This revolt comes from haves, not have-nots (EVIL rich people alert)

Mpls (red)Star Tribune ^ | 5/4/03 | Steve Berg

[Valin]

Before his death in 1994, the celebrated social critic Christopher Lasch finished a remarkable book, the contents and title of which I can't get out of my mind when thinking about Gov. Tim Pawlenty's brave new Minnesota. "The Revolt of the Elites" was Lasch's title. It describes roughly what's now underway in many places across the country, most palpably, perhaps, in Minnesota, where we've decided no longer to pay for the collective quality of life that for decades set us apart from the rest of flyover America.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

Glad I got out when I did.

[BlackElk]

This columnist is either dishonest or an idjit or more likely both. Lasch's book to which he refers, The Revolt of the Elites, is a sort of bookend to be matched with Jose Ortega y Gassett's 1929 work: The Revolt of the Masses.

It was Ortega y Gassett's thesis that the rise of consumerism and the tastes of the general run of mankind would lower societal standards of taste and drive excellence from the marketplace of culture. The brilliant thesis of Lasch reviews Ortega y Gassett's work and the subsequent history and concludes that in our time the major and overwhelming threat to excellence in culture comes from a financially elite booboisie who, not satisfied with fat incomes, lovely homes and the best of material everything, crave the acceptance of New Leftists turned college professors as validation of their status as truly "cultured" societal leaders, red hot intellectuals and people wildly concerned about nearly everythng on the trendy and PC left.

If you loved Robert Mapplethorpe's lavender pervo-photography "art" such as the photo of the bullwhip sticking out of the undraped love object of half of the lavenders, you are certifiably culterati in elite terms and certifiably nuts in the terms of the "masses." The "masses" may not be infallible but they are better arbiters of taste by far than trust-fund supported Muffy and Skipper who share a well-deserved intellectual inferiority complex and an anxiety level over whether they will be discovered to be the shallow wastes of DNA that so many are. Ahhh, but how do I really feel?

[BlackElk]

I forgot to add that Lasch's book and Ortega y Gassett's are well worth the investment to purchase them and read them.

[Pontiac]

We are not bad people, or entirely selfish. We care about our children and our communities. It's the wider community that we've convinced ourselves no longer deserves our support.

What a deliberate lie this statement is. Conservatives care about their communities and give to charities in larger numbers and larger amounts than Liberals. We just don’t believe that government belongs in the charity business and is not good at the redistribution distribution of wealth.

Money is poured into inner-city schools, after all, and still kids don't graduate. Many health problems of the poor (alcohol, drug abuse) are self-inflicted, so why should we pick up the tab? After 30 years of trying, the government has not won Lyndon Johnson's war on poverty and ignorance, so why continue the project? Better to rely on the personal salvation and private charity our pastors and radio commentators emphasize. Those are the arguments I hear.

Johnson’s war on poverty is a complete failure. The poverty rate is higher now than before the war. If dollar spent per pupil was any measure of success for schools Washington DC schools should graduate 90% plus and send them on to Ivy League colleges. Instead they have 90% drop out rates.

Churches, community leadership and personal effort is the only hope of the poor to better themselves. It has always been so.

Second, we're less catholic than born-again in our outlook; that is, we tend to see the world not corporately over a long span of generations, but individually though our own economic and social decisions. We've convinced ourselves that we've "made it" by our own merit, not by what others have done, and we think everyone should simply do likewise. "Meritocratic elites find it difficult to imagine a community that reaches into both the past and the future and is constituted by an awareness of intergenerational obligation," Lasch wrote. Instead, we are "transients," he said, possessing a "radical ingratitude" common to meritocracy.

The only truth here (if any) is that Catholics tend to be more Liberal leaning than Protestants. The rest is unadulterated hogwash. Liberals always think that the successful are simply lucky or knew someone to get where they are. The rich either cheated someone or kissed a lot of butt to get to the top. “That guy didn’t work for his success.” Yes we believe we worked for our success and that others should as well. It’s called equality of opportunity, not equality of out comes that the left so desires.

I believe if these Liberal Elites were truly honest and looked into the habits of the “transient Meritocratic Elites” they would find that ate majority truly care about their adopted home towns and were active in the community where ever they go. This has been my experience.

[Search4Truth]

Ahhhh, the wonderful things that government could do, if we only had your money.

[jim_trent]

When I left Minnesota, the State income tax for me was approximately 50% of the Federal income taxes. I moved to Nebraska that had (at the time) income taxes of about 15% of the Federal tax. Shortly afterward, I read an editorial in my former Minn. newspaper about how low the taxes were in Minn. and backed it up with statistics. I wrote the author (this was before the Internet) and told him that figures don't lie, but figurers can.

The best things about Minn. are not bought with tax money.

[Valin]

I forgot to add that Lasch's book and Ortega y Gassett's are well worth the investment to purchase them and read them.

Oh sure that's just what I need, more books to read! :-)

If you loved Robert Mapplethorpe's lavender pervo-photography "art"

Oh no thank you. He did however make some other photographs that are just wonderful.
http://masters-of-photography.com/M/mapplethorpe/mapplethorpe_calla_full.html

http://masters-of-photography.com/M/mapplethorpe/mapplethorpe_white_vase_full.html
Too bad he was seduced by the darkside.

[Valin]

You know you're right, and I FEEL real bad about it!

[daviddennis]

Money is poured into inner-city schools, after all, and still kids don't graduate. Many health problems of the poor (alcohol, drug abuse) are self-inflicted, so why should we pick up the tab? After 30 years of trying, the government has not won Lyndon Johnson's war on poverty and ignorance, so why continue the project? Better to rely on the personal salvation and private charity our pastors and radio commentators emphasize. Those are the arguments I hear.

These seem like excellent arguments to me; it would appear that he cannot refute them, since he doesn't even try.

If I was on the left, I would have to ask why our policies are such horrid failures and what we can do about it. Instead, the left makes excuses and asks for more money. We simply point out that we already tried it and it didn't work, and then the left demonizes us.

It looks to me like increasing numbers of people are figuring this out ...

D

[cardinal4]

collective quality of life

Read socialism.

How 'bout those storms last night, huh?

[DLfromthedesert]

Johnson's biggest boondoggle was Medicare and Medicaid; it got the Feds into the healthcare business, drove up health care costs for the rest of us, and got a lot of peope to believe that health care is owed to them.

[moneyrunner]

Outstanding summary. Thank you.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

We lived in the Minneapolis south metro in 1998 when a couple of storms went through. 100 mile per hour winds with golf ball hail. I thought the roof was going to come off, but it held. We got new shingles and new windows, though.
Last night, three deaths were reported by the Camden County, (Missouri) sheriff where we now live. This morning, there are bits of insulation and floopy disks in our yard.

[Pontiac]

Johnson's biggest boondoggle was Medicare and Medicaid

Actually I believe Medicare was under Nixson

[lilylangtree]

Interesting article on Yahoo about the "HAVES." In this case, the article was about Warren Buffet, the 2nd richest man behind Bill Gates. Both men are democrats. Buffet was saying that Bush's dividend tax cut would only help the wealthy HAVES and therefore not good. However, if the dividends are taxed at the corporate rate and then at the shareholders level (resulting in double taxation), then when corporate level taxes on dividends are removed, how is that hurting the average shareholder (HAVE NOTs)? Sounds to me like another RAT (Buffet) doesn't want the HAVE NOTs to experience any good fortune.

[Psycho_Bunny]

It was Ortega y Gassett's thesis that the rise of consumerism and the tastes of the general run of mankind would lower societal standards of taste and drive excellence from the marketplace of culture.

It's either Chuang-Tzu, Loa-Tzu or Mencius who writes to the effect that when a man makes something for himself, it's a work of art, but when his creation becomes coveted by, and produce for, the masses, it becomes mere merchandise.

I wish I could remember which of the three it is.

[wjcsux]

Big companies and the ultra-rich always support RATS. The reason? RATS support higher taxes and big government. This takes out the market competition from smaller "less worthy" entities.

[ninenot]

Are you insinuating that the editorialist doesn't know 1) history and/or 2) what he's talking about?

It's my observation that lately the newspapers are filled with articles demonstrating an absolute VACUUM of knowledge of events occurring before, say, 1980.

Even more interesting is this fellow's misunderstanding of revolutions (ignoring his misunderstanding of Lasch's work;) and that is that EVERY successful revolution is led by the Middle Class. The poor can't finance it, and the rich don't want one.

[steve-b]

"The Revolt of the Elites" was Lasch's title.

The book is kind of like Atlas Shrugged, but more shrill and didactic.