Conventional wisdom says that Trump’s base is primarily made up of pissed-off white people. We’re told that they’re pissed-off at their jobs disappearing, at their towns being hollowed out, at the drugs decimating their communities, at working three jobs to stay afloat, and at the nagging feeling that people are laughing at them. We’re told that Trump speaks for these people, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. They only think he does. Trump waves shiny objects in their faces. He makes glittering promises, and he offers up colorful scapegoats they can blame for their misery. But he’s never once offered them anything real. What Shawn Fain is offering is real: Twice the money they’re making now. Better benefits, better working conditions, better job protections, more paid time off, regular cost-of-living adjustments, and a piece of the company’s profits they can put away for retirement. As President of the United Automobile Workers (UAW), Fain kno
Life and Politics in the Age of Covid