So much of this sentiment comes down to ethnic alignments. People see the billionaire as a white, Christian patriarch who shares a set of cultural values and beliefs that overlap with their own. The billionaire advertises on the shows I listen to. The billionaire runs the businesses that I shop at. The billionaire sponsors the entertainment - the sporting events and the TV shows and the local festivals - that I enjoy attending.
Yeah, sure, all that money comes from my surplus labor. And maybe the Six Guns Over Grade School celebration, where eight year olds fire long rifles at biology textbooks while saying the Our Father prayer is a bit off-putting. But by God, that’s our tradition!
Meanwhile, the hispanic migrants who cross the border to pick fruit doesn’t celebrate Six Guns. They don’t watch Border Patrol Bloopers or Rich Kids In The City or Loud Guy Radio. They don’t root for the Fightin’ Oil Spigots or eat Fried Cheese. They don’t even speak American! Every time a new hispanic family moves into town, they make the town a little less homogeneous. And that makes me feel unsafe. If they feel about me the way that I feel about them, how long until they break into my house and murder me?
So much of this sentiment comes down to ethnic alignments. People see the billionaire as a white, Christian patriarch who shares a set of cultural values and beliefs that overlap with their own. The billionaire advertises on the shows I listen to. The billionaire runs the businesses that I shop at. The billionaire sponsors the entertainment - the sporting events and the TV shows and the local festivals - that I enjoy attending.
Yeah, sure, all that money comes from my surplus labor. And maybe the Six Guns Over Grade School celebration, where eight year olds fire long rifles at biology textbooks while saying the Our Father prayer is a bit off-putting. But by God, that’s our tradition!
Meanwhile, the hispanic migrants who cross the border to pick fruit doesn’t celebrate Six Guns. They don’t watch Border Patrol Bloopers or Rich Kids In The City or Loud Guy Radio. They don’t root for the Fightin’ Oil Spigots or eat Fried Cheese. They don’t even speak American! Every time a new hispanic family moves into town, they make the town a little less homogeneous. And that makes me feel unsafe. If they feel about me the way that I feel about them, how long until they break into my house and murder me?