A book by Douglas Hines

Why do voters act against their own economic interests?
White Anxiety examines how conservative political messaging turns economic insecurity into identity, division, and votes.
ScrollConservative politicians use your fear to cause you to vote for them.
When anxiety rises, someone is always ready to name an enemy.
From the book
How economic anxiety becomes political identity.
Why do so many voters support policies that work against their own economic interests? The answer is not simply misinformation, and it is not a lack of intelligence.
White Anxiety looks at the emotional and political forces that make cultural belonging feel more urgent than material security—and at the messages designed to keep it that way.
The book asks readers to look beyond campaign slogans and examine who benefits when economic frustration is redirected toward other working people.
Follow the fear. Then ask who profits from it.
From the book
Important charts and data.
The research behind the arguments—pulled straight from White Anxiety.
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No slogans. No purity tests. Just a serious conversation about the ideas in the book and where they lead.