Middle Class Destruction Coincided With Rise Of The NRA
Reaganomics, without a doubt, launched the destruction of the American middle class, where one patriarchal income could actually support an entire family. A decent factory job could enable a man to raise a family while the wife helped raise the children and groom them for an eventual college education. Women, though paid less, are now forced to work. The jump in working women has been especially prominent among those who are mothers — from 37 percent in 1968 to 65 percent in 2011.
If men were always the sole breadwinners and now rely on women to help a family to simply survive, a seldom-discussed consequence of this is emasculation and the resentment of women. Misogyny, known best by the label “Feminazis” (thanks Rush) has made many men turn to violence through guns, but not always against women. Guns could very well be a substitute for the emasculation of their earning power.
Right in the heyday of Morning In America, 1982, Senator Orrin Hatch teamed up with the NRA-ILA to make Americans reexamine the 2nd Amendment, which was almost as irrelevant as the Third Amendment (the government cannot force citizens to house soldiers in their homes). Hatch’s viewpoint was an insurrectionist interpretation, in which the Second Amendment is thought to allow for a militia of armed citizens to protect themselves against government, not the original framers’ intent of preventing uprisings against the government by the states.
Slowly but surely, the conversion of the middle class to the working-poor took its toll on the masculine psyche. There is no question, Reaganomics commenced the hollowing-out of the middle class.
The power and influence of the NRA, even after there was an assassination attempt on President Ronald Reagan in 1981, skyrocketed thanks to the Republican alignment with the gun industry. Gun ownership has always been fairly high for Americans, but the laws regarding gun-control legislation have become less and less popular because of gun lobbies, not the American people. Because of insane contributions from the NRA-ILA, gun laws have been relaxed, even though most Americans are for stricter laws for the acquisition of guns.
Party Often Determines Support For Gun Laws
If you look at the history of mass shootings in America, most of the history begins in 1982. Does this irrefutably prove the decline of the middle class has caused more gun violence? No, not entirely. But it certainly seems suspicious the reinterpretation of the Second Amendment coincided with the evisceration of the middle class that began under Reagan’s tenure.
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By: VegasJessie
A resident of Las Vegas Nevada, a graduate of the University of Oklahoma as a Political Science major. Very motivated to get people to participate in the electoral process.
7 responses to Middle Class Destruction Coincided With Rise Of The NRA
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fahvel June 6th, 2014 at 03:45
it’s not even subtle.
fahvel June 6th, 2014 at 03:45
it’s not even subtle.
Tom Ward June 6th, 2014 at 03:52
Does the consequence of emasculation have to be resentment toward women? Men who think like that are illogical. It’s not women’s fault, it is the whole culture shifting. But I don’t think it should be called emasculation, that’s a pretty negative word. Masculinity is being redefined into something better, the old misogynistic masculinity is what should be looked down upon.
What I got out of this article though is that eliminating misogynistic men would stop a lot of mass shootings. I actually agree pretty strongly with that. Probably not all the shootings, but a lot. So, we don’t need gun restrictions, we just need to wait for culture to advance enough so that men stop being misogynistic.
jasperjava June 7th, 2014 at 00:31
Gun restrictions might do some good by preventing some of the trappings of macho misogynistic culture. The gun is a phallic substitute wielded by insecure men who feel the need to assert their rape fantasies in a world where they are powerless.
Instead of fighting intelligently, against the oppressive wealthy ruling class, they take it out on those who have even less power than themselves: women, the poor, minorities, gays, immigrants. Picking on the weak gives them the illusion of strength.
VegasJessie June 7th, 2014 at 00:36
Great comment Jasperjava
Tom Ward June 6th, 2014 at 03:52
Does the consequence of emasculation have to be resentment toward women? Men who think like that are illogical. It’s not women’s fault, it is the whole culture shifting. But I don’t think it should be called emasculation, that’s a pretty negative word. Masculinity is being redefined into something better, the old misogynistic masculinity is what should be looked down upon.
What I got out of this article though is that eliminating misogynistic men would stop a lot of mass shootings. I actually agree pretty strongly with that. Probably not all the shootings, but a lot. So, we don’t need gun restrictions, we just need to wait for culture to advance enough so that men stop being misogynistic.
jasperjava June 7th, 2014 at 00:31
Gun restrictions might do some good by preventing some of the trappings of macho misogynistic culture. The gun is a phallic substitute wielded by insecure men who feel the need to assert their rape fantasies in a world where they are powerless.
Instead of fighting intelligently, against the oppressive wealthy ruling class, they take it out on those who have even less power than themselves: women, the poor, minorities, gays, immigrants. Picking on the weak gives them the illusion of strength.