I think there are three sequences here including two reactions.
A prominent inflection point is the 2008 crisis where the credentialled elite royally screwed up, and they gave a shrug (and a middle finger) about what happened. While they themselves survived the crisis without much harm, the aftermath devastated the working class in particular. The benefits class (the nonworking poor), the civil servants and the white collar people weren’t as much affected – the core Democratic coalition of today alongside (Nixon’s) East-coast elite.
Then came the populist reaction on both the Left and the Right. The credentialled elite saw this as a peasant rebellion. They were able to subvert the Left-wing part of the rebellion (Bernie Sanders) using insider manipulation, but the Right-wing rebellion succeeded taking down a major party. You can see this in how Hillary Clinton calls people deplorables, or how the framing of 6 January events wildly differs between the Left and the Right. This is also the basis of TDS – that the elite feel like they’re dealing with a peasant rebellion.
A more recent development is a new reaction of classical liberals who are horrified at how the elite reacted to the peasant rebellion. Libertarians and classic liberals (like Musk, RFK, Weinstein brothers, Dave Rubin, …) realised the liberal elite were in fact not really liberals when it came to it and were in fact happy cross many red lines (e.g. during Covid lockdowns, or in blatantly opposing free speech) to continue to hold on to power.
Now we’re facing an odd coalition of patriots, Libertarians, classic liberals, and conspiracy theorists against an elite who are showing scary Orwellian tendencies.
This is one of the most interesting Undercurrents so far, imo.
I’m a Republican and I really don’t get the appeal of Carlson. Frankly, he seems like an oddball who plays to his audience. If he’s an entertainer, as the presenters suggest, he’s closer to vaudeville than high drama.
But a certain segment of the population love him, and his influence is too great to be ignored. Somehow he’s become the voice of the common man, even though his background is quite privileged.
I will concede he has one great virtue: he calls it like it is. He describes the problems in our society accurately and in plain language that everyone can understand, and that’s not a bad thing.
Main Edition
US
FR
Join the discussion
Join like minded readers that support our journalism by becoming a paid subscriber
To join the discussion in the comments, become a paid subscriber.
Join like minded readers that support our journalism, read unlimited articles and enjoy other subscriber-only benefits.
SubscribeI think there are three sequences here including two reactions.
A prominent inflection point is the 2008 crisis where the credentialled elite royally screwed up, and they gave a shrug (and a middle finger) about what happened. While they themselves survived the crisis without much harm, the aftermath devastated the working class in particular. The benefits class (the nonworking poor), the civil servants and the white collar people weren’t as much affected – the core Democratic coalition of today alongside (Nixon’s) East-coast elite.
Then came the populist reaction on both the Left and the Right. The credentialled elite saw this as a peasant rebellion. They were able to subvert the Left-wing part of the rebellion (Bernie Sanders) using insider manipulation, but the Right-wing rebellion succeeded taking down a major party. You can see this in how Hillary Clinton calls people deplorables, or how the framing of 6 January events wildly differs between the Left and the Right. This is also the basis of TDS – that the elite feel like they’re dealing with a peasant rebellion.
A more recent development is a new reaction of classical liberals who are horrified at how the elite reacted to the peasant rebellion. Libertarians and classic liberals (like Musk, RFK, Weinstein brothers, Dave Rubin, …) realised the liberal elite were in fact not really liberals when it came to it and were in fact happy cross many red lines (e.g. during Covid lockdowns, or in blatantly opposing free speech) to continue to hold on to power.
Now we’re facing an odd coalition of patriots, Libertarians, classic liberals, and conspiracy theorists against an elite who are showing scary Orwellian tendencies.
Excellent comment.
This is one of the most interesting Undercurrents so far, imo.
I’m a Republican and I really don’t get the appeal of Carlson. Frankly, he seems like an oddball who plays to his audience. If he’s an entertainer, as the presenters suggest, he’s closer to vaudeville than high drama.
But a certain segment of the population love him, and his influence is too great to be ignored. Somehow he’s become the voice of the common man, even though his background is quite privileged.
I will concede he has one great virtue: he calls it like it is. He describes the problems in our society accurately and in plain language that everyone can understand, and that’s not a bad thing.