--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: There was and still is a tremendous fear…" description: "\"“There was and still is a tremendous fear that poor and working-class Americans might one day come to understand where their political interests reside..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/23f/joe-bageant-25954_critique_there-was-and-still-is-a-tremendous-fear_3137083.jpg" --- # There was and still is a tremendous fear that poor and… ![“There was and still is a tremendous fear that poor and working-class Americans might one day come to understand where their political interests reside. Personally, I think the elites worry too much about that. We dumb working folk were clubbed into submission long ago, and now require only proper…” quote by Joe Bageant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/23f/joe-bageant-25954_critique_there-was-and-still-is-a-tremendous-fear_3137083.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/23f/joe-bageant-25954_critique_there-was-and-still-is-a-tremendous-fear_3137083.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/23f/joe-bageant-25954_critique_there-was-and-still-is-a-tremendous-fear_3137083.jpg) > ““There was and still is a tremendous fear that poor and working-class Americans might one day come to understand where their political interests reside. Personally, I think the elites worry too much about that. We dumb working folk were clubbed into submission long ago, and now require only proper medication for our high levels of cholesterol, enough alcohol to keep the sludge moving through our arteries, and a 24/7 mind-numbing spectacle of titties, tabloid TV, and terrorist dramas. Throw in a couple of new flavours of XXL edible thongs, and you've got a nation of drowsing hippos who will never notice that our country has been looted, or even that we have become homeless ourselves.”” [Joe Bageant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-bageant/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote warns that working‑class Americans are distracted by superficial comforts and media, preventing awareness of exploitation and loss of political agency. **In simple terms:** People are kept busy with trivialities, missing deeper social and economic issues. Key Takeaway Recognize and resist distractions that mask systemic problems. Themes political awareness class consciousness media influence consumerism social critique Mood critical concerned defiant Type political social commentary When to use this quote - political activism - community organizing - media literacy - health advocacy - economic education Key Concepts alienation power dynamics cultural hegemony Questions to Reflect On - How do you identify genuine political interests beyond media noise? - What steps can reclaim collective awareness without alienating individuals? A Different Perspective The argument may overgeneralize and ignore individual agency and diverse experiences within the working class. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Critique](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/critique/) [Fear](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fear/) [Health](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/health/) [Long ago](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/long-ago/) [Media](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/media/) [Politics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/politics/) [Poverty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poverty/) [Society](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/society/) ## Related quotes > [“The tide of our national meanness rises incrementally, one brutalizing experience at a time, inside one person at a time in a chain of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-bageant/the-tide-of-our-national-meanness-rises-incrementally-one-brutalizing/) [Joe Bageant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-bageant/) > [If middle-class Americans do not feel threatened by the slow encroachment of the police state or the Patriot Act, it is because they live…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-bageant/if-middle-class-americans-do-not-feel-threatened-by-the-slow/) [Joe Bageant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-bageant/) > [I think that the elites have lived too long among themselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marine-le-pen/i-think-that-the-elites-have-lived-too-long-among-themselves/) [Marine Le Pen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marine-le-pen/) > [Well, I don't think most Americans are playing the super-PAC game. I think what you have is elites on both sides playing the super-PAC…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-abramoff/well-i-don-t-think-most-americans-are-playing-the-super-pac-game-i/) [Jack Abramoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-abramoff/) > [I think the elites who have done nothing about it, who don't want a wall and don't care that the border is illegal, they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-sessions/i-think-the-elites-who-have-done-nothing-about-it-who-don-t-want-a/) [Jeff Sessions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeff-sessions/) > [That's a huge fear for middle-class women. It's not so much a fear for poor women, because poor women have always assumed that they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/that-s-a-huge-fear-for-middle-class-women-it-s-not-so-much-a-fear-for/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) > [Rich people are wiling to act in spite of fear. Poor people let fear stop them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-harv-eker/rich-people-are-wiling-to-act-in-spite-of-fear-poor-people-let-fear/) [T. Harv Eker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-harv-eker/) > [“Fear was for poor people. Maybe this was the happiest I’d ever been.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miranda-july/fear-was-for-poor-people-maybe-this-was-the-happiest-i-d-ever-been/) [Miranda July](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miranda-july/) > [“There’s nothing the rich fear more than a poor person with ideas and charisma.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-burrett/there-s-nothing-the-rich-fear-more-than-a-poor-person-with-ideas-and/) Alex Burrett > [ My response \[to fear of being poor\]was to study contracts, finance, economics, to plan, to have a goal, to work on that goal. To… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-warren/my-response-to-fear-of-being-poor-was-to-study-contracts-finance/) [Elizabeth Warren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-warren/) > [ My daddy's response \[to fear of being poor\] was to never talk about money or what might happen if it ran out. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-warren/my-daddy-s-response-to-fear-of-being-poor-was-to-never-talk-about/) [Elizabeth Warren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-warren/) > [“It seemed to numerous voters that, thanks to the growing power of the ACLU, criminals were beginning to have more rights than the victims.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fannie-flagg/it-seemed-to-numerous-voters-that-thanks-to-the-growing-power-of-the/) [Fannie Flagg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fannie-flagg/) > [The ability of working class Americans to bargain for health coverage at work gave them access to the same basic packages of benefits as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-gottlieb/the-ability-of-working-class-americans-to-bargain-for-health-coverage/) [Scott Gottlieb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-gottlieb/) > [Saying that you spend Christmas alone is, to most middle-class Americans, akin to confessing a terminal illness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-dean/saying-that-you-spend-christmas-alone-is-to-most-middle-class/) [Michelle Dean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-dean/) > [It should seem that Negroes, of all Americans, would be found in the Free-thought fold, since they have suffered more than any other class…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hubert-harrison/it-should-seem-that-negroes-of-all-americans-would-be-found-in-the/) Hubert Harrison ## More by Joe Bageant > [“Remember when welfare mothers were robbing us all blind and driving Cadillacs? ”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-bageant/remember-when-welfare-mothers-were-robbing-us-all-blind-and-driving/) [Joe Bageant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-bageant/) > [If middle-class Americans do not feel threatened by the slow encroachment of the police state or the Patriot Act, it is because they live…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-bageant/if-middle-class-americans-do-not-feel-threatened-by-the-slow/) [Joe Bageant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-bageant/) > [The four cornerstones of the American political psyche are 1) emotion substituted for thought, 2) fear, 3) ignorance and 4) propaganda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-bageant/the-four-cornerstones-of-the-american-political-psyche-are-1-emotion/) [Joe Bageant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-bageant/) > [ They \[Christian rednecks\] were so stupid that they couldn't pour piss out of a boot even if the instructions were printed on the bottom. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-bageant/they-christian-rednecks-were-so-stupid-that-they-couldn-t-pour-piss/) [Joe Bageant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-bageant/) > [“Somewhere in between are the rest of us natives, in whom such change revives long-buried anger at those faraway people who seem to govern…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-bageant/somewhere-in-between-are-the-rest-of-us-natives-in-whom-such-change/) [Joe Bageant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-bageant/) > [“Republican or Democrat, this nation's affluent urban and suburban classes understand their bread is buttered on the corporate side. 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It's now burnt to a crisp.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-bageant/somebody-left-the-american-dream-in-the-toaster-too-long-it-s-now/) [Joe Bageant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-bageant/) > [“Nearly all of these successful folks have made it in the business world by sticking with the free market ideal of survival of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-bageant/nearly-all-of-these-successful-folks-have-made-it-in-the-business/) [Joe Bageant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-bageant/) [Explore all 22 Joe Bageant quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-bageant/) ## More Critique quotes > [I get that the media wants us to play theater critics and critique every other proposal. 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Goodrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richelle-e-goodrich/) > [I want to decouple this idea that critique is hatred.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lindsay-ellis/i-want-to-decouple-this-idea-that-critique-is-hatred/) [Lindsay Ellis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lindsay-ellis/) > [America is not static. America is striving. And sometimes, America requires critique. Jingoism is an avoidance of realism. You can simultaneously love and be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-m-blow/america-is-not-static-america-is-striving-and-sometimes-america/) [Charles M. 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It does offer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/i-am-not-offering-this-is-a-critique-of-the-internet-its-just-that/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [“novel excerpts rarely benefit from group critique. 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