Recently the New York Times reported the following:
Why College Graduates Feel Betrayed (3/3)
Their anger goes far beyond the recent rise of
unemployment and the looming threat of A.I.
The NYT - By Noam Scheiber
(Noam Scheiber covers white-collar workers. This article has
been adapted from his forthcoming book, “Mutiny: The Rise and Revolt of the
College-Educated Working Class.”)
March 27, 2026
(continued from part 2)
The Vanishing Diploma Divide?
Since President Trump’s first term, and especially since his
re-election, political analysts have pointed to the gap between
college-educated voters and those without degrees as one of the most
significant fissures in American politics.
In 2024, Mr. Trump won non-college voters by almost 15 points, while losing the college educated by a similar margin. By contrast, non-college voters had narrowly backed a Democrat, Mr. Obama, as recently as 2012.
To explain the growing divide, commentators typically emphasize how the college educated are more liberal on social and cultural issues than those without degrees, and how these issues have played a bigger role in deciding elections over the past generation.
But that analysis tells only half the story of how American politics has shifted. Critically, it misses how the views of college-educated voters on economic questions have come to resemble those of voters without degrees.
A 2023 paper by the political scientist William Marble found that college graduates were well to the right of voters without a degree on economic issues during the 1980s and 1990s. But they began drifting leftward around 2004, and by 2020 college graduates were somewhat to the left of non-graduates on these issues.
More strikingly, the entire outlook of college graduates appears to have changed. During the Reagan and Clinton eras, many college-educated workers saw themselves as management-adjacent — as future executives and aspiring professionals being groomed for a life of affluence. They did not believe they had much in common with the working class. In the late 1990s, only slightly more than half supported labor unions, according to Gallup.
But by this decade, college graduates often identified more with rank-and-file workers than with employers. According to Gallup, about three-quarters of college graduates supported autoworkers and Hollywood writers in standoffs with their employers in 2023, when both groups went on strike. That matches their support for labor unions overall.
Matt Hoffman, one of the doctors who recently unionized in Minnesota (and no relation to Teddy), told me that he took his children to a United Automobile Workers picket line in 2023. “In our society, the sides are workers versus management,” he said. “I wanted them to understand that.”
In a high-wattage presidential election, when the country was primarily focused on cultural issues, college graduates and those without a degree often appeared to have little in common. But when it came to how they felt about their bosses or their bank accounts, it was suddenly harder to tell them apart. They were no longer on opposite teams.
How this will all play out is still up in the air, but Mr. Hoffman’s store in Chicago may offer an early clue. The staff was a mix of college graduates, college students and employees who didn’t aspire to a four-year degree. One employee earned a welding certificate while at Starbucks and later became an apprentice pipe fitter. But regardless of their educational backgrounds, they almost all voted to unionize the store in 2022. The final tally was 20 to 3.
Translation
大學畢業生為何感到被出賣（3/3）
他們的憤怒遠不止於近期失業率的上升和人工智能迫在眉睫的威脅
2026年3月27日
2024年，特朗普先生在未受過大學教育的選民中贏得了近15個百分點的優勢，但在受過大學教育的選民中卻以類似的差距落敗。相較之下，就近在2012年，未受過大學教育的選民也曾以微弱優勢支持民主黨候選人奧巴馬。
為了解釋這種日益擴大的分歧，評論員通常強調，受過大學教育的人在社會和文化議題上比未受過大學教育的人更屬自由派，以及這些議題怎樣在過去一代的選舉中發揮了越來越重要的作用。
但這種分析只揭示了美國政治轉變的一半真相。關鍵在於，它忽略了受過大學教育的選民在經濟議題上的觀點是如何逐漸與未受過大學教育的選民趨於一致的。
政治學家William Marble在2023年發表的一篇論文中發現，在1980年代和1990年代，大學畢業生在經濟議題上的立場明顯比未受過大學教育的選民更右傾。但從2004年左右開始，他們的立場開始左傾，到2020年，大學畢業生在這些議題上的立場已經比未受過大學教育的選民略微左傾。
更引人注目的是，大學畢業生的整體政治觀點似乎已經改變了。在列根和克林頓執政時期，許多受過大學教育的勞工認為自己與管理階層關係密切 - 他們是未來的高階主管和有抱負的專業人士，正被培養成去過富裕生活的人。他們並不認為自己與工人階級有什麼共同點。根據蓋洛普的調查，在1990年代末，只有略超過一半的人支持工會。
但到了本世紀，大學畢業生往往更認同屬一般工人而非雇主。蓋洛普的調查顯示，在2023年汽車工人和好萊塢編劇與雇主發生罷工時，約有四分之三的大學畢業生支持他們。這與他們對工會的整體支持率相符。
Matt Hoffman是最近在明尼蘇達州加入工會的醫生之一（與Teddy無關），他告訴我，2023年他帶著孩子們參加了美國汽車工人聯合會的糾察線。他說: 「在我們的社會裡，對立雙方是工人和管理階層」， 「我想讓孩子們明白這一點」。
在備受矚目的總統大選中，當全國的目光主要聚焦於文化議題時，大學畢業生和那些沒有學位的人似乎常常沒什麼共同點。但當談到他們對老闆或他們的銀行存款的看法時，突然間，他們之間的差異變得難以區分。他們不再是對立陣營。
這一切最終將如何發展，目前尚不明朗，但Hoffman先生在芝加哥的門市或許能提供一些早期線索。這家門市的員工構成複雜，既有大學畢業生，也有在校大學生，還有一些員工並不追求一個四年制大學學位。一位員工在星巴克工作期間獲得了焊接證書，後來成為了水管工學徒。但無論他們的教育背景為何，幾乎所有人都投票支持在2022年成立工會。最終的投票結果為20比3。
So, in
New York City many young
college graduates supported Mamdani, the new mayor who is a self-proclaimed
democratic socialist. According to some experts, the reason is that too many
people graduate from college with useless degrees, sky-high debt and difficulties
in owning a home. The graduates see Mamdani as a solution to their problems. It
is also noted that by this decade, college graduates often identify more with
rank-and-file workers than with employers. Apparently, more and more college
graduates are showing support for labor unions to fight for their benefit.
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