Foggy Ridge Dispatch: November 11, 2024
A perilous choice. Poets, politicians, and print shops. Turkish proverbs.
Here are the things of note from last week (November 4 - 10).
On Tuesday November 4th, 2024, America made a perilous choice: about half of the country decided that Donald Trump should be president again.
One fundamental difference (among many) between the folks who voted for Trump and those of us that didn’t is this: they’re gloating because they feel like they won…and we’re shaking our heads in exhausted disdain because we know that none of us won.
Americans turned out in record numbers to vote for the impact that the economy has on their lives. The problem is…the half of Americans that voted for Trump essentially made the fox the guardian of the henhouse. If these folks feel like the 1950s was a golden age of American culture and economy - and they seem to - then they should have taken note of how Americans were taxed in the 1950s and voted accordingly.
In 1954, the median family income was $42001. In that same year, the federal income tax rate for families (i.e., married filing jointly) making $4200 was 26% . But the top tax rate, for families making $400K+/year?…(drumroll please)…91%.2
By comparison, in the modern era, the barons are robbing us blind while right-wing voters scratch their heads and glare at the left, squinting to see the cause they’re sure is there. News flash, folks - drag queens and liberal college professors aren’t the reason you have a lack of prosperity to be resentful about. So, what is?
Well, let’s look at the numbers, sticking to the same years referenced above (1954 and 2021). In 2021, the American median household income was $70,7843; families reporting that income enjoyed a federal tax rate of 22% - even lower than in 1954. Congrats, working class! But…(sadder drumroll, please) the top tax rate for families making $628,301 or more was only 37%4.
So what does this mean? It means that in the American age considered golden, prosperous, and culturally idealized by many MAGA voters5, the wealthiest Americans were enabling that prosperity and postcard-perfect culture by paying 65% more of their income in taxes than a middle-class American.
You wanted cheaper fuel, groceries, and housing? You wanted that vibe of 1950s golden-age prosperity?6 Then you should have voted for the candidate who would have made clean fuels affordable, put an end to corporate price gouging, made unprecedented investments in building affordable housing, and made the super-rich pay their fair share to make it all happen. Instead, you gave your economic captors a field day and moved us as a country further away from the economy and ideals of your Golden Age. Congratudolences.
But not all is rotten. On Saturday, I went to the opening of Hard Pressed Community Print Shop and Zine Library in Danville, VT. I can’t tell you how pumped I am that a community print shop has come to the Northeast Kingdom. Of course I wish it was within bicycling distance of me, but don’t we all? My home etching press and acid tank serve me well - but goshdarn, the Hard Pressed folks have a nifty letterpress setup and beaucoup type cabinets!
The press-warming party was such a blast, and the brilliant minds and kind hearts behind this project were sharing some wonderful prints with a message we should all keep in mind:
Don’t let yourself be lost to despair in the face of the problem web before us, friends. Build small systems. The smaller your focal point, the bigger your impact.
My visit to Hard Pressed reminded me of this quote from Jonas Mekas:
In the very end, civilizations perish because they listen to their politicians and not to their poets.
I have a print of this quote, too - this one printed by A Revolutionary Press in New Haven, Vermont.
Finally, a Turkish proverb that I stumbled upon last week:
When a clown moves into a palace, he doesn’t become a king.
The palace becomes a circus.
Based on historic records provided by census.gov.
Based on historic records provided by census.gov.
It is VERY worth noting that this American age was mostly only golden, prosperous, and culturally ideal for white men. Not trying to crap on anyone here - just stating the facts of a pre-Civil Rights Era and pre-feminist movement American nation.
…or is it just that you long for the return of the uncontested dominance of white males with high school diplomas? Be honest.