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American conservatism is a machine for driving a wedge between the people who are trying to save this society ("liberal intellectuals", although neither word sh
by bokonist 15y ago
American conservatism is a machine for driving a wedge between the people who are trying to save this society ("liberal intellectuals", although neither word should be pejorative) and the common people of the country they are trying to save.
Who are you including under the term "liberal intellectual"? Are you including folks like Martin Feldstein (Harvard), Larry Summers (ex Harvard), Robert Rubin (Harvard BoD) and Robert Schiller (Yale)? If so, I'd argue those academia-associated liberals are every bit part of the problem. Even further-to-the-left intellectuals like Krugman have their salaries mainly funded by donations from wealthy bankers, and they offered very little criticism of the financial sector before 2008.
- oelewapperke 15y agoAnd, as stated in the article : the top 0.1% gets their "real wealth" from government interference. What's the net worth of Obama (or Bush). Who influences policy ? Exactly what has happened to the net worth of Al Gore these last 10 years ? So it seems that there are arguments going exactly the other way too. The easiest way to make the top 0.1% destroy themselves seems easy : destroy the government regulations keeping them wealthy, and excluding others. That is of course diametrically opposite of both all forms of leftism and not a very popular option with those upper middle class "liberal" people, whose interests mainly seems to lie in protecting their benefactors. Or, if they get really roused up, they may upgrade their interests to becoming the new power elite, so they can start excluding others.
- davedx 15y agoYup... Chomsky makes very much that point in 'On Language'; the liberal intellectuals are the elite's best propagandists. :(