Classism in Liberal News Comedy

Trotsky

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This is a topic that has been bugging me recently and that I think could actually stoke some productive input from right wingers here that might otherwise be disposed towards more vapid criticism of liberals.


In the 2000s, liberal news comedy took hold to counterbalance the outrage propaganda model of Fox News. With men like Jon Stewart at the helm, it was supposed to make the center/center-left message more accessible to citizens who weren't captivated by the then-very dry CNN and MSNBC. However, with guys like Bill Maher, John Oliver, and Stephen Colbert, the latter two of which are very knowledgeable and policy-competent figureheads, the message has become increasingly (and more apparently) classist, most notably towards lower class and rural white citizens.

With passing jokes about how fast food tastes is disgusting (Stewart/Colbert), to Mountain Dew being radioactive waste (Oliver), to big chain retail stores being a cesspool for oddities (Maher), the liberal comedy news seems to more and more casually engage in, and saturate their message with, distinctly condescending and elitist commentary.

This, along with the effects of right populism, has helped strengthen the perception that the center-left, which by all policy bases much better represents the poor and advocates for their interests, is in fact the elitist network that actually forms the right-wing policy platform. Thus, instead of making the Democrats more palatable to the people they help and making their pragmatism more accessible, the exact opposite effect is seeming occur.


What do you think?
 
This is a topic that has been bugging me recently and that I think could actually stoke some productive input from right wingers here that might otherwise be disposed towards more vapid criticism of liberals.


In the 2000s, liberal news comedy took hold to counterbalance the outrage propaganda model of Fox News. With men like Jon Stewart at the helm, it was supposed to make the center/center-left message more accessible to citizens who weren't captivated by the then-very dry CNN and MSNBC. However, with guys like Bill Maher, John Oliver, and Stephen Colbert, the latter two of which are very knowledgeable and policy-competent figureheads, the message has become increasingly (and more apparently) classist, most notably towards lower class and rural white citizens.

With passing jokes about how fast food tastes is disgusting (Stewart/Colbert), to Mountain Dew being radioactive waste (Oliver), to big chain retail stores being a cesspool for oddities (Maher), the liberal comedy news seems to more and more casually engage in, and saturate their message with, distinctly condescending and elitist commentary.

This, along with the effects of right populism, has helped strengthen the perception that the center-left, which by all policy bases much better represents the poor and advocates for their interests, is in fact the elitist network that actually forms the right-wing policy platform. Thus, instead of making the Democrats more palatable to the people they help and making their pragmatism more accessible, the exact opposite effect is seeming occur.


What do you think?




Anyways, besides your tonedeffness, no one should be looking at comedians for moral authority and they shouldn't be the faces of your platform. Similar to how the electorate tuned out celebrities shilling for Hillary; no one cares what a guy pretending to be a taxi driver in New York has to say about the best policy for the nation.
 
Liberals are elitist in nature. The whole platform is about telling you what you can and can't do and then taking money and dispursing it for you.
 
This is a topic that has been bugging me recently and that I think could actually stoke some productive input from right wingers here that might otherwise be disposed towards more vapid criticism of liberals.

In the 2000s, liberal news comedy took hold to counterbalance the outrage propaganda model of Fox News. With men like Jon Stewart at the helm, it was supposed to make the center/center-left message more accessible to citizens who weren't captivated by the then-very dry CNN and MSNBC. However, with guys like Bill Maher, John Oliver, and Stephen Colbert, the latter two of which are very knowledgeable and policy-competent figureheads, the message has become increasingly (and more apparently) classist, most notably towards lower class and rural white citizens.

With passing jokes about how fast food tastes is disgusting (Stewart/Colbert), to Mountain Dew being radioactive waste (Oliver), to big chain retail stores being a cesspool for oddities (Maher), the liberal comedy news seems to more and more casually engage in, and saturate their message with, distinctly condescending and elitist commentary.

This, along with the effects of right populism, has helped strengthen the perception that the center-left, which by all policy bases much better represents the poor and advocates for their interests, is in fact the elitist network that actually forms the right-wing policy platform. Thus, instead of making the Democrats more palatable to the people they help and making their pragmatism more accessible, the exact opposite effect is seeming occur.

What do you think?
It's an interesting idea. I definitely noticed some serious snobbishness among my former classmates. I think it's related to a rising social-status focus on being educated and having sophisticated tastes-craft beers, local organics, etc. The classism happens left and right, but one group is better at keeping it amongst "just us boys."
 
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This is a topic that has been bugging me recently and that I think could actually stoke some productive input from right wingers here that might otherwise be disposed towards more vapid criticism of liberals.


In the 2000s, liberal news comedy took hold to counterbalance the outrage propaganda model of Fox News. With men like Jon Stewart at the helm, it was supposed to make the center/center-left message more accessible to citizens who weren't captivated by the then-very dry CNN and MSNBC. However, with guys like Bill Maher, John Oliver, and Stephen Colbert, the latter two of which are very knowledgeable and policy-competent figureheads, the message has become increasingly (and more apparently) classist, most notably towards lower class and rural white citizens.

With passing jokes about how fast food tastes is disgusting (Stewart/Colbert), to Mountain Dew being radioactive waste (Oliver), to big chain retail stores being a cesspool for oddities (Maher), the liberal comedy news seems to more and more casually engage in, and saturate their message with, distinctly condescending and elitist commentary.

This, along with the effects of right populism, has helped strengthen the perception that the center-left, which by all policy bases much better represents the poor and advocates for their interests, is in fact the elitist network that actually forms the right-wing policy platform. Thus, instead of making the Democrats more palatable to the people they help and making their pragmatism more accessible, the exact opposite effect is seeming occur.


What do you think?
You have a point. I think its partly a result of the fact that many leftists pride their leftism on the fact that its the "party" of the educated class instead of the fact that its the party of the working class and that strikes me as a response to some of the anti-intellectualism of the right but taken to extremes it leads to snobbishness.
 
Yeah, elitism is just one of the reasons why these shows are unwatchable.
Zizek is actually very critical of that phenomena asking,
" ish dhat tde bessst tde Ahmerican left khan du??" * Rubs nose *
(Pardon for the literal transcription on how he talks.)
 
It's an interesting idea. I definitely noticed some serious snobbishness among my former classmates. I think it's related to a rising focus on sophisticated tastes-craft beers, local organics, etc. The classism happens left and right, but one group is better at keeping it amongst "just us boys."
I think that's a result of increasing inequality and the segregated nature of many urban centers. Even within the left the class divide is becoming too large to ignore and if you're going to market entertainment to the left it makes sense to target the more elite, educated crowd over the wretched masses.

Lower class leftists have their own culture to consume anyway, whether its so called urban culture for lower class blacks or Spanish language entertainment, easier to access now than ever, for lower class Hispanics.
 
Yeah, elitism is just one of the reasons why these shows are unwatchable.
Zizek is actually very critical of that phenomena asking,
" ish dhat tde bessst tde Ahmerican left khan du??" * Rubs nose *
(Pardon for the literal transcription on how he talks.)

I cannot stand watching/listening to that fucker talk.

I enjoy reading him in print, but that's it. Any other medium is exhausting
 
giphy.gif


/\ in a nut shell.
 
I cannot stand watching/listening to that fucker talk.

I enjoy reading him in print, but that's it. Any other medium is exhausting
I love his accent and his weird ticks, very entertaining for me.
 
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Yeah, elitism is just one of the reasons why these shows are unwatchable.
Zizek is actually very critical of that phenomena asking,
" ish dhat tde bessst tde Ahmerican left khan du??" * Rubs nose *
(Pardon for the literal transcription on how he talks.)
He does rub his nose a lot

 
Wait. Are you saying that Liberals are condescending, elitist, smug cocksuckers, who nobody likes?

Where am I in time? Is this the moment before people cast their vote for Donald Trump?


Profound thread. Way to catch up, @Trotsky. Hopefully other Liberals can get "woke" to this reality. People simply don't like the smug cuntishness of Liberals. Whoa! Who'd of thunk it?
 
This, along with the effects of right populism, has helped strengthen the perception that the center-left, which by all policy bases much better represents the poor and advocates for their interests, is in fact the elitist network that actually forms the right-wing policy platform. Thus, instead of making the Democrats more palatable to the people they help and making their pragmatism more accessible, the exact opposite effect is seeming occur.


What do you think?

I think the idea that the center-left is a stronger advocate for the poor (on a policy level) might not be true on a federal level considering that:
  • the center-left [estabishment Democrats] is either supportive or passive towards trade union/pact agendas that have a seriously bad short-term [and possibly long-term] effect on working-class Americans
  • the center-left [and the left in general] is either combative or indifferent towards spiritual life in America. The working/struggling parts of America are really the most religious communities of the country and 21st liberals antagonize Christian Americans.
Many intellectuals and political commentators have been stating that the left has abandoned the working class.
 
Wait. Are you saying that Liberals are condescending, elitist, smug cocksuckers, who nobody likes?

Where am I in time? Is this the moment before people cast their vote for Donald Trump?


Profound thread. Way to catch up, @Trotsky. Hopefully other Liberals can get "woke" to this reality. People simply don't like the smug cuntishness of Liberals. Whoa! Who'd of thunk it?

Yeah, I don't know why he made this thread.

It's been a huge talking point for about in the past 2 years or so.





 
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Yeah, I don't know why he made this thread.

It's been a huge talking about in the past 2 years or so.

He made it, because he's an idiot, and a typical Liberal(larping as a communist), who has only now...NOW, come to this realization.


My question is, how stupid do you have to be, to recognize this stigma just now?
 
I think the idea that the center-left is a stronger advocate for the poor (on a policy level) might not be true on a federal level considering that:
  • the center-left [estabishment Democrats] is either supportive or passive towards trade union/pact agendas that have a seriously bad short-term [and possibly long-term] effect on working-class Americans
  • the center-left [and the left in general] is either combative or indifferent towards spiritual life in America. The working/struggling parts of America are really the most religious communities of the country and 21st liberals antagonize Christian Americans.
Many intellectuals and political commentators have been stating that the left has abandoned the working class.
It may be true that the Democrats may not be as pro-worker as they once were but compared to the GOP they still are relatively pro-worker. Its true that support for unions isn't what it used to be on the left but the GOP is actively anti-union and push for right-to-work laws whenever they can for instance.

Its not as much an issue for the GOP because when they appeal to the working class its often not with economic policy and not appealing to them on the basis of their economic class but rather on the basis of identity and with social issues(guns, traditional family values etc).
 
He made it, because he's an idiot, and a typical Liberal(larping as a communist), who has only now...NOW, come to this realization.


My question is, how stupid do you have to be, to recognize this stigma just now?
He's talking about a specific instance of this and cited specific examples. Even though this topic has been done before he's tackling it better than the average mouthbreather on this forum who whines about liberal elitism.
 
giphy.gif


/\ in a nut shell.
This to a T.

I am ok with Stewart, he does it in a way that's funny.

Oliver, Maher (most of the time), the twat Noah that took over for Stewart, and Colbert are super fucking smug about it and frankly, at least to me, aren't that funny in how they do it.

It's a case of, to me at least, guys that are part of the "elite" that don't realize how pretentious they sound.
 
It may be true that the Democrats may not be as pro-worker as they once were but compared to the GOP they still are relatively pro-worker. Its true that support for unions isn't what it used to be on the left but the GOP is actively anti-union and push for right-to-work laws whenever they can for instance.

Its not as much an issue for the GOP because when they appeal to the working class its often not with economic policy and not appealing to them on the basis of their economic class but rather on the basis of identity and with social issues(guns, traditional family values etc).
My problem, specifically to the Union thing... a TON of my more liberal friends constantly spout off about how AMAZING unions are.

I'm in one, and I fucking hate it, all my coworkers, fucking hate our union. My friends that preach the Gospel of the Union 122:40... NONE have ever been in one and haven't seen the fucking cronyism and garbage that they do.

Example, my Teamsters group negotiated so that we no longer had to pay into our healthcare benefits. Sounds awesome right? WRONG, you take your check from BEFORE the change and compare it to after... our union dues WENT UP a tad higher than we got back from no longer having to pay into health benefits.

In-fucking-furiating!
 

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