MAYBE THEY’RE NOT SO MAINSTREAM: Mainstream leftists are backing nutty protests.
There is nothing new about spoiled brats acting like spoiled brats, and many folks go through an insanity phase in their teens and early 20s. Ever since we invented adolescence (which is mostly a creation of a post-industrial economy and the upper-middle class) these people with resources but no responsibility have decided that their real job is to change the world through pointless acts of vandalism.
What is disturbing is the growing cast of older characters who should know better, but don’t. The belief that the world is in such a crisis that direct action is necessary in largely democratic society is absurd on its face, and anybody over 25 should be embarrassed to be associated with it.
Instead our intellectual class revels in it.
If your ideas aren’t palatable to most people, but you’re obsessed with your own importance, non-democratic means are the only way to go.
And even David Brooks is noticing: “I’ve been watching the campaign speeches by people like Kari Lake, the Republican candidate for governor in Arizona. G.O.P. candidates are telling a very clear class/culture/status war narrative in which common-sense Americans are being assaulted by elite progressives who let the homeless take over the streets, teach sex ed to 5-year-olds, manufacture fake news, run woke corporations, open the border and refuse to do anything about fentanyl deaths and the sorts of things that affect regular people. In other words, candidates like Lake wrap a dozen different issues into one coherent class war story. And it seems to be working.”
Well, it’s working because it’s obviously true.
UPDATE: From the comments at the Brooks link:
It is a class conflict. The best description that I’ve read is that the country is ruled by the “front row kids:” the ones who sit in the front rows of class, always ask for the extra credit, and generally make themselves a nuisance to the rest of us. They are about 120 IQ, so above average intelligence but not genius. They are smart enough to work well within the existing institutions, usually by figuring out how to game the system for their advantage. They take all the AP/Honors/IB courses in HS, get a varsity sport on their resume, all to get into the best college possible. From there it’s internships, masters in Public Policy/International Relations/etc., or law school. They end up mid-level management in some gov agency, buy an overpriced home in NoVA or Maryland, and post pictures of themselves wearing “finisher” medals from 5ks. Meanwhile, they are incredibly sensitive to social status and their position within their circle. This makes it difficult to push back on whatever latest stupid fad is making its way through the population. They are barely competent, at best, at handling the unexpected, because their entire lives have been defined by plans and an aversion to risk.
Well said. And from the comments below:
Brooks is right – for a change
Yet he’s upset about it
Go figure.