002 at gmail.com>
To: David Green <davegreen84 at yahoo.com>
Cc: jencart13 at yahoo.com; Peace Discuss <peace-discuss at anti-war.net>
Sent: Sunday, October 19, 2008 10:31:45 AM
Subject: Re: [Peace-discuss] Why It's Time to Bannish "Average Joeism"

Interesting and not-inaccurate perspective...as long as you don't include those of us - or at least most of us - who comprise the alternative, independent media.  

John Wason

On Sun, Oct 19, 2008 at 8:33 AM, David Green <davegreen84 at yahoo.com> wrote:

Neither campaign advisors nor the media who take their cues consider themselves to be either middle class or working class. They are in service of the owner class. Their job is to stereotype, manipulate, and condescend to folks who are not in a position to set the terms of discussion. It should be clear by now that the middle class is the working class--that is, wage laborers in the service of the owner class. Trivial distinctions between mental and physical labor (as if anyone doesn't have to think), or pay grades (or even nominal ownership), are irrelevant, and are meant to distract by replacing economic categories with cultural categories. So Joe the plumber is cast as a hardworking working class dude who wants to own his business (that is, become more like the class of people who are defining him)--but it turns out he's not who he claims to be (assuming the media gets to define who he claims to be)--he doesn't have a license, and owes taxes--if only
 he had turned out to be a deadbeat dad, the stereotype would be complete. He wants to be respectable (do paperwork), but doesn't deserve it. So let's end this brief campaign/media generated foray into the world of "economic issues" and social class, and get back to the "Palin dudes" (see today's NYT)--oops, another working class stereotype--hormonally-driven and ignorant working class men. As Edward Said famously pleaded on behalf of the Palestinians: "May I have permission to narrate?" Could it be more clear? The media despise the people. Their position is predicated on their ambition not to be one of them.

From: Jenifer Cartwright <jencart13 at yahoo.com>
To: Peace Discuss <peace-discuss at anti-war.net>; David Green <davegreen84 at yahoo.com>
Sent: Saturday, October 18, 2008 5:32:08 PM
Subject: Re: [Peace-discuss] Why It's Time to Bannish "Average Joeism"

This part of Steve Early's piece was particularly annoying to me:

"But there's still a glaring double-standard at work here. It says a lot about HOW WORKING CLASS PEOPLE GET TALKED ABOUT by politicians of both major parties WHEN THEY'RE NOT BEING MADE TO DISAPPEAR ENTIRELY INTO OUR VAST "MIDDLE CLASS" (which, at times, seems to include 95 per cent of the population)."

"MADE TO DISAPPEAR entirely into our vast "middle class"????? The middle class is made up of BOTH white AND blue collar workers who are middle income -- I'm guessing 95% of the electorate (with, btw, good manufacturing jobs paying better than some non-factory jobs, at least once upon a time).. The biggest snobs seem to be among white collar workers claiming to speaking up for and on behalf of blue collar workers, or so they suppose -- Steve Early being a prime example -- who insist on differentiating between the professional/business, and working classes! It annoys me plenty when these guys do this, but it annoys me even more when they accuse politicians who do NOT make these distinctions (but instead consider the middle class to be made up of blue AND white collar workers) of using "the working classes" for political gain. Grrrrrrr.
 --Jenifer

--- On Sat, 10/18/08, David Green <davegreen84 at yahoo.com> wrote:

From: David Green <davegreen84 at yahoo.com>
Subject: [Peace-discuss] Why It's Time to Bannish "Average Joeism"
To: "Peace Discuss" <peace-discuss at anti-war.net>
Date: Saturday, October 18, 2008, 4:42 PM

This gets at the elitism of both parties and the media, and the inevitable use and abuse of the white working class for the elite's purposes. It's not by accident that "Joe Sixpack" is so quickly turned upon. He's merely a moment of amusement. Ultimately, his plight and his element are not to be taken seriously.
_____________________
Why It's Time to Bannish "Average Joeism"
Stop, in the Name of Joe!
October, 18 2008 

By Steve Early 
Source: CounterPunch 

Steve Early's ZSpace Page 

Am I the only American voter who's getting annoyed by all the faux-populist obeisance and condescending lip-service that's being paid to "average Joes" this Fall?

First there was "Joe Six-Pack," the frequently invoked working-class soulmate of Alaskan "Hockey Mom" Sarah Palin. Then, there was "Joe from Scranton ," Senator Joseph Biden's strained reinvention of himself as a regular blue-collar guy from Pennsylvania 's anthracite region. And now we have "Joe the Plumber," the Ohio handy man directly addressed by both John McCain and Barack Obama in their final TV debate on Oct. 15. 

What's bothering me, first of all, is the form of address itself. Unlike Palin's beer-loving archetype, "Joe the Plumber" is an actual person, with a real last name (It's Wurzelbacher and, yes, that might be hard to pronounce correctly on national TV.) Yet when someone like Joe Wurzelbacher briefly commands center stage—as a random stand-in for all workers (or, more accurately, would-be small business owners)—he is immediately shorn of his full identity and referred to by his trade instead. 

To the extent that Wurzelbacher is now getting full name treatment in post-debate media coverage, he may soon regret it. Already, it's been reported that he's non-union, un-licensed, never completed his apprenticeship as a plumber, and has an unpaid state income tax bill of $1,200. In 2006, he was earning just $40,000 when he got divorced. The two-man plumbing firm that employs him operates out of the owner's home and doesn't generate enough income for its taxes to be raised under Obama's plan. It would appear, therefore, that Wurzelbacher has bigger, short-term problems than buying out the owner for $250,000, far more than the business is worth, and then, if he ever earns more than that in a single year in this economy, getting a slightly larger tax bill from Obama! 

Now if McCain and Obama were talking about a better-credentialed building trades guy who only goes by one name—like "Jesus the Carpenter"--surname dropping wouldn't seem so patronizing. (The Democrats, at least, seem to be invoking His name somewhat less than they did earlier in the campaign.) But there's still a glaring double-standard at work here. It says a lot about how working class people get talked about by politicians of both major parties when they're not being made to disappear entirely into our vast "middle class" (which, at times, seems to include 95 per cent of the population). 

When the names of the high and mighty in America—bankers, big businessmen, professors, or generals--come up in prime time debates or on the campaign trail, they never warrant the same disrespectfully informal and/or stereotypical treatment. For example, when Obama discusses the impact of his tax proposals on a well-heeled Omaha investor (who's also his economic advisor) and not a mere toilet-fixer in Toledo , he doesn't refer to him as " Warren the Billionaire." 

Likewise, when McCain launches into his favorite refrain about "corruption and greed on Wall Street," he never fingers the perpetrators by their first names (or any name actually). And just think of all the possibilities there, from "Richard the Bankrupt" at Lehman Brothers to "Alan the Enabler" of Federal Reserve Board fame. Nor does McCain cite "Dave the General" when he's striving for greater credibility on military matters in Iraq . And even when he and Palin are warning us about that dangerous Chicago professor and Obama neighbor, they never just call him "Bill the Terrorist." We're always reminded of his proper name: William Ayers. 

So, if ex-Weathermen are entitled to have last names attached to their first, isn't it time that our leading pols got a little less familiar when addressing us ordinary folks, whether or not our real name is Joe? At the very least, they could stop trying to put themselves and so many of their fellow citizens into such silly, stereotypical, and ultimately meaningless categories, based on our choice of  beverage, occupation, or spectator sport. Among the hopeful signs associated with this year's presidential race are reports from around the country indicating that voters are not allowing themselves to be so easily pigeonholed. In fact, many seem poised to cast a vote for a candidate who's own personal history doesn't lend itself to the usual race, class, or ethnic profiling. 

With that positive development in mind, nothing would be more appropriate than a ban on "Average Joeism"—for the rest of the campaign and any future ones. Unless, of course, the candidates want to start addressing our "betters" with the same first-name familiarity they've heretofore reserved for us. 

Steve Early is the author of a forthcoming book for Monthly Review Press called "Embedded With Organized Labor: Journalistic Reflections on the Class War at Home." In any voter profiling of himself, he insists that his last name be used. He can be reached at Lsupport at aol.com 

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