Is the American Elite Really Elite?

[Bigun]

Is the American Elite Really Elite?

 Victor Davis Hanson |Posted: Mar 02, 2017 12:01 AM

Establishment furor over the six-week-old Trump Administration is growing.

Outraged New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman recently compared Trump's victory to disasters in American history that killed and wounded thousands such as the Pearl Harbor surprise bombing and the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

The New Republic -- based on no evidence -- theorized that Trump could well be mentally unstable due to the effects of neurosyphilis.

Talk of removing the new president through impeachment, or opposing everything he does (the progressive "Resistance"), is commonplace. Some op-ed writers and pundits abroad have openly hoped for his violent death.

Trump is in a virtual war with the mainstream global media, the entrenched so-called "deep state," the Democratic Party establishment, progressive activists, and many in the Republican Party as well.

Excerpt: More at link below

https://townhall.com/columnists/victordavishanson/2017/03/02/is-the-american-elite-really-elite-n2292461

[Bigun]

Legends in their own minds!  Every last one!

[r9etb]

Is the American Elite Really Elite?

An uncharacteristically disappointing offering from VDH.  Reciting a list of known idiocies doesn't diagnose the problem -- something at which Hanson normally excels.

If by "elite" he means disproportionate educational achievements, income, and influence in politics and cultural matters, then yes -- they're really elite, in the same way that the aristocracy of places like England, France, and Rome were elite.

Which does not make them correct.  In fact, in most of the ways that really matter "the elite" are decadent and divorced from how important facets of the real world (e.g., manufacturing, food production, and military matters) actually work.  They live in echo chambers that are isolated from the consequences of their policies and beliefs.

Imbalances like that tend to sort themselves out in various ways, usually beginning with the realization by the non-elites that "there are more of us than there are of them."  The response isn't always pleasant (e.g., French revolution and collapse of Rome).  Sometimes the elite win (e.g., Europe in 1848).

In our case Trump's election marks the start of the process -- no telling how it will end up.

[Hondo69]

I believe Hanson is making the point that status should be earned, not inherited, a point he has made many times before.

Blue Blood Politicians are disconnected from the working class as they feel they are either born into elite status or have gained that position in society through connections, an Ivy League degree, or position within big government.

Blue Bloods vs Blue Collar.

Class warfare at it's worst.

[Smokin Joe]

An uncharacteristically disappointing offering from VDH.  Reciting a list of known idiocies doesn't diagnose the problem -- something at which Hanson normally excels.

If by "elite" he means disproportionate educational achievements, income, and influence in politics and cultural matters, then yes -- they're really elite, in the same way that the aristocracy of places like England, France, and Rome were elite.

Which does not make them correct.  In fact, in most of the ways that really matter "the elite" are decadent and divorced from how important facets of the real world (e.g., manufacturing, food production, and military matters) actually work.  They live in echo chambers that are isolated from the consequences of their policies and beliefs.

Imbalances like that tend to sort themselves out in various ways, usually beginning with the realization by the non-elites that "there are more of us than there are of them."  The response isn't always pleasant (e.g., French revolution and collapse of Rome).  Sometimes the elite win (e.g., Europe in 1848).

In our case Trump's election marks the start of the process -- no telling how it will end up.

Well put.

[Cripplecreek]

I believe Hanson is making the point that status should be earned, not inherited, a point he has made many times before.

Blue Blood Politicians are disconnected from the working class as they feel they are either born into elite status or have gained that position in society through connections, an Ivy League degree, or position within big government.

Blue Bloods vs Blue Collar.

Class warfare at it's worst.

There are none worse than those who play the role of leader in that fight when their real goal is their own self enrichment or empowerment.

They show up en masse in societies whenever the suffering grows to the point where people begin seeking salvation. Hitler is a good example of the false "man of and for the people" and he wasn't alone. Von Hindenburg won the election over Hitler and the Communist candidate but he's treated far more kindly by history than he should. Hindenburg was saying a lot of the same things Hitler was saying/ He was a vocal supporter of "lebensraum" and annexing parts of neighboring nations to get it.

[Bigun]

I believe Hanson is making the point that status should be earned, not inherited, a point he has made many times before.

Blue Blood Politicians are disconnected from the working class as they feel they are either born into elite status or have gained that position in society through connections, an Ivy League degree, or position within big government.

Blue Bloods vs Blue Collar.

Class warfare at it's worst.

That was my take on it as well.  We once fought a war to get rid of Royalty here but many seem all too willing to allow it back these days!

[Hondo69]

That was my take on it as well.  We once fought a war to get rid of Royalty here but many seem all too willing to allow it back these days!

Sad but true.  I wish I knew a method to stop the next war but I see no way out.