Elites

by 99 Seats

W.W. in The Economist pretty much nails it all right here:

Polls show that, in addition to being predominantly white and Republican, tea-partiers are wealthier and better-educated than the typical American. The proletariat they are not. Andrew Gelman's terrific book "Red State, Blue State, Rich State, Poor State," documents the stark partisan division within the American upper class, which I think helps us understand what's really going on. Very roughly, churchgoing non-coastal rich people are Republicans, while the more secular coastal rich are Democrats. What we are now seeing is not a showdown between the vast non-ideological middle-class and some rising Acai-swilling, assortatively-mating bobo aristocracy, but a standoff between rival elites. The tea party is a movement of relatively well-to-do, relatively religious citizens aroused by the conservative identity politics of a handful of elite right-wing opinion-makers who seek to unseat their liberal counterparts.

It is a neat trick. Conservative elites pretend to be part of a marginalised cultural force while at the same time orchestrating an electoral bloodbath led by America's least marginalised people. The fact that this is working so well tells us a lot about who the elites really are and where the power really lies.

I normally find refuge in snark and sarcasm...but right now, looking at this slide show...snark just ain't doing the trick. I'm heading to down to Washington, D.C. for the Rally to Restore Sanity, but I think I may wind up at the March to Keep Fear Alive. Because it's getting scary out there, y'all. And not just for Charlie Sheen's hooker...I mean, porn star friends.

Wait. There's the snark. Aw, yeah.

Comments

[Guy Yedwab]

I'm going to be at the rally!

More impressive than elites pretending not to be elites (which, I mean, is always going to be the case, whether it's John Edwards pretending to speak for "the Other America" or President George W. Bush pretending he's a Texan) is the fact that they're orchestrating a bloodbath of a more popular party:

http://yglesias.thinkprogress.org/2010/10/americans-prefer-democrats-are-planning-to-vote-republican/

[99]

I just found this on Facebook, and it covers some of the same territory: http://www.esquire.com/blogs/politics/sore-winners-102710

I really don't understand this country at all...

[Ben]

ha. I read the first sentence as this at first:

"Polls show that, in addition to being predominantly white and Democratic, theater goers are wealthier and better-educated than the typical American."