A model for what you seem to be calling for is the New Dealers. The New Dealers when they came to power acting to address the economic concerns of the Populists (once an independent agrarian movement but now a subset of the Democratic party (link 1). Next they addressed the problems of Labor in a way that gained the political support of the working class (link 2), which allowed them to be solidly in control during WW II, when they implemented a pro-worker economic system (link 3). Much more on this sort of thing is what my substack is about.
A new "New Deal" in order to evolve a pro-worker economy once again, can serve some conservative social goals (I note that the New Deal came from the RED party (link 4). One example is the New Deal created "SC" economy was more conducive to marriage and family formation that its successor the "SP" Neoliberal economy (links 5 & 6).
I guess I’m something of an elite, having gone to a Russell-Group University, though isn’t like Stanford. I try to use my talents as a lower-level elite through writing Substack.
You are authorized. :) I consider myself moderate, center-right - which needs its own counter-elite. Thanks for the kind words. Glad you liked the article.
I've been attracted to populism since my early 20's. Perhaps that's one reason why I wasn't that great of fit for an elite university. Hell, I wanted to research the rise of Euroscepticism, but was discouraged from doing so. Elites aren't smarter or capable than everyone else for the most part -- they're just on the other side of gatekept power and influence: in the club through luck and connections, with merit just another variable in the mix among many.
Would I have liked Trump's first term to have gone better than it did? Yes. But part of that was the result of corrupt people and holdovers from the establishment Republican power structure. It would be a cliche to say real populism has never been tried... but it actually has, working very well! For most of the 20th century, California's proposition system made the state a better, less corrupt, and more democratic place. Switzerland is practically a populist utopia, where the middle class actually has some degree of power, thanks to their national referenda and confederative model of decentralizing power. To want things to be "more democratic" is to be at least a bit populist.
"Populism seemed to value grievance-mongering more than problem-solving. This is a loser mindset." If a problem is next to impossible to solve, it would make sense to have a degree of grievance. I see populists as people who want to solve problems by displacing the heretofore immovable obstacles in place preventing the solving of said problems. Just another form of disintermediation. Cards on the table... I certainly would qualify as being "a loser". I was shut out of the job market in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis and never recovered my footing (just this week, a university career advisor suggested taking my master's off my resume... imagine what it would be like for you to have someone seriously suggest taking your Stanford degree off of yours?). But in spite of that I've managed to spend the better part of the last decade as a very successful loser. I managed to leverage the bank bailout to get some crumbs left on the table through credit card sign up bonuses to obtain several million airline miles, which afforded me the opportunity to travel around the world for many years. Friends with established professional careers have even been jealous of me. Granted, they'll likely be the ones with secure retirements.
On anti-vax... I'll just say that there are likely many people who would otherwise be alive or able bodied if not for vaccine side effects. I myself had several episodes of myocarditis (but the party line was this was never a side effect from J&J, but be that as it may...) and feared for my life far more than when I was being chased through the streets of Rio de Janeiro by a mentally unstable crack addict. If you're over 60 or have comorbidities, the experimental vaccines probably make sense. For someone in your 30's, perhaps the risks outweighed the benefits. At the very least, people should have been free to make their own decisions and not coerced with offers they couldn't refuse.
"The good news, and the bad news, is that no one is coming to save us. My message to those who see a flawed world and want to improve it, who have a lot to offer and yet feel disenfranchised, is to be the elite you wish to see. Stop viewing yourself as a victim, and step into the kind of leadership you want to see in the world. It’s ok to keep it small and in your corner of the world. Just start. Assume the authority, and if you struggle with that, let me give it to you now: You are authorized." I'd love to potentially be part of a counter-elite bringing about the Fourth Turning. Maybe being a small voice on Substack helps contribute in some small way? But the general direction of travel taken by the establishment in the last 20+ years has been quite detrimental to my life. The slash and burn offered by Project 2025 could at least shuffle the deck and unlock opportunities I've been shut out of up until now. But to deny people the standing of being victims of current public policy is to be blind to the forces of injustice. If a group of elites are sitting around the table, while you're on the menu, shouldn't you have the right to at least complain and maybe make the elites slightly less comfortable? Hell, sometimes in my attempts at networking, elites have initially assumed I must be someone useful and worth knowing, only to realize I'm just me and then get quite petulant that I wasted their time by appearing to be above my station.
I'll check out your NATO report later and make a separate post on that one when I have time.
And the self-defeating nature of much anti-elite-ism. Cowen writes:
" Successful societies are based on trust, including trust in leaders, and the New Right doesn’t offer resources for forming that trust or any kind of comparable substitute. As a nation-building project it seems like a dead end. If anything, it may hasten the Brazilianification of the United States rather than avoiding it, Brazil being a paradigmatic example of a low trust society and government.
"I also do not see how the New Right stance avoids the risks from an extremely corrupt and self-seeking power elite. Let’s say the New Right description of the rottenness of elites were true – would we really solve that problem by electing more New Right-oriented individuals to government? Under a New Right worldview, there is all the more reason to be cynical about New Right"
Thanks for referring me to the Cowen piece, which I hadn't seen. He seems to conflate New Rightists and populists, but that's probably fair. This sentence is great: "Under a New Right worldview, there is all the more reason to be cynical about New Right" — so true ha.
Totally right on. I so identify with your direction, I could have written it... written it if I had your command of thought. I'm delighted you are young and have time to make a difference. I hope YOU seize it.
What we call "populism” today is no more than less what was called “jacobinism” during the French revolution and “communism” in XIX-XX century.
Of course, a french little owner had plenty legitimate grievances against French aristocracy, as well as the proles had against industrialists and bourgeois, but when you focus to pars destruens without focusing on pars costruens as well, every outcome would be cathastrophic.
...good to see you back JG...the world needs smart people, motivated people, and leaders...good leaders...real leaders...appreciate your perspective...
Nice to see you back Jeff. What a great distinction and empowering perspective. This applies to so many domains, not just government, but includes any domain of interest or concern, including the governing of oneself. "You are authorized!" I'm letting this sink in! Thank you.
I like that you used the term "leader" instead of "decision maker." I don't know if that was conscious or not, but it made me glad. The label "decision maker" drives me nuts as it divorces the person with power and authority from any responsibility. Decision makers love to say things like "I'm just making a decision based on the data". Computer programs, AI, etc can do the same and better. We need leaders, not decision makers.
There is something really crass about a progressive left that still thinks it's rebelling against The Man.
It IS The Man. (sarcastic slow clap)
In GenX argot, they are a bunch of posers.
But once you get past that--and by that, I mean simply recognizing it for what it is--by all means be all the elite you can be. Most Americans are probably a lot closer to that than they realize.
"Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work."--Thomas Edison
A model for what you seem to be calling for is the New Dealers. The New Dealers when they came to power acting to address the economic concerns of the Populists (once an independent agrarian movement but now a subset of the Democratic party (link 1). Next they addressed the problems of Labor in a way that gained the political support of the working class (link 2), which allowed them to be solidly in control during WW II, when they implemented a pro-worker economic system (link 3). Much more on this sort of thing is what my substack is about.
A new "New Deal" in order to evolve a pro-worker economy once again, can serve some conservative social goals (I note that the New Deal came from the RED party (link 4). One example is the New Deal created "SC" economy was more conducive to marriage and family formation that its successor the "SP" Neoliberal economy (links 5 & 6).
1. https://mikealexander.substack.com/p/the-irrelevance-of-todays-left
2. https://mikealexander.substack.com/p/how-the-new-dealers-gained-the-ability
3. https://mikealexander.substack.com/p/how-inequality-reduction-happened
4. https://mikealexander.substack.com/p/an-alternate-american-political-spectrum
5. https://mikealexander.substack.com/p/two-visions-of-america-bedford-falls
6. https://mikealexander.substack.com/p/social-consequences-of-economic-evolution
That's an interesting analog, thank you Mike.
This is the implicit thesis of Radical Centrist. https://thomaslhutcheson.substack.com/
Great! We need elites on our side.
I guess I’m something of an elite, having gone to a Russell-Group University, though isn’t like Stanford. I try to use my talents as a lower-level elite through writing Substack.
You are authorized. :) I consider myself moderate, center-right - which needs its own counter-elite. Thanks for the kind words. Glad you liked the article.
I'd be a centrist... in an Overton Window created by me. 😝
I've been attracted to populism since my early 20's. Perhaps that's one reason why I wasn't that great of fit for an elite university. Hell, I wanted to research the rise of Euroscepticism, but was discouraged from doing so. Elites aren't smarter or capable than everyone else for the most part -- they're just on the other side of gatekept power and influence: in the club through luck and connections, with merit just another variable in the mix among many.
Would I have liked Trump's first term to have gone better than it did? Yes. But part of that was the result of corrupt people and holdovers from the establishment Republican power structure. It would be a cliche to say real populism has never been tried... but it actually has, working very well! For most of the 20th century, California's proposition system made the state a better, less corrupt, and more democratic place. Switzerland is practically a populist utopia, where the middle class actually has some degree of power, thanks to their national referenda and confederative model of decentralizing power. To want things to be "more democratic" is to be at least a bit populist.
"Populism seemed to value grievance-mongering more than problem-solving. This is a loser mindset." If a problem is next to impossible to solve, it would make sense to have a degree of grievance. I see populists as people who want to solve problems by displacing the heretofore immovable obstacles in place preventing the solving of said problems. Just another form of disintermediation. Cards on the table... I certainly would qualify as being "a loser". I was shut out of the job market in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis and never recovered my footing (just this week, a university career advisor suggested taking my master's off my resume... imagine what it would be like for you to have someone seriously suggest taking your Stanford degree off of yours?). But in spite of that I've managed to spend the better part of the last decade as a very successful loser. I managed to leverage the bank bailout to get some crumbs left on the table through credit card sign up bonuses to obtain several million airline miles, which afforded me the opportunity to travel around the world for many years. Friends with established professional careers have even been jealous of me. Granted, they'll likely be the ones with secure retirements.
On anti-vax... I'll just say that there are likely many people who would otherwise be alive or able bodied if not for vaccine side effects. I myself had several episodes of myocarditis (but the party line was this was never a side effect from J&J, but be that as it may...) and feared for my life far more than when I was being chased through the streets of Rio de Janeiro by a mentally unstable crack addict. If you're over 60 or have comorbidities, the experimental vaccines probably make sense. For someone in your 30's, perhaps the risks outweighed the benefits. At the very least, people should have been free to make their own decisions and not coerced with offers they couldn't refuse.
"The good news, and the bad news, is that no one is coming to save us. My message to those who see a flawed world and want to improve it, who have a lot to offer and yet feel disenfranchised, is to be the elite you wish to see. Stop viewing yourself as a victim, and step into the kind of leadership you want to see in the world. It’s ok to keep it small and in your corner of the world. Just start. Assume the authority, and if you struggle with that, let me give it to you now: You are authorized." I'd love to potentially be part of a counter-elite bringing about the Fourth Turning. Maybe being a small voice on Substack helps contribute in some small way? But the general direction of travel taken by the establishment in the last 20+ years has been quite detrimental to my life. The slash and burn offered by Project 2025 could at least shuffle the deck and unlock opportunities I've been shut out of up until now. But to deny people the standing of being victims of current public policy is to be blind to the forces of injustice. If a group of elites are sitting around the table, while you're on the menu, shouldn't you have the right to at least complain and maybe make the elites slightly less comfortable? Hell, sometimes in my attempts at networking, elites have initially assumed I must be someone useful and worth knowing, only to realize I'm just me and then get quite petulant that I wasted their time by appearing to be above my station.
I'll check out your NATO report later and make a separate post on that one when I have time.
Wonderful essay that I think can be summed up in a single sentence: "You know better...now act like it."
Thank you. Yes, that's the prompt.
Tyler Cowen's take on the New Right also stresses the inevitability of elites
https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2022/10/classical-liberalism-vs-the-new-right.html
And the self-defeating nature of much anti-elite-ism. Cowen writes:
" Successful societies are based on trust, including trust in leaders, and the New Right doesn’t offer resources for forming that trust or any kind of comparable substitute. As a nation-building project it seems like a dead end. If anything, it may hasten the Brazilianification of the United States rather than avoiding it, Brazil being a paradigmatic example of a low trust society and government.
"I also do not see how the New Right stance avoids the risks from an extremely corrupt and self-seeking power elite. Let’s say the New Right description of the rottenness of elites were true – would we really solve that problem by electing more New Right-oriented individuals to government? Under a New Right worldview, there is all the more reason to be cynical about New Right"
Thanks for referring me to the Cowen piece, which I hadn't seen. He seems to conflate New Rightists and populists, but that's probably fair. This sentence is great: "Under a New Right worldview, there is all the more reason to be cynical about New Right" — so true ha.
Totally right on. I so identify with your direction, I could have written it... written it if I had your command of thought. I'm delighted you are young and have time to make a difference. I hope YOU seize it.
Thanks John!
What we call "populism” today is no more than less what was called “jacobinism” during the French revolution and “communism” in XIX-XX century.
Of course, a french little owner had plenty legitimate grievances against French aristocracy, as well as the proles had against industrialists and bourgeois, but when you focus to pars destruens without focusing on pars costruens as well, every outcome would be cathastrophic.
...good to see you back JG...the world needs smart people, motivated people, and leaders...good leaders...real leaders...appreciate your perspective...
Thanks so much for your support
New JG post, alright!
Great points made here. I think Rick’s comment here says it perfectly: this applies to so many domains. This is a refreshing approach to progress.
Thank you Brandon!
Nice to see you back Jeff. What a great distinction and empowering perspective. This applies to so many domains, not just government, but includes any domain of interest or concern, including the governing of oneself. "You are authorized!" I'm letting this sink in! Thank you.
Thanks Rick! Although this post has a political flavor, it really does apply broadly. Assume the authority. Seize it :)
I like that you used the term "leader" instead of "decision maker." I don't know if that was conscious or not, but it made me glad. The label "decision maker" drives me nuts as it divorces the person with power and authority from any responsibility. Decision makers love to say things like "I'm just making a decision based on the data". Computer programs, AI, etc can do the same and better. We need leaders, not decision makers.
There is something really crass about a progressive left that still thinks it's rebelling against The Man.
It IS The Man. (sarcastic slow clap)
In GenX argot, they are a bunch of posers.
But once you get past that--and by that, I mean simply recognizing it for what it is--by all means be all the elite you can be. Most Americans are probably a lot closer to that than they realize.
"Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work."--Thomas Edison
You mention having read some works in populism? Please say more in this… references? Do you welcome debate or Socratic dialogue in your comments?