On Sunday the Journal Sentinel ran an article about Scott Walker being perhaps the only average middle-class guy running for the Republican nomination. The other contenders either inherited money or made real money on their own in the private sector. The article speculated on how that might advantage Walker with voters in states like Iowa because they might believe that he can understand how difficult it is for the average person to make ends meet.
Class is certainly a very important influence in one’s personal development, but how one reacts to one’s class background is far more important and far less predictable. The question is whether a politician who comes from an average middle-class background automatically identifies with the struggle of average people trying to make ends meet and always seeks to help them. Class is important but is not a determining factor.
Average, middle-class politicians like Scott Walker seem to have two options. One option is to truly identify with the challenges facing average working people and to fight for them by supporting government policies to provide lower- and middle-class people with opportunities to improve their lives or the lives of their children. These policies include supporting an increase in the minimum wage for the lowest-paid workers, providing more resources to public K-12 education and supporting the public universities so every person who has the ability and is willing to work hard can get ahead in this increasingly competitive world.
But then there is the other option an average guy running for the highest office in the land can pursue. He could take the political route to get as far away from his middle-class roots as he can and eventually land a very high-paying job and get rich by using his political office and influence to “improve the lives” of the corporations coming to the government with their hands out seeking favors. Companies like some mining companies, utilities and, of course, the out-of-state billionaires use the government to enable them to squeeze more money out of their businesses by having the government, for example, weaken environmental laws, lower worker health and safety standards, and make it more difficult for a worker to sue his or her company after an injury on the job due to an unsafe workplace. This type of politician also cuts services for the average citizen to lower costs so he can disproportionately cut taxes for the major corporations and the wealthy.
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This is all done with an eye on the politician’s future. If he does not have a professional degree or a successful business record and has never had any entrepreneurial successes, what is he going to do when he leaves office? When he is governor—and especially when he is running for president—he spends a lot of time with wealthy people who are, of course, treating him well. If he doesn’t have a strong moral commitment to making the world a better and fairer place, he can quickly develop a willingness to do whatever is necessary to ingratiate himself with the wealthy and powerful elite. Without a moral compass, he can easily grow accustomed to the billionaire lifestyle of private jets, five-star hotels and fine wine. So instead of helping middle-class people like himself, he begins to act like an employee of the mining companies, the utilities and the billionaires who are treating him so well. Instead of supporting opportunities for the average person, he spends his time doing whatever the special interests and the billionaires ask for with hopes of that job down the line.
This is the real corruption in politics. It’s not taking the envelope full of cash as one sees in the movies. The passing of the envelope does happen, but it is much rarer than Hollywood would have you believe and it is usually rather paltry. The real corruption that costs the taxpayers billions comes in ambitious politicians doing the bidding of special interests with a wink and a nod about their future with them. So it is not a surprise to see marginally qualified ex-politicians get high-paying executive positions in companies they worked with while in government.
So just because Scott Walker is the only candidate who didn’t grow up wealthy, middle-class voters should look at his policies, not at the $1 sweater he bought at Kohl’s, to see if he is really on their side.
