The White Lower Class

Ferdinand Bardamu has a post defending juggalos, which reminded me of a post the blogger formerly known as Roissy wrote comparing SWPLs to Proles.  I live in an interesting part of the Midwest (interesting to me, at least), so I have spent a lot of time around SWPLs and Proles. I have also spent a lot of time among lower-class blacks and lower-class whites (again, my neck of the woods has an interesting population composition).

From what I’ve seen, proles (hereby used interchangeably with lower-class whites) are decent people but very weird.  Part of it is due to their simplicity.  Proles aren’t very introspective, and seem to be drawn to very simplistic things, avoiding nuance at all costs.  I say this not to condemn them, but as a mere observation.  Proles like stories with clear, simple moral narratives* (evil is easily discerned and dispatched with).  Proles like ostentation (think: unnecessarily large pickup trucks, gaudy clothes, lawn ornaments).  Proles like simple (think: modern top 40 pop music, modern “country” music, ICP, etc., which all feature simple lyrics and simple melodies, for the most part).

Yet, in spite of their apparent simplicity, Proles are wonderful people.  The blue Collar, salt-of-the earth types often extolled and typified by, say, Sarah Palin are actually decent people** that can be relied on to be generous and helpful.***  I don’t often seek out conversations with them on politics, religion, or economics, but I can pretty much count on them to answer any questions I might have about cars, guns, sports, or home repair.  Oftentimes they volunteer to help even when all I need is a quick consult.  Proles, in a word, are considerate.

Yes, proles can be very simple-minded, and very deferential to tradition for its own sake, but they are nice and thoughtful people, and I’ll take that over the smug pretension of SWPLs any day.  So quit dumping on the proles; they’re the ones actually keeping society from falling apart right now.

* This is especially true in religion, which annoys me to no end since it is difficult for me to find people in my area with whom to discuss some of the more complex aspects of Biblical theology.  Furthermore, proles seem to love simplistic doctrine, which is also highly annoying to me since there are more grey areas in the Bible than most seem to realize.  On the other hand, worship is very upbeat and energetic, and (dare I say it?) enjoyable.

** As long as they stay away from politics, amirite?

*** On a side note, SWPLs are the stingiest, most selfish and unhelpful pricks in the universe.  They are incapable of helping you with anything because all they know how to do is write pretentious crap at Starbucks.  I’ve yet to meet one that knows how to fix a car (or, surprisingly, a computer).  It’s like they’re allergic to the mere thought of manual labor.