The Zman today is expatiating on the Fraud of Democracy. "According to the political class, democracy allows for public policy to reflect the will of the people."
But after a while the malfeasance of the ruling class -- any ruling class -- starts to have consequences. And that's where we are in the West at this time. Because government and politics -- any government and any politics -- is like a dam of fallen trees holding up the natural flow of the river. At some point the waters behind the dam will break through, and the world will change.
Yes, our ruling class in the United States is appalled by the Trump phenomenon, its whiteness, its bigotry. And they have done a lot to hold it up, to prevent the Trump agenda of reduced immigration and payback against China. And the elite is right that the Trump voters are a bunch of bigoted nationalist fools that don't know what is good for them.
Only, of course, the elite cannot see how much they have gamed the political system to benefit educated credentialed elitists like themselves. Life in great, in the United States, if you have a masters degree in anything except "studies."
But if you are the child of the white working class, and you don't have credentials up the yin-yang, then things are not that great. Because the elite has imported a lot of immigrants that are competing with you for the low-skill jobs. Because the elite has outsourced everything from car manufacture to plastic toy manufacture. OK, so you don't have a ten-point plan to get America back on track. But then who does? Joe Biden? Elizabeth Warren? Bernie Sanders? If the agenda of President Trump for reduced immigration and tariffs on Chinese imports is pretty lame, whatabout Medicare-for-all and the Green New Deal?
Back in the day the educated ruling class was delighted to enact labor laws to benefit the suffering working class, and prided themselves on the glory of the civil rights laws to help blacks and women. But for some reason today's ruling class is not much interested in the sufferings of today's white working class. They seem to think that the travails of the white working class are their own fault.
Then what about Brexit Britain? You can say that Britain will do best economically if it stays in Europe. But Europe demands that Britain import millions of immigrants from Eastern Europe, from the Middle East, and from Africa. And these low-skill immigrants are going to be competing for jobs with low-skill natives. And how about that Brit education system that is failing its most vulnerable citizens? The average Brit feels that they are being screwed.
For now, the Brit ruling class is holding off on Brexit, because it has the power to defeat the will of the people. But in the end, something's gonna change, because the average Brit feels that he is being screwed. It won't be pretty, as we can see with the current political shenanigans. And it won't necessarily change things for the better. What people want is not necessarily what they need.
The way I understand democracy is not as a logical and rational discussion of the issues, and not as the fiction that the people rule. It is a blundering, corrupt, subconscious cultural phenomenon that, as Winston Churchill said, is the worst form of government, except for all the alternatives.
So, it may be that the current Western educated elite will hold off the rubes and maintain their cultural and political hegemony for another 50 years. Or it may be that the rubes manage in some way to force some kind of political realignment. It may be that the economic policy of the educated elite will result in economic ruin, or it may be that the policy of the Trumpians and Brexiteers will result in economic ruin. Or it may be that the whole thing will dissolve into civil war.
Something's gonna change, but be careful what you wish for.
In reality... the parties put on a show for the voters, rarely intending to actually do what they claim. Instead, they manufacture differences between one another, so they can pretend the choice before the voters is stark.But after the election is over, the rulers just go back to business as usual. Perfectly true. But.
But after a while the malfeasance of the ruling class -- any ruling class -- starts to have consequences. And that's where we are in the West at this time. Because government and politics -- any government and any politics -- is like a dam of fallen trees holding up the natural flow of the river. At some point the waters behind the dam will break through, and the world will change.
Yes, our ruling class in the United States is appalled by the Trump phenomenon, its whiteness, its bigotry. And they have done a lot to hold it up, to prevent the Trump agenda of reduced immigration and payback against China. And the elite is right that the Trump voters are a bunch of bigoted nationalist fools that don't know what is good for them.
Only, of course, the elite cannot see how much they have gamed the political system to benefit educated credentialed elitists like themselves. Life in great, in the United States, if you have a masters degree in anything except "studies."
But if you are the child of the white working class, and you don't have credentials up the yin-yang, then things are not that great. Because the elite has imported a lot of immigrants that are competing with you for the low-skill jobs. Because the elite has outsourced everything from car manufacture to plastic toy manufacture. OK, so you don't have a ten-point plan to get America back on track. But then who does? Joe Biden? Elizabeth Warren? Bernie Sanders? If the agenda of President Trump for reduced immigration and tariffs on Chinese imports is pretty lame, whatabout Medicare-for-all and the Green New Deal?
Back in the day the educated ruling class was delighted to enact labor laws to benefit the suffering working class, and prided themselves on the glory of the civil rights laws to help blacks and women. But for some reason today's ruling class is not much interested in the sufferings of today's white working class. They seem to think that the travails of the white working class are their own fault.
Then what about Brexit Britain? You can say that Britain will do best economically if it stays in Europe. But Europe demands that Britain import millions of immigrants from Eastern Europe, from the Middle East, and from Africa. And these low-skill immigrants are going to be competing for jobs with low-skill natives. And how about that Brit education system that is failing its most vulnerable citizens? The average Brit feels that they are being screwed.
For now, the Brit ruling class is holding off on Brexit, because it has the power to defeat the will of the people. But in the end, something's gonna change, because the average Brit feels that he is being screwed. It won't be pretty, as we can see with the current political shenanigans. And it won't necessarily change things for the better. What people want is not necessarily what they need.
The way I understand democracy is not as a logical and rational discussion of the issues, and not as the fiction that the people rule. It is a blundering, corrupt, subconscious cultural phenomenon that, as Winston Churchill said, is the worst form of government, except for all the alternatives.
So, it may be that the current Western educated elite will hold off the rubes and maintain their cultural and political hegemony for another 50 years. Or it may be that the rubes manage in some way to force some kind of political realignment. It may be that the economic policy of the educated elite will result in economic ruin, or it may be that the policy of the Trumpians and Brexiteers will result in economic ruin. Or it may be that the whole thing will dissolve into civil war.
Something's gonna change, but be careful what you wish for.
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