What is "mainstream America"?
       |           

Welcome, Guest. Please login or register.
Did you miss your activation email?
May 05, 2024, 03:22:30 PM
News: Election Simulator 2.0 Released. Senate/Gubernatorial maps, proportional electoral votes, and more - Read more

  Talk Elections
  General Politics
  U.S. General Discussion (Moderators: The Dowager Mod, Chancellor Tanterterg)
  What is "mainstream America"?		 « previous next »
Pages: [1] 2
Author Topic: What is "mainstream America"?  (Read 6278 times)
Joe Biden 2020
BushOklahoma
Atlas Star
*****
Posts: 24,921
United States


Political Matrix
E: -4.77, S: 3.48

Show only this user's posts in this thread
« on: March 21, 2009, 07:51:42 PM »
You hear this term all the time, especially around elections, but what is "mainstream America" exactly.  The conservatives, centrists, and liberals all have their own opinions of what constitutes mainstream America, and usually their opinion is molded by, and a replica of, their own beliefs.  Is it possibly true that there is no such thing as "mainstream America", what with our vast diversity of Native Americans, European descendants as well as other ethnicities?  Also, if we consider all parts of America to be equal, then I am of the opinion that there is no such thing as mainstream America.
Logged
Earth
Sr. Member
****
Posts: 2,548


Political Matrix
E: -9.61, S: -9.83

Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #1 on: March 21, 2009, 08:26:59 PM »
"Mainstream America" is another phrase for culturally dominant ideology. It doesn't have to be thought of negatively, just that it provides the baseline of "consumer concerns" by the middle class.

"Equality", real or imagined, doesn't invalidate the concept of Mainstream America. Multiple ethnicities don't set the cultural agenda, whatever we may agree them to be.
Logged
Lief 🗽
Lief
Atlas Legend
*****
Posts: 44,956


Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #2 on: March 21, 2009, 11:40:27 PM »
A myth fostered by the American right.
Logged
tik 🪀✨
ComradeCarter
Junior Chimp
*****
Posts: 5,496
Australia
Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #3 on: March 22, 2009, 12:27:17 AM »
A myth that makes straight white middle-class suburban Christians feel dominant and superior to everyone else.
Logged
Earth
Sr. Member
****
Posts: 2,548


Political Matrix
E: -9.61, S: -9.83

Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #4 on: March 22, 2009, 12:59:46 AM »
Specific populist rhetoric exploited by politicians doesn't make it a myth.
Logged
??????????
StatesRights
Atlas Superstar
*****
Posts: 31,126
Political Matrix
E: 7.61, S: 0.00

Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #5 on: March 22, 2009, 01:02:09 AM »
Quote from: Senator Lief on March 21, 2009, 11:40:27 PM
A myth fostered by the American right.

Conservatives are to blame for everything wrong.
Logged
dead0man
Atlas Legend
*****
Posts: 46,407
United States


Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #6 on: March 22, 2009, 05:32:27 AM »
SUV's use to be for farmers and construction workers and scientists, non mainstream.  Then they went mainstream and every driveway had one.  Tattoos use to be for pirates, military men and criminals, then they went mainstream and Barbie has one.  It's not like there is any science behind it or there is a hard line something has to cross to become mainstream.  It's all shades of grey.

Cool people (generally) avoid the mainstream.
Logged
The Mikado
Moderators
Atlas Star
*****
Posts: 21,807


Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #7 on: March 22, 2009, 09:22:28 AM »
Joe the Plumber.

...

...

is not, by any stretch of the imagination, a representation of mainstream America.  The day John McCain decided that an unfunny Larry the Cable Guy was our new everyman was a dark day indeed.
Logged
Tetro Kornbluth
Gully Foyle
Atlas Icon
*****
Posts: 12,853
Ireland, Republic of


Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #8 on: March 22, 2009, 10:19:14 AM »
Quote from: Earth on March 21, 2009, 08:26:59 PM
"Mainstream America" is another phrase for culturally dominant ideology. It doesn't have to be thought of negatively, just that it provides the baseline of "consumer concerns" by the middle class.

"Equality", real or imagined, doesn't invalidate the concept of Mainstream America. Multiple ethnicities don't set the cultural agenda, whatever we may agree them to be.

Quote from: Senator Lief on March 21, 2009, 11:40:27 PM
A myth fostered by the American right.

This.
Logged
I spent the winter writing songs about getting better
BRTD
Atlas Prophet
*****
Posts: 113,115
Ukraine


Political Matrix
E: -6.50, S: -6.67

P P
Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #9 on: March 22, 2009, 11:40:42 AM »
Quote from: Lord Mountararat on March 22, 2009, 09:22:28 AM
Joe the Plumber.

...

...

is not, by any stretch of the imagination, a representation of mainstream America.  The day John McCain decided that an unfunny Larry the Cable Guy was our new everyman was a dark day indeed.


Larry the Cable Guy is already unfunny.
Logged
opebo
Atlas Legend
*****
Posts: 47,009


Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #10 on: March 22, 2009, 11:53:52 AM »
Lots of good points above.. let me just add that if the real median income is maybe $35,000/year, then the one in the imaginary "mainstream's" median income must at least four times that.  At least from what you see on TV.
Logged
I spent the winter writing songs about getting better
BRTD
Atlas Prophet
*****
Posts: 113,115
Ukraine


Political Matrix
E: -6.50, S: -6.67

P P
Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #11 on: March 22, 2009, 11:54:19 AM »
To answer the question: A non-existant and very stupid myth.
Logged
Lief 🗽
Lief
Atlas Legend
*****
Posts: 44,956


Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #12 on: March 22, 2009, 12:07:41 PM »
Quote from: StatesRights on March 22, 2009, 01:02:09 AM
Quote from: Senator Lief on March 21, 2009, 11:40:27 PM
A myth fostered by the American right.

Conservatives are to blame for everything wrong.

A lot of it, sure.
Logged
??????????
StatesRights
Atlas Superstar
*****
Posts: 31,126
Political Matrix
E: 7.61, S: 0.00

Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #13 on: March 22, 2009, 12:08:41 PM »
You're ideology is just a perfect one and if we all lived under it things would be great. All conservatives should just go rot in hell.

Right?
Logged
Lief 🗽
Lief
Atlas Legend
*****
Posts: 44,956


Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #14 on: March 22, 2009, 12:10:20 PM »
I don't think my ideology is perfect. I think it's better than the right-wing extremism currently supported by the Republican party that has damaged our country so much in the past 3 decades.
Logged
??????????
StatesRights
Atlas Superstar
*****
Posts: 31,126
Political Matrix
E: 7.61, S: 0.00

Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #15 on: March 22, 2009, 12:15:51 PM »
Quote from: Senator Lief on March 22, 2009, 12:10:20 PM
I don't think my ideology is perfect. I think it's better than the right-wing extremism currently supported by the Republican party that has damaged our country so much in the past 3 decades.

Extremism? Not hardly. Populism is what's been running this country the past 30 years.
Logged
War on Want
Evilmexicandictator
Junior Chimp
*****
Posts: 7,643
Uzbekistan


Political Matrix
E: -6.19, S: -8.00

Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #16 on: March 22, 2009, 12:56:23 PM »
Quote from: StatesRights on March 22, 2009, 12:15:51 PM
Quote from: Senator Lief on March 22, 2009, 12:10:20 PM
I don't think my ideology is perfect. I think it's better than the right-wing extremism currently supported by the Republican party that has damaged our country so much in the past 3 decades.

Extremism? Not hardly. Populism is what's been running this country the past 30 years.
So free market economics are now populist?
Logged
opebo
Atlas Legend
*****
Posts: 47,009


Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #17 on: March 22, 2009, 01:07:47 PM »
Quote from: StatesRights on March 22, 2009, 12:08:41 PM
You're ideology is just a perfect one and if we all lived under it things would be great. All conservatives should just go rot in hell.

Right?

Haha, yes!  Thanks for summing up.
Logged
Rob
Bob
Junior Chimp
*****
Posts: 6,277
United States
Political Matrix
E: -6.32, S: -9.39

Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #18 on: March 22, 2009, 05:03:17 PM »
"Mainstream America" seems to have nativist and white supremacist connotations; I guess that's why conservatives love it so much. The phrase is inherently exclusionary, because it implies an "out-of-the-mainstream America," and not positively.
Logged
War on Want
Evilmexicandictator
Junior Chimp
*****
Posts: 7,643
Uzbekistan


Political Matrix
E: -6.19, S: -8.00

Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #19 on: March 22, 2009, 05:40:54 PM »
I actually believe in a "mainstream America" but it is nothing like the stupid nostalgic one the Republicans have made up.
Logged
All Along The Watchtower
Progressive Realist
Atlas Icon
*****
Posts: 15,548
United States


Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #20 on: March 22, 2009, 05:47:18 PM »
America is a land of immigrants from all places. There is no mainstream America except the Anglo-Saxon America fanatical conservatives wish to preserve.
Logged
The Mikado
Moderators
Atlas Star
*****
Posts: 21,807


Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #21 on: March 22, 2009, 05:49:00 PM »
Quote from: That kind of icy blue smile on March 22, 2009, 11:40:42 AM
Quote from: Lord Mountararat on March 22, 2009, 09:22:28 AM
Joe the Plumber.

...

...

is not, by any stretch of the imagination, a representation of mainstream America.  The day John McCain decided that an unfunny Larry the Cable Guy was our new everyman was a dark day indeed.


Larry the Cable Guy is already unfunny.

True, good point.  I take back that part of my post.

But Joe the Plumber is even less funny.  You can't even like him ironically.  Wink
Logged
All Along The Watchtower
Progressive Realist
Atlas Icon
*****
Posts: 15,548
United States


Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #22 on: March 22, 2009, 05:52:39 PM »
More than Joe the Plumber, the Republican Vice Presidential nominee's quoting of a fascist writer who got kicked out of the John Birch Society for extremism shows how backwards the conservative idea of "mainstream America" really is.
Logged
Joe Republic
Atlas Legend
*****
Posts: 40,090
Ukraine


Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #23 on: March 22, 2009, 05:54:32 PM »
Give Joe the Plumber a break.  He's an ordinary guy who, for example, gets horny from time to time just like the rest of us.
Logged
??????????
StatesRights
Atlas Superstar
*****
Posts: 31,126
Political Matrix
E: 7.61, S: 0.00

Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #24 on: March 23, 2009, 08:27:11 AM »
Quote from: Rob on March 22, 2009, 05:03:17 PM
"Mainstream America" seems to have nativist and white supremacist connotations; I guess that's why conservatives love it so much. The phrase is inherently exclusionary, because it implies an "out-of-the-mainstream America," and not positively.

Quote from: Bad Sects on March 22, 2009, 05:40:54 PM
I actually believe in a "mainstream America" but it is nothing like the stupid nostalgic one the Republicans have made up.
Quote from: Progressive Realist on March 22, 2009, 05:47:18 PM
America is a land of immigrants from all places. There is no mainstream America except the Anglo-Saxon America fanatical conservatives wish to preserve.

LOL, The drones around here are so funny.
Logged
Pages: [1] 2  
« previous next »
Jump to:  


Login with username, password and session length

Terms of Service - DMCA Agent and Policy - Privacy Policy and Cookies

Powered by SMF 1.1.21 | SMF © 2015, Simple Machines

Page created in 0.044 seconds with 12 queries.