The "Houston We Have a Problem" Moment

I see that I have been blogging on really one topic for the last week or so: Ruling Class in Crisis.

Today, I got to read a Zman piece at Taki's where he complains about democracy not being democracy.

The stated point of the political system is to make it highly responsive to the will of the voters, but temper that will with the limits of constitutional order...

In reality, the system is entirely unresponsive to public will. 

This in the context of the ruling class uniting against Trump during the 2016 election and thereafter and showing him the exit in 2020.

I think that Zman wants to think that this is a failure of the system, but I don't think so.

I think that the notion that the results of an election are supposed to change the direction of the country is to misunderstand politics and government and ruling classes.

Really, an election gives the ruling class a gut check on what the people are thinking, and whether the "natives are restless." Most of the time the ruling class shrugs its shoulders and keeps on carrying on. Because any ruling class believes that it is ordained by God or Gaia.

But from time to time, the election result will cause ripples in the corridors of power. And then the question is: do we have a problem here? Do we wise rulers need to make a course correction? Or do we need to teach the plebs a lesson? 

Or, does the ruling class say, realizing that things are really going south, that they had better get their act together, right now. In other words the classic moment when the fuel cell on Apollo 13 blew up and everybody had to get real serious about how to keep the astronauts alive and safely returned to Earth.

And, if you remember, the explosion took place on the outward journey to the Moon, and NASA had to figure out how to keep the astronauts alive for the rest of the journey to the Moon, around the back, and then the return journey back to Earth.

Now I would say that the Trump 2016 election was a "natives are restless" moment that the ruling class decided to ignore. In fact, what with the increasing ruling-class devotion to climate change and systemic racism, I think we can safely say that our rulers doubled down and teach the plebs a lesson.

I do not say that the ruling class "decided" to double down. The double-down just happened "organically" in the social space of the ruling class.

But I would say that, from the point of view of the ruling class, the current Biden administration multiple organ failure means that we are rapidly approaching a "Houston we have a problem" moment.

Hey, I wonder if we will look back and say that the Death of Colin Powell from COVID at age 84 was the turning point. Because Colin Powell was fully vaccinated, you see. And that rather puts the ruling-class narrative that universal vaccination is The Answer in question. Good Little Girls all over will be asking "Is It Safe, Mr. President," and they will not trust the answer.

See, I think that the ruling class is being really stupid about a whole lot of things. A wise ruling class would have trimmed its sails decades ago. Let's review a few issues: And put it in a table, because I am an en-guin-eer.

Issue	Ruling Class Narrative	The Science	Sensible Policy
Climate Change	OMG end of the world, unless we act now.	Earth is presently in an interglacial period in a multi-million year Ice Age.	OK, let's do a few nice things like ramp up nuclear power
Systemic Racism	We must fight for the oppressed peoples against the white oppressors	All humans are tribal, but ordinary middle-class commoners are not that tribal, unless you get them riled up. And they certainly ain't responsible for the travails of the oppressed.	Let's be nice to blacks, and help them transition from underclass to middle class
Entitlement Spending	Hey kids: free college! Hey seniors free dental and eye care!	Big government entitlement programs make society vulnerable to unexpected shocks. The market system is an emergent social phenomenon that has worked wonders.	Hey, you don't get elected without offering free stuff. But there are limits, indicated by hyper-inflation.
Education	Let's teach kids all about oppression and intersectionality with CRT. Because "equity."	Education as a government monopoly eventually ends up as a system that pays teachers salaries and pensions and teaches children nothing.	For now, let's put the money for education in the hands of parents so they can get the education they want. If they care.
Class Conflict	OMG, those deplorables, bitter-clingers, and insurrectionists!	In any society larger than a village there will be differences between classes, races, religions. Any ruling class needs to recognize that ordinary people have a right to live their dull lives in peace.	The ruling class should not force its religion and its culture on the rest of society. It just leads to trouble right here in River City.
COVID-19	Mandatory Lockdown, Mandatory Vaccination. Follow Orders	It's an epidemic, just another corona virus, and it will work its way through the human population until its propagation withers due to acquired immunity.	Do some stuff to make women "feel safe" but don't overdo it Remember the health scientists are bureaucrats and their #1 concern is to keep their salaries and pensions.
Government Finances	Hey, who cares! We can print our way out of it.	Except in time of war and disaster, the government should run a surplus and pay down its war debt.	Hey, you gotta hand out goodies to the rubes, but wise rulers keep the loot and plunder down to a low roar.

I realize that there is a necessary great gulf fixed between the ruling class narrative and my proposed "sensible policy." The great gulf exists because of the nature of politics and government.

As I say, politics is division and government is force. But humans are social animals. Go figure.

But this means that, following Nazi Carl Schmitt, the political is the "friend vs. enemy distinction." That means that in politics you always have the Enemy. And the Enemy, by definition, is a threat to all we hold dear. So, sensible practical people will understand that the less that gets decided by politics in any society the better. Unfortunately, every political leader, whether they realize it or not, gets to act like Shakespeare's King Henry V at Harfleur: "once more unto the breach" etc. They can't help it, the poor dears.

At some point, our ruling class is going to wake up one morning and realize, OMG, "Houston we have a problem." I hope they will decide to change course, rather than double-down again.

My judgement is that the sooner the better, for all Americans.