Politically, in feudal society, two classes primarily exercised power — what the French referred to as the First Estate, the clergy, and the Second Estate, consisting of the warrior-aristocratic elite. Everyone else, even wealthy merchants, resided in the Third Estate, and most were peasants living at subsistence levels.
We are beginning to see the elevation of two powerful classes — one dominant economically, the other culturally.
The new lords, a class of “woke” tech oligarchs, share a “progressive” agenda and align with the Democrat party. This oligarchic drift has been building for years, as wealth has shifted from traditional resource and manufacturing industries to software, media, finance, and entertainment. In sharp contrast to energy firms, homebuilders, and farmers, the regulatory state does not threaten the bottom lines of these industries, as long as it refrains from breaking up their virtual monopolies. During the pandemic, their net worths have surged.
Another beneficiary class is a neo-clergy, encompassing professions such as consultants, lawyers, top-level government officials, medical specialists, and media professionals who interpret their prophecies. A part of the “expert” class has emerged as “the privileged stratum,” operating from an assumption of “moral superiority” that justifies their right to instruct others. Rest assured: from the beginning of the pandemic, these people have not missed a single paycheck.
With the middle-class economy largely shut down and, in the best-case scenario, in for a long and painful recovery, the pauperization is staggering. In the U.S., the ranks of the poor are projected to increase by as much as 50 percent, to levels not seen in at least a half-century. Liquidating America’s kulaks serves the purpose of thinning not just the Republican electorate, but also the Third Estate as the basis of capitalist society. Notably, these trends disturb at least one thinker on the left, too.
The Dark Night.
This is the weak link in the whole house of cards. It’s the one part of the system that is guaranteed to turn into a joke.
I always remember the example of a former business associate of mine who worked as a on expert consultant in energy matters. If I posted his name here some folks might recognize it. To paraphrase him:
“I know all this ‘climate change’ crap is a hoax, but if a governor or big-city mayor wants to pay me a lot of money to tell them how to combat it, I’ll gladly do it!”
I am beginning to believe that coding for these must be like being a galley slave.