modern malaise

So in 2020 I said I hope the Democratic Party candidate wins because then by 2024 there will be dissatisfaction such that the Greens will be viewed by some progressives as the alternative.

And here we are:

https://mishtalk.com/politics/bidens-disapproval-rating-soars-to-59-percent-trumps-lead-biggest-yet/

* Only one in four voters think the country is moving in the right direction.
* More than twice as many voters believe Mr. Biden’s policies have personally hurt them as believe his policies have helped them.
* A majority of voters think the economy is in poor condition.
* The share of voters who strongly disapprove of Mr. Biden’s handling of his job has reached 47 percent, higher than in Times/Siena polls at any point in his presidency.
* About as many Democratic primary voters said Mr. Biden should not be the nominee in 2024 as said he should be — with opposition strongest among voters younger than 45 years old.
* Mr. Trump is winning 97 percent of those who say they voted for him four years ago, and virtually none of his past supporters said they are casting a ballot for Mr. Biden.
* Mr. Biden is winning only 83 percent of his 2020 voters, with 10 percent saying they now back Mr. Trump.
* Among the likely electorate, Mr. Trump currently leads by four percentage points.
* The historical edge Democrats have held with working-class voters of color who did not attend college continues to erode. Mr. Biden won 72 percent of those voters in 2020, according to exit polling, providing him with a nearly 50-point edge over Mr. Trump. Today, the Times/Siena poll showed Mr. Biden only narrowly leading among nonwhite voters who did not graduate from college: 47 percent to 41 percent.
* Only 23 percent of Democratic primary voters said they were enthusiastic about Mr. Biden — half the share of Republicans who said they were about Mr. Trump. Significantly more Democrats said they were either dissatisfied or angry at Mr. Biden being the leader of the party (32 percent) than Republicans who said the same about Mr. Trump (18 percent).
* Both Mr. Trump and Mr. Biden are unpopular. Mr. Trump had a weak 44 percent favorable rating; Mr. Biden fared even worse, at 38 percent. Among the 19 percent of voters who said they disapproved of both likely nominees — an unusually large cohort in 2024 that pollsters and political strategists sometimes call “double haters” — Mr. Biden actually led Mr. Trump, 45 percent to 33 percent. The candidate who had won such “double haters” was victorious in the elections in both 2016 and 2020.
* Unhappiness with the state of the country is plainly a drag on Mr. Biden’s prospects. Two-thirds of the country feels the nation is headed in the wrong direction — and Mr. Trump is winning 63 percent of those voters.
* Only 12 percent of independent voters said Mr. Biden’s policies had personally helped them, compared to 43 percent who said his policies had hurt them.
* Overall, Mr. Biden and Mr. Trump were dead even among prized independent voters, drawing 42 percent each.
* The gender gap is no longer benefiting Democrats. Women, who strongly favored Mr. Biden four years ago, are now equally split, while men gave Mr. Trump a nine-point edge.
* The poll showed Mr. Trump edging out Mr. Biden among Latinos, and Mr. Biden’s share of the Black vote is shrinking, too.
* The poll showed that 53 percent of voters currently believe Mr. Trump has committed serious federal crimes, down from 58 percent in December. But viewed another way, Mr. Trump’s current lead over Mr. Biden is built with a significant number of voters who believe he is a criminal.
* Nikki Haley, Mr. Trump’s Republican rival, who has made the case that he will lose in November, leads Mr. Biden by double the margin of the former president: a hypothetical 45 percent to 35 percent.

The New York Times is highlighting “Biden is in trouble” stories because they wish Biden would drop out and the Democrats would nominate a stronger candidate. But it’s really not so much a question of Joe Biden. His policies have not been (relatively) so bad. And the state of the economy is not (relatively) so bad. The truth of the situation is that the dissatisfaction of the populace is an ongoing phenomenon. Fifty years ago Jimmy Carter talked about the undercurrent of Malaise. So then they voted him out and voted the Republicans in. “New Morning in America.” It lasted three terms and then they voted the Republicans out. Bill/Hill lasted two terms and then they voted the Democrats out. And then they got dissatisfied and voted the Republicans out. And then they got dissatisfied and voted the Democrats out. And then they got dissatisfied and voted the Republicans out.

The one thing you can count on is dissatisfaction. Under conditions of mass industrial-scale capitalist modernity only ten percent of the population thrives to the point of being somewhat satisfied with life. Another sixty percent copes but resents. For the rest life totally sucks. Dissatisfaction is expressed in myriad manifestations of psychopathology and sociopathology. Also, once every four years, in the voting booth.