thoughtbeast wrote:
I can see a great deal of wisdom in the article.
One point I'd like to add to that - the author stated how blacks and Latinos do not have as high of suicide rates as white. My own personal feeling about that is, while black and Latino Americans can claim a group identity in which they have a common interest and a sense that if things take a turn for the better, it will be for everyone in their community, working class whites rarely have any such sense of belonging. With the exception of religion based tribes like the evangelicals or Mormons, or the ethnic immigrant groups of the past, a great many white working class people today see themselves as utterly alienated and left behind, with no one to give a damn about them. They had been sold on the conservative idea that the best government stays out of people's lives, while believing liberals get the vote of undeserving people by promising them things, but all that ever got white workers was a big fat nothing in return for their support, least of all any access to the American dream. Their despair, and sense of abandonment, is intense and should not be underestimated.
_________________
-Bill, otherwise known as Kraichgauer