I was reading an article from the Seattle Times that the headline read “Their America is vanishing. Like Trump they insist they were cheated”. In my lifetime, what has been the biggest change that has occurred here in America? That could be a discussion that could take hours and hours to find all the answers. What the article pointed out is the shrinking White population in Congressional Districts traditionally held by Republicans. Growing up in a traditional Democratic area and seeing the opposite happen I find it a little hard to grasp. Growing up in Southeastern Wisconsin it was always a Democratic stronghold dominated by Les Aspin. Now it is a Republican stronghold dominated by Paul Ryan and Bryan Steil. I understand a lot of what some of America is going through but in reverse. Southeastern Wisconsin was dominated by manufacturing and a lot of it. General Motors, American Motors, Case, and Modine to name just a few. As manufacturing left our little corner of the state we had an insurgence of people from Northeast Illinois spilling over into Wisconsin willing to commute to the city as they would call it. That city of course was Chicago.

Why has so much of America changed? Some will point out the shrinking of the White population. I would like to point out that in 1861 when Florida seceded from the Union Black slaves made up 44 percent of the population. Right now the black population is 17 percent in Florida. To blame the changes in Florida to the shrinking White population I think you have to look at the reason why the White population grew in the first place. One of the huge reasons for the explosion of the White population was the explosion of immigration from Europe. 5 million between 1810 to 1860 is the estimate, by 1915 there were an estimated 30 million immigrants from Europe and that number could be higher. The population of the entire country was 76 million people in 1900 so immigration had a huge impact on this country and it was mostly White people migrating here. Immigration is what created the huge White majority and it is immigration, from what is considered non-White countries, that people are complaining about now. You know those countries that Trump called “shit-hole countries”. People came to America for a better life. That is no longer true for many European countries because if you look at the reports many are freer and have a better standard of living than we do so there is no need for them to immigrate to America. People come to America to look for a better life and if you can’t have a better life why come?

That being said about immigration, is immigration the real reason for the changing in America today? I really don’t think so. What has changed this country more is what many embrace as the holy grail. Capitalism! As the manufacturing jobs have left the cities so have population shifted. Kenosha County in Wisconsin went from an industrial county to a commuter county were people commuted to the big city to work. Gone were the good paying factory jobs and they were replaced by the lower paying jobs in the service industries such as fast food and retail. I think that is what has changed most of the communities in America. Who is willing to do those low paying service industry jobs? In a lot of cases it is the minorities that will cause a shift in population. If you want those minorities to cut your lawn of or make the beds in the motels you are going to have them in your community too. But as far as your way of life? You can blame that minority all you want but that will not make it true. What has changed your life for good, in my opinion, is capitalism run amuck. Gone are the local diners where everyone knew everyone, replaced by the fast food joints. That is not the fault of the poor minority that is working there but the fault of the person that is holding the purse string. Gone are the little hardware store and here comes the huge chains like Home Depot or Menards. Gone are the local butcher shop and say hello to Publix and Piggly Wiggly.

Our world is changing but it is not by the minority that you think. It is being changed by that one percent that controls the money and now wants to control how you vote. They want a divided country. They want us to be blaming everyone else but them. Their greed and thirst for power is something that cannot be quenched.