Elite Collapse
With it goes the Democratic Party and rationality.
The Know Nothing party came to prominence in the mid-1800s as a reaction to the mass immigration of Irish (my people), Italian (my people), and Germans (not my people). They believed in American values, anti-Catholicism, mandatory bible reading, mass deportation, and populism. Sound familiar? Ultimately, the party collapsed because it failed to take a strong stance on slavery, but its ideas had a lasting impact on our country.
People touting all forms of populism are doing a victory dance right now. Even those in the wing of populism that is rooted in nativism, conspiracy theories, and stupidity are having a moment. They won the last election. They are putting their people in power. And the other side keeps making gaffs and exposing its flaws.
Over the past couple of weeks, people in government, scientists, journalists, and academia — America’s elites — have taken some hits, mostly self-inflicted. They have confirmed the Republican suspicions that Democrats are plotting the destruction of average Joes and the American traditions. These errors are fueling the upcoming Trump administration and bolstering the Know Nothings that still have a presence in our country.
Steve and I watched an hour of the Joe Rogan podcast while eating our “woke” dinner of Italian chicken sausage from Whole Foods, farro, and roasted acorn squash. We ate an anti-Joe Rogan dinner. The dinner was good, and Rogan — sorry to say — was interesting, too.
Rogan interviewed the futurist Marc Andreesen. Both were very happy that Trump won. They had a three-hour conversation (we only watched one hour) about social media, the government plot to shut down free speech, and the growing role of AI in warfare. They talked about the growing role of alternative media like X, Rogan’s show, and Substack and the decreasing influence of traditional media.
I’m making room for podcasts like Rogan in my life. I listen to him when I’m running and making dinner. I joined BlueSky like all my friends, but I don’t get it. Nobody is there. (Check out the Thanksgiving video of our cat, Grimm.)
If you care about politics, you have to start watching/listening/reading stuff that everybody else is consuming. It’s stupid to only hang out with like-minded people who totally didn’t pick up the change in the mood in the country. I didn’t vote for Trump, but I want to understand why other people did. I’m not going to learn that on Bluesky.
The Biden-Harris administration seems determined to leave office as unpopular as possible.
There was the Hunter Biden pardon. Check out this presser where Chuck Schumer tried to dodge questions about Hunter. Awkward!
Harris released a video for her supporters, where she appeared to be drunk.
We’re getting stories about how much celebrities were paid to show up at Harris’ rallies. They gave $2.5 million to Oprah’s production company — not directly to here, she insists — which is A. a shitload of money and B. still Oprah. There are unconfirmed reports that she gave big-time bucks to Beyonce, Lizzo, and Eminem. The stories may or may not be accurate, but they are making the rounds.
People are still not over the fact that the press never wrote that Biden was senile, even though everybody with eyes could see that the guy was one graham cracker short of a s’more.
Over the summer, I had dinner with some friends. Over several beers and much laughter, they told us that their neighbors were former secret service. From them, they heard that Biden pooped his pants while doing some political event in Europe this spring. The Secret Service had to put his suits on Air Force One in garbage bags. If those stories were making the rounds among suburban randos, the press should have been dealing with this issue.
The traditional media — of all political stripes — didn’t want to embarrass Biden by pointing out that he was senile. Who wants to be mean like that? Big mistake. It undermined trust in traditional media.
Now, you are all here, which is fine by me. Please sign up for a paid subscription before you go.
There’s more. People still aren’t over the COVID shutdowns. They hurt kids, and nobody ever apologized for those poor decisions. Even Jon Stewart was annoyed that the government and the press covered up the Chinese lab leak theory. (Click on that link. Super funny.)
And, sure, JFK Jr. has a worm-hole brain that is convinced that vaccines cause autism. (They don’t.) Chortle. Silly man. But he’s right about all the other crap in American food. Can’t we just say that?
There’s going to be a great sorting out happening in the next year. We need to purge the party of the opportunists and the word police — that’s done. We need to regain trust in traditional media again; X and Substack cannot replace the New York Times. We need trusted leaders across all sectors, from politics to science.
Trump and his merry band of pirates are not a replacement for serious people doing serious things. They are opportunists and charlatans, as much as the other guys.
I like to think that little corners of the Internet — like the humble Apt. 11D — can be places where the Enlightenment continues, like the Irish monasteries that preserved Plato and the Bible. If we shine a light on smart ideas and smart people, perhaps there’s a way that we can muddle through the upcoming chaos.
Our country’s elites have fallen off their pedestals while the mob frolics in the streets. We need new leaders, but it will take some time to create a new order.
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