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I grew up in small town America. I went to elementary and junior high school in a small farming town, population maybe 70. Only because of consolidation did I go to high school in the county seat that was 3 miles north. The population of the county seat is about 40,000 people. It is working class, with a few doctors and lawyers thrown in. My father was a truck driver. My family was working class.
As a kid, I liked to read. I read books and the newspaper every night. I read Time Magazine and looked at the pictures in National Geographic. As a result of this, I knew a little bit about the world. I was in no means a know-it-all. I was pretty quiet. But other students at school picked up on this. It was pretty clear to me that knowing about things outside of our county or state or country was considered odd.
There is an anti-intellectualism in working class America. I grew up with it. I'm not sure where it comes from. Probably it's a psychological response to being treated unfairly because of lack of income. The thinking goes along these lines. "They think they're better than me! I'll show them! I don't need their life! They're just a bunch of snobs anyway!" This is only a guess. But it's pretty clear to working class kids who are like I was that they have to make a choice somewhere along the way which way to go. Should they go out into the world and leave behind their background, or should they stay and stick with the working class life? I went to college and didn't go back.
I am not the smartest person in the world. But I am interested in it. And I am tired of people acting like that is some sort of character defect or flaw. I am also tired of politicians like George W Bush or John McCain pretending to be working class. I grew up working class. That's why I am a Democrat
