Sarah Smarsh

Even, you know, a place like my Kansas, I think in, you know, most states. general elections, there's about 40% of people vote for the Democratic presidential candidate. And two out of five people ain't nothing. So here's where, again, that the electoral college and the way we do our elections is damaging, even in those spaces that are disproportionately represented in

Even, you know, a place like my Kansas, I think in, you know, most states. general elections, there's about 40% of people vote for the Democratic presidential candidate. And two out of five people ain't nothing. So here's where, again, that the electoral college and the way we do our elections is damaging, even in those spaces that are disproportionately represented in

whether in the Senate or elsewhere, is that if you are one of those two out of five people in that place, my God, is that demoralizing. And it is so hard to keep hanging. And then meanwhile, if you're being sort of lumped in as though there's this stereotype or homogenization of your place in the cultural idea of it,

whether in the Senate or elsewhere, is that if you are one of those two out of five people in that place, my God, is that demoralizing. And it is so hard to keep hanging. And then meanwhile, if you're being sort of lumped in as though there's this stereotype or homogenization of your place in the cultural idea of it,

And, you know, you're like a kid holding a Black Lives Matter sign in small town Kansas, and I've seen it. That's very brave work. That might be braver work than what's going down in Brooklyn. You know what I mean? Because it's like you're against the grain.

And, you know, you're like a kid holding a Black Lives Matter sign in small town Kansas, and I've seen it. That's very brave work. That might be braver work than what's going down in Brooklyn. You know what I mean? Because it's like you're against the grain.

And then meanwhile, you keep seeing this red and blue map. And then meanwhile, you're where is your vote going? My God, does it even matter? And so and that's what I was alluding to about a self-fulfilling prophecy, because then those people might long to leave. And I'm sure that it works vice versa, too, with with folks in so-called blue states choosing to hang their hat somewhere else.

And then meanwhile, you keep seeing this red and blue map. And then meanwhile, you're where is your vote going? My God, does it even matter? And so and that's what I was alluding to about a self-fulfilling prophecy, because then those people might long to leave. And I'm sure that it works vice versa, too, with with folks in so-called blue states choosing to hang their hat somewhere else.

It's a soft sorting. Yeah.

It's a soft sorting. Yeah.

Well, I think it's a manipulation of the way in which we've been handling identity politics. And I don't use that term negatively. It's important that we're talking about racial inequality and gender inequality and the way that those things affect your probable outcomes. But if you're doing that, if your DEI statement isn't also talking about socioeconomic class. Right.

Well, I think it's a manipulation of the way in which we've been handling identity politics. And I don't use that term negatively. It's important that we're talking about racial inequality and gender inequality and the way that those things affect your probable outcomes. But if you're doing that, if your DEI statement isn't also talking about socioeconomic class. Right.

If your definition of diversity is not also acknowledging wealth or, you know, I'm a first-generation college student, so I often find myself in, or college graduate, I often find myself in professional spaces where I'm the only person who has a background remotely like mine, regardless of color and gender. Right.

If your definition of diversity is not also acknowledging wealth or, you know, I'm a first-generation college student, so I often find myself in, or college graduate, I often find myself in professional spaces where I'm the only person who has a background remotely like mine, regardless of color and gender. Right.

And and and yet when when I was kind of, you know, crossing that bridge from, you know, one class experience or reality to another, if you will. And I contain both today. But that bridge was on that college campus as that first generation student. There were you know, they were rightly race and gender and other and other aspects of identity were being addressed.

And and and yet when when I was kind of, you know, crossing that bridge from, you know, one class experience or reality to another, if you will. And I contain both today. But that bridge was on that college campus as that first generation student. There were you know, they were rightly race and gender and other and other aspects of identity were being addressed.

But there was something very specific about what I was that made a really hard go of it for me that was not being discussed. And so if we as a culture and a country are not acknowledging that class is also an identity, then... In that void, in that vacuum where deep pain of a valid sense of not being seen arises.

But there was something very specific about what I was that made a really hard go of it for me that was not being discussed. And so if we as a culture and a country are not acknowledging that class is also an identity, then... In that void, in that vacuum where deep pain of a valid sense of not being seen arises.

There, there then comes in swooping, comes in writing on a demon horse Rush Limbaugh. There comes in writing the messages about death. The immigrants. Don't make me conjure up images. And the reason and the brown people. And so there is actually, in my view, a real... Now, I want to be careful here because when I talk about a grievance...

There, there then comes in swooping, comes in writing on a demon horse Rush Limbaugh. There comes in writing the messages about death. The immigrants. Don't make me conjure up images. And the reason and the brown people. And so there is actually, in my view, a real... Now, I want to be careful here because when I talk about a grievance...