The Atlantic recently had a good article about why Democrats are having so much trouble picking up the middle-class vote — not just among whites, but minorities too.

http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2016/11/democrats-rust-belt/508544/

As an artist and musician this might be weird for me to say, but the left has been focusing too much on cultural issues and not enough on economic ones as of the late. Most people could actually care less about the controversy over transgendered bathrooms or the latest trends in political correctness — they just want the opportunity to make a decent living. And it drives them flipping mad when the media chooses to focus on these things at the expense of things that actually matter.

I’d like to believe that there is a demand for real reporting and real media, if we can get over our own cynicism of how we think people will react to the truth. The media industry has gotten stuck in a negative feedback loop of cynical marketing practices that has driven the content market to the bottom — but this says more about the system rather than people themselves, in my opinion. Regardless of how you feel about these issues, I think it’s important that we at least acknowledge that the middle-class’ grievances are real, and in many cases, justified.