Status Issues

3. Factors That Make Conflict Intractable

In June 2017, seven months after Donald Trump won the U.S. presidency the first time, Heidi wrote the following "current implications" for the BI essay on social status.

Social status and power conflicts are at the heart of the current political conflict roiling in the United States. Although there are many explanations for the surprising election results in the fall of 2016, most people agree that a large part of the story was the anger felt by low-income, non-college-educated white voters. This group chaffed at the disdain and lack of attention they had suffered at the hands of the political left, which was embodied by Hillary Clinton’s referring to them as “the deplorables.” Consequently, they voted heavily for Donald Trump, and remain largely in support of him in May of 2017, even after his policies are clearly hurting their interests.

Unfortunately, even after November, 2016, when the Democratic Party lost not only the presidency, but both houses of Congress, many Party leaders still regard lower-class whites as inferior people, undeserving of respect or support. The opposite is also true: Trump supporters and conservatives in general consider liberals as naïve, idealistic and selfish people with little regard for American values, as they see them. Consequently, they, too, treat liberals with deep disrespect. As a result, the divide between the parties is continuing to increase, rather than diminish and status conflicts remain at the center of much of this discontent.

These lines are again completely true, as Trump won again in November of 2024, largely on the basis of the same issues. While it is impossible for everyone to be of equal status in a society, inequality of income, wealth, and power can certainly be much less than it currently is in the United States, where the differences between the top and everyone else are huge. According to the Peterson Foundation, in 2021, the average income before taxes in the lowest 20% was $22,500, while it was $418 for the top 20%. And the top 1% earned more than six time as much as the bottom 20% of household. Wealth is even more unequal. According to the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, the poorest fifty percent of U.S. households hold less than four percent of the nation's wealth, while the top ten percent holds over two-thirds of the country's wealth. These differences then lead to power inequality. Large corporations have concentrated power and money in the hands of wealthy shareholders and CEOs, who have used their power to influence politics, avoid taxes, limit workers' bargaining power and even job availability (through outsourcing and automation). Court cases such as Citizen's United have further entrenched corporate power, and made the influence of small players next to nil.

At least as important (and perhaps more important) than actual inequality is respect. The rich disrespect the poor, the college educated disrespect those without advanced degrees — and those with Ivy League degrees often disrespect people whose degrees are from less prestigious schools. This disrespect is felt deeply, and leads to anger and even hate. This is driving the partisan divide in the U.S. (and in other places around the world) to very destructive levels, and is, no doubt, responsible for Donald Trump's return to the White House in 2025.