When the Working Class Seemed Dangerous: A Selection from David Frum’s Trumpocracy (2018)

“Working-class America has not seemed dangerous for a long time. But back when it did seem dangerous, that danger persuaded the privileged—or enough of them—that concessions must be made. . . . It was in very large part fear of communism that induced businesses to provide pensions and health care benefits to employees . . . that inspired the federal government to invest in great public universities . . . and that compelled the United States to uproot racial segregation. . . . Fears of revolutionary socialism have faded. For more than a quarter century, we have lived in a world where economic and cultural elites have felt secure from challenge as seldom before. Unsurprisingly, those elites have over that same time become far less inclined to share their prosperity with the rest of their society. . . . Cynically yes, but effectively too, Donald Trump seized more accurately than any candidate in 2016 on issues neglected by more conventional politicians: the ravages of drug addiction, the costs of immigration, the cultural and economic decline of the industrial working class.”—David Frum, Trumpocracy: The Corruption of the American Republic (2018)