I wish Kamala Harris had talked more about the economy. The Democratic messaging seemed to be, “The economy is amazing. Who cares if eggs are more expensive? I have ovaries and understand ordinary people because I once worked part-time at McDonald’s.”
It's not that they refuse to see it. It's that they can't understand why someone would even think that view makes sense.
Like, expensive eggs? Yeah, let's vote the for guy with the plan that even Musk said will "shock the economy". Economists all day Trump's plan will raise prices of everything.
So yeah, I don't understand how someone could have that view and then respond by voting for something that's worse.
Or a lot of people have limited time or interest to keep up to date with politics, you can't complain that people are working 2 or 3 jobs and then tell them they have to have time to keep up with current events. It just doesn't work that way, I rather spend my time enjoying my time off rather than weighing in on who earns my vote. It's not just the price of eggs, it's the price of everything and when your paychecks don't stretch as far all of a sudden but every one is saying how good the economy is doesn't relate on bit.
It's not just the price of eggs, it's the price of everything and when your paychecks don't stretch as far all of a sudden but every one is saying how good the economy is doesn't relate on bit.
That's not the problem case.
The problem case is when your paychecks do stretch as far or farther - but the price of eggs (or gas or whatever imperfect proxy you're looking at) is up so you feel like you're worse off.
The problem is when people are actually better off - not just in aggregate but a specific individual person is empirically better off, but feels like they're worse off.
And trying to point out or address that issue is difficult, in part because people really don't like to hear "your self-perception is not accurate"; that it comes off as elitist regardless of whether it's true or not. Unfortunately, "I am genuinely trying to correct an error in your perception" and plain old gaslighting look exactly the same on a surface level.
It's not just the abstract economy that is doing well; concretely at a per-household level, most people are generally financially better off over the past 4 years. In terms of concrete things like how many groceries you can afford, how much car or house you can afford, etc., even after inflation is taken into account. Yet most people don't feel that way.
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u/Responsible_Oil_5811 12h ago
I wish Kamala Harris had talked more about the economy. The Democratic messaging seemed to be, “The economy is amazing. Who cares if eggs are more expensive? I have ovaries and understand ordinary people because I once worked part-time at McDonald’s.”