Back in the day, the Empire was run by the Oxbridge crowd. The uniformity of opinion was stultifying and self-satisfied, and eventually came to look ridiculous when the whole affair was overtaken by history.
In the more recent past and present, the Empire is run by the Ivy League crowd. Again, uniformity of opinion, self-satisfaction, inability to understand the world shifting.
(edit: OK, a little harsh. But the parallels are interesting.)
I’ve figured it out. Brexit, Trump, #MeToo, … it’s the year (five years?) of Fuck It. Nothing was working, everything was grinding to a halt. Everyone was proposing changes around the edges for longstanding problems that nobody was really addressing. Gridlock. Sand in the gears, no progress. People tried the polite protest, but no go, no improvement. Women still earning 70c on the male dollar. Climate not being addressed. Huge economic inequality, some people making out like bandits and most people going backwards. Not to mention the Endless War of occupation for ill-defined and discredited principles that we can’t extract ourselves from.
So everyone collectively said: to hell with it, we’re going to blow it all up. Everyone understands there’s a cost: women publicly exposing their hurt, despite the cost to their career or respect from the world, because it’ll finally cost the perpetrators more. Republicans knowing that Trump’s a dangerous ass, but hoping he’ll destroy politics-as-usual.
So they did. No idea what’ll happen next.
Republicans voted for Roy Moore in the primary. Let the man run. Meanwhile, if there’s criminal behavior, let it be investigated. If there’s unethical behavior, let it be discussed in public. In a democracy, this man is the voice of (some of the) people. Resorting to trickery to remove him from Republican consideration, or hide him away from the electoral process, is undemocratic.
He represents a tiny minority of citizens. He (and they) have a right to participate, and we-all have a right to point, condemn, and laugh at their behavior.
Virginia decertified their electronic touch-screen voting machines in September, due to concerns about vote tampering. In November, 15 seats changed hands to Democrats, and the Democratic gubernatorial candidate won in a tight race
Coincidence? (daa dah dah dah daaa?)
The Problems of “Privilege”: Lessons from the French Revolution – Quillette.
Interesting comparison. Interesting conclusion: this discussion occurs when the privileged class (in this case, white males, in the French Revolutionary precedent, noblemen) has less power than it did.