What's the matter with Kansas?
by Thomas Frank, Mireya Hernández Pozuelo, Slavoj Žižek · first published 2004
35% recommend52% neutral13% critical
Why HN recommends it
Explores how conservative politics gets working-class voters to back parties against their economic interests by stressing emotional social issues, centered on Kansas; suits readers puzzling over US political divides.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
One of "our most insightful social observers" cracks the great political mystery of our time: how conservatism, once a marker of class privilege, became the creed of millions of ordinary Americans With his acclaimed wit and acuity, Thomas Frank turns his eye on what he calls the "thirty-year backlash"—the populist revolt against a supposedly liberal establishment. The high point of that backlash is the Republican Party's success in building the most unnatural of alliances: between blue-collar Midwesterners and Wall Street business interests, workers and bosses, populists and right-wingers.
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I'll second "A Guide To The Good Life", and would like to suggest "What's The Matter With Kansas" by Thomas Frank as a companion piece to "Strangers In Their Own Land."
on “YC's Winter Reading List” ↗Thomas Frank's book _What's the Matter with Kansas_[0] explores this pretty well. Some of what he proposes is a bit over-simplified (ie that all conservatives prefer to vote for morals over pragmatism[1]), but his main thesis -- that the conservative…
on “Robert Mercer: the big data billionaire waging war on mainstream media” ↗This is certainly intentional, and is well documented in the book and documentary What's the Matter with Kansas? by Thomas Frank. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/What%27s_the_Matter_with_Kansa... Additionally, Kevin Kruse of Princeton has written a great book called One Nation Under God: How Corporate America Invented…
on “The Real Class War” ↗If you're interested in some reflection on that, What's the Matter with Kansas? (2004) by Thomas Frank explores some of this, but centered around Kansas. Pretty interesting (and frustrating) stuff.
on “CBP is monitoring US drivers and detaining those with suspicious travel patterns” ↗You should read "What's the Matter with Kansas?" by Thomas Frank [1] that discusses this topic at length. Yes, I do think it works: It is possible to persuade people to vote against their material or economic self-interest by inflaming passions around…
on “Significant US Farm Losses Persist, Despite Federal Assistance” ↗It's the same story over and over again with large businesses. See Boeing and WA state as well. What's the Matter with Kansas? (2004) by Thomas Frank goes into this in part of it. While a bit repetitive (because history) the book is quite good.
on “Amazon to Shut Down All Amazon Go and Amazon Fresh Stores” ↗I recently read “What’s the matter with Kansas” by Thomas Frank. It was eye-opening. One things he mentioned is that as both Democratic and Republican parties aligned on economic issues (I.e., Democrats started working for rich), social issues became…
on “Meta to receive $3.3B in tax breaks for its $10B Louisiana data center” ↗…irrelevant to most Americans. Seemed to me middle America doesn't love Trump as much as they weren't able to hear Harris address any issues they were concerned about. I can recommend The King in Orange, What's the Matter with Kansas and Metaphors We Live By for more musings about such things.
on “DOJ confirms FBI Director Kash Patel's personal email was hacked” ↗…lower taxes and the poor can't get healthcare, jobs, retirement, home ownership, and the chances of preventing massive droughts and climate change related issues are nil so all is right for the GOP. What's the Matter with Kansas is a deeper look into the Kansas aspects of this. It's an interesting read and very relevant as just back in 2016 they tried to ax taxes across the state and schools closed, hospitals started to shut…
on “Birds 'falling out of the sky' in mass die-off in south-western US” ↗This is an article written by acclaimed author Thomas Frank ("What's the Matter with Kansas", "Listen, Liberal") in July 2016. The Democrats ignored the message and Trump was elected as a result. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/jul/19/reveng...
on “Tech’s Wealthy Enclaves Hurt the Country and Tech Itself” ↗…Hills, hoisting the black flag, and while the millionaires tremble in their mansions, they are bellowing out their terrifying demands. 'We are here,' they scream, 'to cut your taxes.” ― Thomas Frank, What's the Matter with Kansas? How Conservatives Won the Heart of America > “If you can convince the lowest white man he's better than the best colored man, he won't notice you're picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look…
on “The Uber leak exposes the global war on workers” ↗…commenters who mention him (pro and con), they can't seem to process it. They invent their own motivations and pin them on Andy. The OP even calls him a troll. Um, no. More like a missionary. The book What's the Matter with Kansas is a semi-famous example of the same phenomenon. The author of the book insists that the Christians of Kansas vote against their own self interest because he doesn't take their faith seriously.
on “Dear Designer, You Aren't That Special” ↗…Hills, hoisting the black flag, and while the millionaires tremble in their mansions, they are bellowing out their terrifying demands. 'We are here,' they scream, 'to cut your taxes.” ― Thomas Frank, What's the Matter with Kansas? Except in this particular case, they are here to deregulate your monopolies.
on “Trump transition team picks regulation foe as telecom point man” ↗> "peer-to-peer lending service in India" (odd to hear the Christian and Islamic sin of usury being praised as altruism) You might enjoy "Listen Liberal" by Thomas Frank (the guy who wrote "what's the matter with Kansas"). He takes the modern "left" to task for sucking up to capital, and is particularly hilariously venomous against the "microloans" that the modern managerial class seems to love so much.
on “Silicon Valley: A Reality Check (2017)” ↗…Society. But ask them about the remedies their ancestors proposed (unions, antitrust, public ownership), and you might as well be referring to the days when knighthood was in flower." — Thomas Frank, What's the Matter with Kansas? (2004), pp. 67–68
on “Investors Are Buying Mobile Home Parks. Residents Are Paying a Price” ↗