During the pandemic, they were called ‘essential workers.’ Now they’ve been discovered to hold the key to power… But these Americans won’t benefit from their new status as essential voters until the parties spend less effort coming up with what they think the working class wants to hear, and more effort actually delivering what it wants and needs.
An economy that gives most people the chance for a decent life doesn’t arise by accident or through impersonal forces. It has to be created [through] political action, such as union organizing, that gives power to the have-nots; a civic ethos that restrains the greed of the haves; and public spending on people, infrastructure, and ideas…
— What Does the Working Class Really Want?, The Atlantic
