Nick Cohen on Thomas Frank

[Charles Brown <cbrown@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Justin: I am unclear about your point. It could be read as
saying that you think that Kansas is the epicenter of
the socialist revolution. That is not the case. That
is why Frank wrote the book.

^^^
CB: Let me see if I can...

Doug said Frank's Kansans are below average income for U.S. counties, which
would seem to make it rational for them to be progressive not conservative.

I say they might be comparing themselves to Mexicans who are poorer than
they are, rather than comparing themselves to other U.S.'ers in counties
richer than the Kansans' counties in question.

In the latter comparison with workers in another nation, they are being
international in their thinking rather than national in the sense that they
are taking into account non-US "counties" incomes. Thus, they are thinking
"globally" too. And thinking globally they come up looking better off in the
comparison with Mexicans and Sudanese, etc., than if they only compare
themselves to other U.S.'ers.

Does that clarify it ?

^^^^^^


Jesse James was a psychopath who rode with Quantrill
-- he missed the Lawrence massacre, thought his
brother Frank didn't. But he wasn't crazy  because he
was poor. He was sorta poor, but not that poor -- I've
been at his house -- it was no dump for SE Missouri in
its day. He was just crazy and wicked.

Jks
^^^^^^
CB: Jesse James was a working class hero of sorts when he was a bank robber
after the war. I took that to be because working folks resented the banks as
representatives of the rich. So like the Frank's Kansans, he had an
anti-rich aspect to his thought. However, also like the Kansans, he signed
up with the rightwing in the war , the rightwing actually representing those
same rich. It's like Kansans today going and fighting the rich man's wars.

Jesse James signing up with the Confederates is like Kansans today signing
up with the Republicans.


--- Charles Brown <cbrown@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> Esp since Kansans are poorer than the national
> average, and, as Frank
> points out, some of the poorest counties in the
> country (located in
> Kan & Neb) voted overwhelmingly Republican in 2000.
> They don't even
> need to be bribed.
>
> Doug
>
> ^^^^^
>
> CB: It's like why did Jesse James fight for the
> Confederacy ? He was poor ?
>
> Do the Kansans' compare themselves only to other
> counties in the U.S. or to
> counties in Mexico ?  They have seen migrant
> laborers.
>
> Today rural Kansans have a global consciousness too.
> The awareness of
> national average gives way to awareness of
> international average.
>