TOWARD A UNIFIED THEORY OF CONTEMPORARY INSTITUTIONAL FAILURE: So in ESPN we see an institution that is recklessly alienating its prime customer base, and only now — much too late — beginning to dimly sense that it’s in trouble. And this is a pattern we’ve seen over and over again. Why is that? I think it’s a function of two things. First, the people running most of the insititutions come from a monoculture. As Angelo Codevilla wrote of the Ruling Class:
Today’s ruling class, from Boston to San Diego, was formed by an educational system that exposed them to the same ideas and gave them remarkably uniform guidance, as well as tastes and habits. These amount to a social canon of judgments about good and evil, complete with secular sacred history, sins (against minorities and the environment), and saints. Using the right words and avoiding the wrong ones when referring to such matters — speaking the “in” language — serves as a badge of identity.
Second, their loyalties are essentially tribal. They care more about what their peers think of them than, basically, anything else, including the success or failure of the institutions they manage. Thus, they are prone to suicidal levels of virtue-signaling. And — because they are socially and intellectually isolated from non-ruling-class Flyover America — they often have no idea how badly their actions resonate. Since, as Dana Loesch reminds us, you can’t run a country you’ve never been to, the result is generally poor.
Not everyone is this blind. When Phil Bredesen ran for governor in Tennessee the first time, he was totally out of touch: Basically, a sort of mini Mike Bloomberg. He then spent four years going around the state to chili suppers, VFW posts, and so on, actually talking to people and — more importantly — listening. He won, and became a successful governor for two terms, possibly the last Democrat to do so in my lifetime. But that sort of approach requires a lot of self-awareness, and willingness to work hard, and respect for other people’s opinions. Our ruling class is willing to work hard, but not at this sort of thing. (Bumped).
ANOTHER UPDATE: Kurt Schlichter is gloating.