Democratic party working hard… or hardly working? Lessons from the election results in San Francisco

The election results around the country were interesting for the left for two reasons: poor working-class people are increasingly becoming dealigned from the Democratic Party, and this shift is happening in ‘blue’ states as well as in ‘red’ states. 

For example, San Francisco is normally viewed as one of the most “progressive” areas in the country, but the 2024 presidential election results show that the Democratic Party is losing the support of what is traditionally understood to be the working class.

The Pacific Heights neighborhood, home to many billionaires, voted nearly 90% for Kamala Harris compared to mid-50% found in some parts of the lower-income Bay View District. This is an almost 20% decline in support of the Democratic Party since 2016 for many poor working-class neighborhoods. 

This big-picture view of the election shows that roughly 90% of the ruling class, in a “progressive” city like San Francisco, supported the Democratic Party. Does this mean that parts of the ruling class are more socially conscious than poor/low-wage workers because they voted for Kamala Harris? Doubtful. 

There is no way that the millionaires and billionaires in these bubble neighborhoods, many of whom spent $500,000 on campaign fundraiser tickets for either candidate during the summer, are more conscious than the people who are struggling to survive and are being criminalized on the streets in poor neighborhoods. 

Then what does it mean to be conscious during a time with two main political parties controlled by the ruling class? Firstly, a solid understanding of class is important. Then we need to politically organize our class at a time when an authoritarian leader is quickly dismantling the little bit of democracy left in the U.S. and the hardly working Democratic Party is showing few signs of resistance to the MAGA regime. 

The definition of class needs more precision, beyond occupations or income, to better fit the world today by acknowledging the variety of experiences people face. This argument comes from the simple fact that the ruling class controls so much more than what is commonly understood to be “the economy.” The ruling class certainly does control the economy, but they also control the means of social reproduction. 

Social reproduction is a broad term that refers to the fleshy messy stuff of everyday life. What this looks like in the real world is the structures that ensure the ongoing creation of profits for the ruling class, which includes the production of goods and services, but also the needs for raising children into future laborers, encompassing family life, education, healthcare, politics, and the earth. 

These are all aspects of life that have been socially constructed in a way to grow profits for the ruling class. Therefore, a more precise way to understand class-relations is based on who has control over the means of social reproduction in society. 

The profits that give the ruling class power to control society are very apparent in the Bay Area. According to Forbes, there are over 140 billionaires in the nine-county Bay Area who control $1.3 trillion in wealth. The wealth of 140 people is equivalent to about 20% of the entire federal budget. Federal and local budget cuts to public assistance over the past 50 years have helped build that wealth. 

However, class is not based on the quantity of wealth a person has, but on the material fact of having control over any part of the social reproduction of society. A concrete indicator of class in the United States is on one side a small group of people receive income from self-employment, interest, dividends, net rental income, royalty income, or income from estates/ trusts, and then on the other side most people do not. 

Those who receive income from self-employment, interest, dividends, net rental income, royalty income, or income from estates/ trusts can be understood as the ruling class and those who do not can be understood as the dispossessed class. Roughly 70% of all people in San Francisco are dispossessed from the means of social reproduction, which is why most people have to work for wages or seek public assistance to survive. 

Class understood in this way is attached to a person’s dispossession– removed access– from the control over the things needed to survive. For example, workers are dispossessed from the wealth that they produce by being exploited, indigenous people have been dispossessed from their land resulting in exclusion, and people who are renters are dispossessed from access to housing and must pay rent or risk becoming homeless.

This is more precise than the common understanding that attaches class position only to the inclusion into formal employment, i.e. working for a wage/ salary under capitalism. For this reason, I use the term dispossessed class rather than working class to understand the unequal position in society that forces many people into providing labor to the ruling class in exchange for access to the means of social reproduction. 

The dealignment of Democratic Party voters became more noticeable in 2016 and accelerated after 2020. The shift has resulted in a closer alignment with the map of the class structure of San Francisco, where dispossessed class people are shifting towards the Republican Party, a third party, or are deciding not to vote. Ruling class voters in “progressive” cities like San Francisco are deeply tied to the Democratic Party, but there are still some pockets who vote for the Republican Party. 

The dealignment process often occurs during times of crisis. For example, the ruling class, since the founding of this country, was very concerned about maintaining the class structure after the British troops were removed and the general population began demanding a redistribution of land and resources. 

James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay proposed a solution to further divide society, based on various material conditions, to diminish the power of an “interested and overbearing majority,” i.e. the dispossessed class. Every ruling class has taken up the task of dividing the dispossessed class since the Federalist Papers were written in 1787. 

Therefore, the class structure can be understood to be highly divided based on all the factors that impact human well-being, such as race, gender, citizenship, education, etc.  Since the dispossessed class is highly divided it must be clearly understood that the dispossessed class will not spontaneously organize into a unified political movement.

At this point in history, class-society shows us that people are less organized in workplaces, schools, and shopping centers than ever before, but people also have more access to information. Any strategic decisions made by organizers of the dispossessed class should consider these experiences. I suggest focusing on two main strategies aimed at organizing the dispossessed class; the first is practical and the second is political. 

Today, we live in a society heavily mediated by digital technologies, so creating a practical web-based app that can bridge the gap between online and offline is essential. An app like this must connect siloed political education sources, academia, movements, mutual-aid resources, civil society, and all segments of our class. 

Ultimately, a web-based app needs to effectively bring individuals together into collectives, and collectives into a political party by uniting each segment of the dispossessed class. Both major political parties attempt to unite segments of society in every election cycle, and it was evident that the MAGA party was more successful in articulating the demands of various segments of the dispossessed class this time. We need to win over our class.

This leads into the political strategy of democratizing all forms of social life, whether it be workplaces, schools, civic organizations, neighborhoods, the judicial system, or other government institutions. 

The liberal republic that James Madison and others built is remarkably effective at maintaining the class structure so we need to fight to democratize society any chance we can. The Federalist Papers argued for a strong federal government to squash rebellions, among other things, to maintain power. Many people are aware of this today and are increasingly losing faith in the system, which is why the MAGA messaging has been so effective. 

These strategies serve as suggestions to enhance the work already being done by the fronts of struggle. Ultimately, any web-based app or political party for the dispossessed class must be built on a political program that advocates for the demands of every segment of the dispossessed class. 

Only together can we achieve liberation from the class structure and all forms of inequality. This is what it means to be class-conscious today: to recognize that the ruling class controls the means of social reproduction, divides the dispossessed class, and exerts disproportionate influence over politics to grow profits.

Genie Sullivan (they/them) studies politics, civil society, and the economy in relation to digital exploitation. Genie is focused on adding to the field of public sociology by helping reduce the gap between academia and civil society. Their passion for this work comes from their experience as a first-generation, re-entry, transfer, and formerly homeless student. Genie’s current project is titled Digital Exploitation: Class-relations in the San Francisco Bay Area since 1980. Genie plans on applying to graduate school this fall to continue their research on the political economy of digital exploitation.