The common man is definitionally the one whose’a opinions matter. Maybe academics should become worthy of the respect of those who fund their activities.
Should it? The common man didn't want women to vote 100 years ago (and didn't go to acedemia either). They didn't want minorities to be people (or I guess count as 60% of a person) 200 years ago. The common man could be wrong.
The common man approved these changes, eventually. That’s democracy. Violating the will of the people now because they didn’t always agree with you is not democracy. You would much prefer to live in a monarchy or some form of feudalistic society if you would prefer to override the will of the people
Yup. But they didn't change their minds overnight. And not without a lot of protesting, and even some bloodshed. That's what's trying to happen. People from 100 years ago before the 19th amendment would also interpret it as "violating the will of the people", but that's almost always how you change minds as a grassroots.
>You would much prefer to live in a monarchy or some form of feudalistic society if you would prefer to override the will of the people
Protesting a proposed monarchy does not mean I approve of a monarchy. I'm not really a fan of this kafkatrap esque narrative. People post-Women's suffrage would also complain, so it's not like you're critical to convince of this to get my goals.
We do. That's how we collectively decides what gets done. It's the least bad system for making decisions.
That doesn't mean we sometimes don't make some really fucking stupid decisions, and there's no way to whitewash it.
Just because a lot of people believe in something doesn't mean they are right, it just means that's what we are going to be doing. Plenty of democratic societies have made horrific mistakes in the past. American readers might be passingly familiar with the Declaration of Causes of Seceding States, while German readers may have heard of something that happened in 1932.
And since the election, the show is definitely being ran by elites, they just happen to be elites with a much wealthier PR department. It's wild, though, how they've duped people into thinking they are some kind of everyman-outsiders.
Anyone who still thinks the richest narcissist in the world and a slumlord from New York give two figs about some working class sap will be in for a surprise.
The disillusionment with elites has been brewing forever, such is the nature of common vs. elite. However I would say the outright detestment for normal people reached its pinnacle when Obama said people who don’t vote for him “cling to guns and religion” and Hilary Clinton said those voting Trump were a “basket of deplorables”. Such blanket statements from our leaders describing half the country truly proved the minds of those fully detached from the common man.
It’s fair to protest and disagree. It’s another thing to call those who oppose you in a democratic society “nazis” or other hyperbolic pablum.
The absolute failure and collapse of the American left will be studied endlessly over the coming years. It will rebuild. But the wilderness will be long and difficult.
> Such blanket statements from our leaders describing half the country truly proved the minds of those fully detached from the common man.
Of the two parties this past election, one ran a campaign of governing for all America, and the other of division, with a loud and clear goal of punishing the half of the country that didn't vote for them.
Yet, strangely enough, the latter campaign was the one that succeeded. It's strange how the standard for the two parties differs.
> It’s another thing to call those who oppose you in a democratic society “nazis” or other hyperbolic pablum.
Are you implying that it's somehow impossible for a democracy to elect a fascist or an authoritarian? Did the Confederacy, or the Reich just magically appear out of thin air?
(Bonus question: Why do they... Keep giving, and applauding Nazi salutes at rallies? Did they sleep through history class? Are they unaware of what that symbol means? Should I not believe what I see with my own eyes?)
I grew up in NoVA. The dominant attitude at the time among the cognitive elites who worked for government was that we know how to do things, and we’ll use our capabilities in service of doing the things the common people want. It was a veneer even then—for example immigration has been increasing for decades even though the majority has never wanted that. But at least lip service was paid to the order of authority.
Sometime between Bush and Trump I that was replaced by an attitude of “the common people are deplorables and our values and goals are better.” Same attitude we have in south asia actually.
