Working men internalize self-blame for their own class position.

Evidence

McNamara, a mild mannered bookkeeper who went to night school to get his training in accounting and bookkeeping, emphasizes education in response to the question: “Do you think it’s easy or hard to get from one class to another?” … Well, I think it’s hard because…not because of the class itself, or what the influence they have on you, but you just seem to reach a certain point, and if you don’t have it, you just don’t—you don’t make the grade. I’ve found that to be true. I always seem to be one step away from a good spot. And it’s no one’s fault—it’s my fault. I just don’t have the education—just don’t—just don’t have what it takes to take that step. — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 2215 (#expands, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Meritocratic framing blames workers for failing to profit from hope labor. — Brooke Erin Duffy, (Not) Getting Paid to Do What You Love:…, 764; Internalized capitalist values make American workers blame themselves for precarity. — Clara E. Mattei, The Capital Order: How Economists…, 63; Class antagonism has moved inside the worker’s own psychology — Mark Fisher, Capitalist Realism: Is There No…, 74 (+6 more)

Broader Connections

• The underprivileged internalize their class position as personal deficiency rather than systemic failure. #expands (0.95) — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 2215