I used to work at a factory making auto parts. It wasn't glamorous, but it paid enough to keep a roof over our heads and food on the table. Then one day management told us production was moving to Mexico. Just like that, decades of experience didn't matter. The jobs were gone.
Ever since then, I've had a hard time listening to politicians and experts talk about how globalization is great for everybody. Maybe it is for people with stock portfolios and college degrees. For folks like me, it felt like we got sacrificed so somebody else's numbers could look better.
That's part of why I understand the appeal of Putin, even if I don't agree with everything he does. From where I sit, he talks about putting his country's interests first. He talks about protecting domestic industry, national pride, and not letting foreign powers push his country around. After years of hearing American leaders tell us that losing jobs overseas was just the price of progress, that kind of message can sound refreshing.
A lot of people like me feel that our own leaders cared more about international trade deals than about workers in towns like ours. So when they see someone projecting strength and talking about sovereignty, they compare it to politicians here who made promises and then watched factories close.
Maybe the experts see Putin as a threat, and maybe they're right. But when you've spent years feeling ignored by the people running your own country, it's not hard to see why some Americans start looking elsewhere for examples of leaders who, at least on the surface, seem determined to put their nation first.
That's not really about Russia. It's about frustration. It's about feeling left behind and wanting somebody-anybody-to prove that ordinary workers still matter.
Chat GPT can also use the voice of bitter low income Americans