"Why don't they listen to us? Speaking to the working class"

A good piece written by Lillian B. Rubin for Dissent Magazine, and an honest assessment of the problems facing liberals today from the point of view of a liberal. I think her points are dead on (especially concerning political correctness), and I like her writing style.

I say "both sides" because it's true. But here I'm not concerned with them; I want to talk about us, about how we promulgated and enforced a politically correct line on a series of key social-cultural issues that played into right-wing charges that we were out of touch and helped to consolidate our virtual isolation from America's lower-middle and working class.

Enforced! I can almost hear the astonishment as some readers ask derisively, "Who are the enforcers? Have progressives jailed anyone for being politically incorrect?" No, of course not. But if there were no pressure to remain silent, how do we explain the many times we sat at meetings wanting to dissent but didn't for fear of being politically incorrect? Or the times we wished for a fuller, more nuanced discussion of the subject at hand but stilled our thoughts because we knew they would be unacceptable, that our commitment to the cause would be questioned?

Indeed.

What I don't like about this piece is her assumption that people in the working class--and all Americans--should be represented soley by the left or the right. She maintains an "us vs. them" mentality throughout, and it bothers me that she thinks her side has the right to speak for "the people". I don't chastise her exclusively, though; too many on the right take this stance as well.

I wish for someone to represent those of us in between. My set of beliefs cannot be contained completely by the Democratic platform nor the Republican platform, and I am neither fully liberal nor absolutely conservative. I am in between, and I think most Americans are as well.