Joe Heartland & The Gap

The average Joe Heartland isn't worried about economic announcements of the gap between rich and poor; it's fuzzy math with stats and worth only a nod, a shrug. For Joe a "widening gap" is a concept which may or may not be true, depending on which channel he's on, and why listen to eggheads blather about something that's not going to change anytime soon. Regardless the gap's statistical size, it has always been too wide, and Americans, conditioned with little variation on capitalist ideology by either political party, support the system of the haves (who have most of it), the have nots, and the have nothings. Joe has faith it's the best system available. Capitalism at its finest.

In the heartland, life is simple. If you're poor, you must be lazy or not very bright. If you have legal troubles, you must be guilty. If you're uneducated that's your choice. Nothing wrong with believing you're the captain of your ship (there's Joe upcreek without a paddle, thinking his ship will come in, some day). As long as there's cable/dish, Wal-Mart Wally, and Mickey D, life is okay. The "rich/poor gap" talking points don't mean much to Joe and his survival quest. Joe Heartland has resigned himself to life (although he often won't admit resignation as that's a sign of weakness). He points to the fact that he's not starving, he can read and write (sometimes), he has "got things" and his president doesn't torture, gas him, or feed him kicking and flailing through a plastics grinder. He reasons he's lucky he wasn't born in Cuba or Iraq or Russia.

Don't try to alarm Joe Heartland with articles from sites such as UFE or with charts and graphs . That kind of stuff is for bookworms. He may not be in the 10 percenters who hold 90 percent of the stock market wealth, but he might have a 401 or IRA worth a little (unless swindled before he can get it). Capital gains and taxes don't mean a whole lot since Joe has few if any assets to dispose of anyway. Joe agrees that the "death tax" is an unfair tax on the rich, although he'll never have to worry about it and doesn't completely understand it, his instincts for fairness will say people shouldn’t be taxed twice just because they're rich. That's a "common sense fact" he'll tell you. (Joe Heartland daydreams of some day being rich and would want whatever tax breaks the rich want today.)

The rich/poor gap in America has always been wide and visible to varying degrees, at least in the areas I've seen. In TN, MS, KY, AR, LA, MO, KS, IL, NE, Appalacia, reservations, inner cities, across the plains and prairies. The gap fluctuates, how much depends on where and what statistics you use. You didn't really think a fair amount of the top-heavy money was going to trickle down did you? Even Joe Heartland knows better. Wealth firmly concentrated at the top, always has been. Joe has faith he could move to a higher bracket, some day, if he wins the lottery, invents a pet rock, plays well at sports, or fate gives his life a story that makes Hollywood notice. He knows only a few can be "affluent." Who would do all the dirty work? Who would flip burgers and wipe butts and stock the shelves and stand on the factory line? Who would pick the fruit, havest the sugarcane, fight the wars, or risk life and limb in jobs nobody wants?

The last great "boom" bypassed most folks here in the heartland, and that's okay by them, because if they're suffering, it must be an innate character trait (or affirmative action cost them that job or college spot, not really but the excuse is there). The "heartland" Joe believes in all the petrified myths of America. Plain folks are happier. Plain (another word for poor) folks don't have all the worries and concerns that rich people do. As miserable as he might be, Joe H. doesn't have to fret about losing his money (he doesn't have any), his kids will never be held for ransom, he doesn't need a bodyguard, he won't have to pay millions in taxes, etc., therefore he must be happier than the gentry. He's grateful to live in the land of opportunity where he could get rich, some day. The ladder of opportunity Americans tried to hoist in the last century hasn't helped many to upward mobility. All the touted prosperity of the Reagan and/or Clinton eras (whichever toilet you drink from) didn't narrow the gap for Joe Heartland.

Folks here believe in the newer myths too, i.e. jobs are outsourced because Americans are lazy and/or unqualified, and corporate bosses who look for cheap labor are just doing their job. Yessirree, in this part of the country folks believe the American dream hasn't gone sour. If you're not successful, its because you just don't try hard enough. Joe H. has heard the "rich get richer, the poor get poorer" for so many generations that it’s a heartwarming, familiar little bite on the ass. A platitude that feels as comfortable as chucking empty beer cans into the bed of the pickup truck on a summer Saturday night. Wise men and deities have told him from day one that neither wealth or greatness will make him happy, but trust in God and country and he'll be rewarded, some day. The pastor tells him, the media tells him, school told him, politicians tell him, radio windbags tell him, the wealthy tell him that simply being American makes him rich even without any tangible wealth. He's proud.

Heartland folks feel it's patriotism to pay, with their blood and money, for the maintenance of capitalism because their definition of the system has blurred with other down-home terminology: democracy, freedom, apple pie, support our troops, everybody in the world wants to live in America. If pain, ignorance, and government betrayal are part of life, that's a fair deal because he's been told it's the best system (the only alternative being commie socialist dictatorships). If you point out the connection between constant inflation, higher local taxes and fees, fewer and shoddier services in relation to taxes, or that his tax refund is spent catching up on debt, or paying on the increasing cost of necessities, or point to any sociopolitical ills, Joe H. justifies it as the cost of freedom.

Joe isn't lazy in that he won't toil at physical labor. No, Joe Heartland is lazy in the sense that he'd rather work at sustaining his subjective yoke than to find the strength it would take to confront a system which has no use for him other than as an expendable, exploitable commodity, and he senses that's all he's worth, but "freedom ain't cheap you know."


(Thanks to PBU16 .)