I’ve lived in California for almost 45 years, but ask
me where I’m from and I’ll tell you I’m from Vermont; I’m not so sure that’s
true anymore. I moved about my home state
for a few years, working as a teacher, and then I moved to Missouri because I could
make more money as a teacher. A few
years later, I moved into the business world, working as a teacher and training
manager. I worked for three local companies
as a teacher before I moved to California to direct the training group of a
large corporation. It turns out; I’m not
so much a Vermonter as I am an Anywhere.
David Goodhart’s new book; The Road to Somewhere helps crystallize the “why” of recent
elections in the U.S, Britain, Poland, and other nations. He talks about the Somewhere’s and the
Anywhere’s. There are many theories
about the last election, ranging from the quality of the candidates to the
feeling of many mid-Americans that they have been shut out of the economy and
their well-established culture. They say
that they don’t recognize their own country.
This is when you witness the rise of Populism. It got me thinking about the last election
and the ones coming up.
Who are the Somewhere’s? Generally, they are from smaller Middle-America
rural towns and small cities. They are
people willing to work hard. Their
experience, however, is likely in jobs that require repetitive actions, as on
assembly lines, or retail clerks and other positions that don’t require higher cognitive
skills. The plants are closed, the
stores shuttered and jobs requiring higher technical skills too far from
home. They are rooted in their comfortable
environment, near family and friends, the local church and their shared culture,
often an example of White privilege. They
like people like themselves and don’t want large and fast immigration into
their world. They are generally
conservative in their approach to life and don’t like liberal overreach. They are, to a certain extent, the victims of
technological advances that stripped them of jobs they once knew how to
do. Essentially, they have never left
home. The “educated elites,” technology,
or the massive influxes of immigrants, are blamed for much of their angst. Does it matter?[i]
Yes, it matters.
The Somewhere’s are the foundation of Populist movements. Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump represent the
two ends of the spectrum. The
Somewhere’s don’t like what is happening to their life or to their
country. The nation is in the middle of
a sea change and they see themselves as victims; moral standards dissolving,
college education unaffordable, lack of low skill jobs, uneven wealth
distribution, a tax system that favors the rich, and too much power in too few
hands. To make matters worse,
Somewhere’s and Anywhere’s don’t talk to each other, don’t live among each
other and don’t want to be near each other.[ii] “A nation divided against itself cannot
stand.”[iii]
Yes, it matters.
The middle-class that grew during the 19th and 20th
centuries has stopped dead in its tracks.
The change was under the radar to the people on the coasts. The urban areas with highly educated
populations, creators, innovators, and early adaptors of technology created, unintentially,
a chasm between the two groups. The
Anywhere’s are dedicated to their profession, their skills, and are willing to
go anywhere to practice their craft: financial brokers, bankers, teachers,
professional managers, researchers, lawyers and doctors, engineers, programmers
and technology experts, traditionally favoring the urban areas of the
country. They come from anywhere and
settle in until they move again. The
Somewhere’s have had it with the Anywhere’s.
Yes, it’s important.
The tribulations of small town America, the middle of the country, the
Red States, continue to increase. The rich
are getting richer as middle and lower economic cohorts stagnate. Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, and Jeff Bezos
have an accumulated wealth equal to about 50 percent of the rest of the
country. Think about that, three people
have more wealth than 150 million people do. The breakdown of wealth in the U.S. makes the
country look more like an oligarchy than a democratic-capitalistic society. The top one percent of the country controls more
wealth than the other 99%.[iv]That
divide spurs Populist enthusiasm.
It matters, because the political landscape is really
changing. The divide is massive. The Somewhere’s don’t like the elites from
the coasts and big cities and are acting on their feelings. According to a recent article in the
Washington Post, 30 states, mostly Somewhere’s and Red States, have cut funding
to state universities and colleges by nearly 30%. Too many Somewhere’s don’t believe that
elitist, politically correct institutions of higher learning provide the
practical skills needed in the job market.
They believe that colleges and universities provide students with “junk
degrees” that have no value in the work place.
Tuitions have soared and student debt is out of control.[v]
Yes, it matters.
Eight states account for about 51% of the U.S. population, yet have only
16 of the 100 Senators. In other words,
50% of the population controls 84% of the Senate and represent Somewhere’s for
the most part.
Yes, it matters because the divide is about to get
wider. A new McKenzie Company study
indicates that tens of millions of jobs will be lost in the U.S. in the next
10-12 years due to automation and artificial intelligence. The 160-page report estimates that 60% of all
jobs have a 30% automation possibility. The
lost jobs will be those that don’t require higher cognitive skills or much
human interaction.[vi] The country’s educational establishment
hasn’t even begun to deal with the issue of massive unemployment’s need for new
training courses.
State and Federal governments haven’t begun to deal
with the challenges of large numbers of people under-trained in the new skill
sets, office buildings that will stand nearly empty, or factories devoid of
workers. The reality of undereducated
populations with no work opportunities increases the drift toward Populist
movements, and history tells us that that leads to Nationalism. It leads to blaming others or our problems. Do we want Nationalism of 1930’s Germany to be
gauge by which we can measure our future?
Let us hope not.
The rise of Populism and Nationalism should be a
warning to the leaders of any country. The
U.S., however, is currently lead by people who promote Populism and
Nationalism. They couch it in terms like
America First, but it is the same thing.
What can we do about it?
Most important we need to want something better for
everyone. We need to stop lying to the
Somewhere’s about old fashion jobs coming back; they won’t. We need to reconsider our college-only school
curriculums that deprive nearly 70% of our children from learning meaningful
skills. We need to redesign our skills
training ability so that people can qualify for high-level technical jobs and
jobs that involve working with people.
We need to find a way to convince the heads of major corporations to
share the wealth of the nation with the people of the nation. We need to stop lying to the people about a
tax revision plan that increases taxes on the poor and middle class but reduces
taxes for the more wealthy. We need to
put an end to the oligarchies and restore regulated capitalism to the nation’s
economy. We need to maintain controls on
the banking and finance systems of the country to avoid another major recession
that wiped out the savings of millions of people. These steps would constitute a good start at
restoring the nation.
If you are a Somewhere, what can you do to unite the
country? If you are an Anywhere, what
can you do to unite the country?
A nation divided against itself cannot stand!
[ii]PEW
Research Center – October 5, 2017
[iii]Abraham
Lincoln – House Divided Speech – Springfield, Illinois - June 16, 1858
[iv]Grace
Donnelly – Fortune – November 9, 2017
[v]Elitist,
Crybabies and Junkie Degrees – Washington Post- 11/25/2017
[vi]McKenzie
& Company – Jobs Lost, Jobs Gained, Workforce Transitions In A Time of
Automation – December 2017
