A Class War for Our Time: A review of “The New Class War: Saving Democracy from the Managerial Elite,” by Michael Lind

American Greatness ^ | January 21, 2020 | J.D. Vance

[C19fan]

I first heard of Michael Lind from a friend, who called him “cantankerous” and “brilliant” and mentioned that Lind was certain Trump would win. This was in 2015, when the conventional wisdom held that Trump’s pre-primary lead in the polls would evaporate, giving way to a more serious establishment candidate to challenge Hillary Clinton.

I first met Lind more than a year later, at an event hosted by a Washington, D.C. think tank he founded, where he walked me through his entire theory of American politics. In short, we were undergoing a realignment where populist Republican voters would lead a revolt against the party’s libertarian and neoliberal elite. And he explained how this realignment led to the rise of Donald Trump.

Lind has now published The New Class War, a book that delves into the details of our conversation from a few years ago. It’s an expansion of an essay he published in American Affairs, where he argues that Western democracies are undergoing a significant upheaval because Western elites have rebelled against the working and middle classes of their own countries. Those elites have invested in globalized labor arbitrage in China and other countries instead of building productivity in their own nations. In the process, they have created a labor market where working-class people have found it harder to find the kind of work that enables them to live the kinds of lives they want. And they have made a social world where the institutions—unions and churches, especially—that working class people rely on have been decimated. These two facts are related, of course: the decline of unions is, in part, a story of globalization decimating the American manufacturing sector.

[C19fan]

My image of what is going is Willard Romney would feel more comfortable hanging out with George Soros at Davos than Middle America GOP voters. Many of us have realized this and are on Team Trump.

[griswold3]

“Elizabeth Warren’s college debt forgiveness program that, on net, transfers wealth from the middle to the top, even as it leaves the very people who caused the problem—university administrators—untouched.”
True.

[aquila48]

“the decline of unions is, in part, a story of globalization decimating the American manufacturing sector.”

But this begs the question: To what extent were greedy, out of control unions responsible for globalization?

I remember the joke going around back then that GM was no longer an auto company, but a pension and medical insurance organization.

[wastoute]

“Held aloft my the class war they refuse to fight.”

Mr. Barr? Mr. Barr? Bueller?

Another great line I learned today, “Flight 93 mentality”.

[48th SPS Crusader]

“The New Class War: Saving Democracy from the Managerial Elite,” by Michael Lind

In what Country?

[SunkenCiv]

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The Managerial Revolution: What Is Happening in the World by James Burnham paperback unknown binding

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[GOPJ]

Outside of provision for healthcare and other basic needs, Lind doubts whether redistribution can solve our most significant problems. He is similarly scornful of the idea that workers need only to “go back to school” or, worse yet, “just move” for better wages.

OR worse yet - 'learn to code'..

The writer doesn't have the correct understanding of 'elites' but he's getting closer and it's only 'kinda class warfre'... Traditional is more a cultural attitude than a class position. It's why Trump with his billions, fancy education, and cushy lifestyle isn't an 'elite'. It's also important to remember that that term 'elite' used in our 'new right' lingo IS AN INSULT.

I would always laugh when Trump would speak to the base and try to explain that he was 'as elite' as any of them... he's not. He's authentic... so much a part of us that it's funny to think he would want to be considered what the slang term 'elite' means...