
The New Class War
Saving Democracy from the Managerial Elite
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Narrated by:
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Robert Petkoff
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By:
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Michael Lind
In both Europe and North America, populist movements have shattered existing party systems and thrown governments into turmoil. The embattled establishment claims that these populist insurgencies seek to overthrow liberal democracy. The truth is no less alarming but is more complex: Western democracies are being torn apart by a new class war.
In this controversial and groundbreaking new analysis, Michael Lind, one of America’s leading thinkers, debunks the idea that the insurgencies are primarily the result of bigotry, traces how the breakdown of mid-century class compromises between business and labor led to the conflict, and reveals the real battle lines.
On one side is the managerial overclass - the university-credentialed elite that clusters in high-income hubs and dominates government, the economy and the culture. On the other side is the working class of the low-density heartlands - mostly, but not exclusively, native and white.
The two classes clash over immigration, trade, the environment, and social values, and the managerial class has had the upper hand. As a result of the half-century decline of the institutions that once empowered the working class, power has shifted to the institutions the overclass controls: corporations, executive and judicial branches, universities, and the media.
The class war can resolve in one of three ways:
- The triumph of the overclass, resulting in a high-tech caste system
- The empowerment of populists, resulting in no constructive reforms
- A class compromise that provides the working class with real power
Lind argues that Western democracies must incorporate working-class majorities of all races, ethnicities, and creeds into decision making in politics, the economy, and culture. Only this class compromise can avert a never-ending cycle of clashes between oligarchs and populists and save democracy.
©2020 Michael Lind (P)2020 Penguin AudioListeners also enjoyed...




















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Sharp analysis crisply argued
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Will change your paradigm on politics in the econo
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As John Lennon sang, "there's room at the top they're telling you still, but first you must learn how to smile as you kill, if you want to live like the folks on the hill". They're likely to have a college degree, think a lot of themselves and treat you like dirt if you're not in their tribe. They cluster in large cities, mostly on the coasts. They're likely to set the agenda in the political sphere, think of themselves as the avante-guard, make good money.
Then there's the rest of the people, who tend to cluster in suburbia, exurbia, and small-town America. Also the plebs of the cities who do the dirty work in restaurants, street repair, and garbage pick-up. They have different political views, some like guns, or fishing or working on cars, etc. Then tend to make low wages, have no college degree, and are excluded from the media and politics. They are pandered to during political elections, but otherwise ignored by the political elites.
I'm an artist, so I don't rightly fit in either camp. But I can see that America is more and more divided by these two classes, with the middle class shrinking.
Learn how to Smile as you Kill
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I think the author gives Trump too much credit, and I doubt he's actually read the Meuller report. He reports the Russian interference in the 2016 election as the small dollar amount of facebook ads that have been conclusively linked to Russia. What he fails to mention, and probably has political motivations to not mention, is the high likelihood that the exposed facebook operation was just the tip of a mountain-sized iceberg. The Meuller report clearly lays out a massive campaign to support Trump, smear Clinton and deepen the divide between Clinton and Bernie supporters. Trump behaved EXACTLY as one would expect if he were beholden to Putin. I do credit Trump for one thing: he didn't start any new wars.
I'm glad he wrote this book, but it's clear the author has serious politically motivated blindspots. There are many places where he presents right wing political spin as fact. Still, a good book for anyone who can think for themselves and check facts for political spin.
Interesting Book
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time better spent in other books.
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Disappointing
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Information seems incomplete
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