The Grand Canyon-Sized Chasm Between Elites and Ordinary Americans

Rob Henderson's Newsletter ^ | February 4, 2024 | Rob Henderson

[cgbg]

I have more confidence in “common” folks than elites—not because they are born with better values but because I think power does go to people’s heads.

A “normal” person with modest sociopath tendencies usually keeps them in check and does not become a complete jerk.

A wealthy person with those same tendencies can get out of control in a hurry.

[DoodleBob]

Terminology is always important.

As a term, “Elite” is awful.

First, they’re not.

Second, just because someone makes a lot of money and lives in a highly-populated zip code (parenthetically, I haven’t a clue how many people live in town) doesn’t make them Klaus Schwab. Indeed, I bet a bigly number of FReepers fit that bill, and about 14% of “Elites” in this study are Republicans (probably many are from the Paul Ryan wing of the GOP).

Third, on some level, people who hold these views believe they ARE better than the rest of humanity; in other words, they wear “Elite” as a badge of honor. It’s like calling us Deplorables.

I prefer “putz” or “jackwagon” or “pod-eating wokester.” But I digress. The far left progressives are actually lily white. Nearly seven-in-ten Progressive Left (68%) are White adults, making this group less racially and ethnically diverse than the other Democratic-oriented groups.

Yet, these Dems hold not only extremist views on race, but views more extreme than those held by more racially-diverse Dem groups.

They live in enclaves in cities, prefer going to museums over going to the range, and think religion is sophistry. Their policies and language all reek of a Superiority Complex.

I get Affinity bias. We all have it. I'd probably be rejected by an Anarcho-Syndicalist Commune and the feeling would be mutual.

I have met “Elites” chiefly at work. When it comes to work, they’re actually ok. But if you go to a work function and get a few belts into them (while you keep drinking seltzer to make them think you’re tipsy, too…) they let their inner Megalomaniac come out. This lot haaaates blacks, youths and elders who are “poor” or live in podunk little towns.

Scratch an “Elite,” find a Vichy in a suit and tie or lab coat.

[Chode]

*

[9YearLurker]

Wow. The Ivy Grads’ take on rationing meat, gas-powered vehicles, air travel, freedom, etc., is even worse than I would have imagined.

[Grampa Dave]

It’s a big club, and you ain’t in it. You and I are not in the big club! ~ George Carlin

(Warning! Typical George Carlin language!) May 4, 2014

“But there’s a reason. There’s a reason. There’s a reason for this, there’s a reason education sucks, and it’s the same reason that it will never, ever, ever be fixed. It’s never gonna get any better. Don’t look for it. Be happy with what you got.

Because the owners of this country don’t want that. I’m talking about the real owners now, the real owners, the big wealthy business interests that control things and make all the important decisions.

Forget the politicians. The politicians are put there to give you the idea that you have freedom of choice. You don’t.

You have no choice. You have owners. They own you. They own everything. They own all the important land. They own and control the corporations. They’ve long since bought and paid for the senate, the congress, the state houses, the city halls, they got the judges in their back pockets and they own all the big media companies so they control just about all of the news and information you get to hear. They got you by the balls.

They spend billions of dollars every year lobbying, lobbying, to get what they want. Well, we know what they want. They want more for themselves and less for everybody else, but I’ll tell you what they don’t want:

They don’t want a population of citizens capable of critical thinking. They don’t want well informed, well educated people capable of critical thinking. They’re not interested in that. That doesn’t help them.

That’s against their interests. That’s right. They don’t want people who are smart enough to sit around a kitchen table to figure out how badly they’re getting ***ked by a system that threw them overboard 30 ***king years ago.

They don’t want that. You know what they want? They want obedient workers. Obedient workers. People who are just smart enough to run the machines and do the paperwork, and just dumb enough to passively accept all these increasingly shittier jobs with the lower pay, the longer hours, the reduced benefits, the end of overtime and the vanishing pension that disappears the minute you go to collect it, and now they’re coming for your Social Security money.

They want your retirement money. They want it back so they can give it to their criminal friends on Wall Street, and you know something?

They’ll get it. They’ll get it all from you, sooner or later, ‘cause they own this ***king place.

It’s a big club, and you ain’t in it. You and I are not in the big club. And by the way, it’s the same big club they use to beat you over the head with all day long when they tell you what to believe. All day long beating you over the head in their media telling you what to believe, what to think and what to buy. The table is tilted folks.

The game is rigged, and nobody seems to notice, nobody seems to care. Good honest hard-working people — white collar, blue collar, it doesn’t matter what color shirt you have on — good honest hard-working people continue — these are people of modest means — continue to elect these rich ************s who don’t give a ***k about them. They don’t give a ***k about you.

They don’t give a ***k about you. They don’t care about you at all — at all — at all. And nobody seems to notice, nobody seems to care. That’s what the owners count on; the fact that Americans will probably remain willfully ignorant of the big red, white and blue dick that’s being jammed up their ********** everyday. Because the owners of this country know the truth: it’s called the American Dream, because you have to be asleep to believe it.”

― George Carlin////May 4, 2014

https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/964648-but-there-s-a-reason-there-s-a-reason-there-s-a-reason

https://media.tenor.com/HhA-coxG7gAAAAAC/plan-planned.g

[dfwgator]

I used to dismiss Carlin as a lefty.

But now, I think everything he said there is the absolute truth.

[Grampa Dave]

Rob Henderson’s Newsletter, ROB HENDERSON. FEB 4, 2024

The Grand Canyon-Sized Chasm Between Elites and Ordinary Americans

Ivy Leaguers versus everyone else!:

55% of Ivy League graduates believe that the U.S. “provides too much individual freedom” compared with just 16% of ordinary U.S. voters.

Back in 2019, as I was developing what became the luxury beliefs framework, I read a recently issued chapter published by Cambridge University Press titled “Why Are Elites More Cosmopolitan than Masses?”

Authored by a team of social scientists, this 2019 paper reports stunning gaps in political views and outlooks between elites and ordinary people in various western countries.

https://www.robkhenderson.com/p/the-grand-canyon-sized-chasm-between

[metmom]

More like a Marianas Trench size.

[Grampa Dave]

“I used to dismiss Carlin as a lefty.”

But now, I think everything he said there is the absolute truth.”

I used to think that Carlin was a lefty hippie druggie.

A younger relative sent some of Carlin’s written thoughts like this one. That convinced me otherwise.

[dfwgator]

During Carlin’s time, the perception was the rich were conservatives, maybe they paid lip-service to Conservatives, but they just go along with whatever the prevailing political winds are, and now that’s liberal.

[yelostar]

The concept of elitism within a societal framework began with the ancient mystery schools.

Esoteric, hidden knowledge was passed on only to the initiated, and secrecy was paramount. The knowledge passed on was not meant for the masses.

https://www.ancient-origins.net/history-ancient-traditions/mystery-school-0013599

The world as it stands now - politically, economically, spiritually, and every other way - bears this out. The mass of humanity is - and has been for millennia - managed by an elite hierarchy.

[daniel1212]

And demographically, there are Boomers 53 million functional boomers (ages 55 to 73), vs. 72 million Millennials + 66 million Generation X = 53 million vs. over 138 million Millennials and Gen X, plus many Generation Z who can vote now (more later)

Sep 13, 2023 Of more than 55.8 million elderly adults in the U.S. (65 or older), 1.3 million live in nursing homes, representing 2.3% of the elderly population. An additional 818,800 elderly Americans reside in assisted living facilities. - https://www.aplaceformom.com/senior-living-data/articles/elderly-nursing-home-population

2023 72.24 million Millennials were the largest generation group in the U.S. in 2022, with an estimated population of 72.24 million. - https://www.statista.com/statistics/797321/us-population-by-generation/

2024 Generation X, or Gen X, refers to the generation of people born between the mid-1960s and the early-1980s. Gen X-ers, falling between baby boomers and millennials, number around 66 million.- https://www.investopedia.com/terms/g/generation-x-genx.asp

2024 Generation Z, born between 1997 and 2012... approximately 68.6 million Gen Zs living in the United States (US Census) - https://explodingtopics.com/blog/gen-z-stats

2019: Millennials overtake Baby Boomers as America's largest ... Apr 28, 2020 — Generation X (ages 39 to 54) numbered 65.2 million and is projected to pass the Boomers in population by 2028.

Millennials have surpassed Baby Boomers as the nation’s largest living adult generation, according to population estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau.

As of July 1, 2019 (the latest date for which population estimates are available), Millennials, whom we define as ages 23 to 38 in 2019, numbered 72.1 million,

and Boomers (ages 55 to 73) numbered 71.6 million.

Generation X (ages 39 to 54) numbered 65.2 million and is projected to pass the Boomers in population by 2028.

Projected population by generation
https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2020/04/28/millennials-overtake-baby-boomers-as-americas-largest-generation/

[Clemenza]

Well as long as the “right” keeps looking like phonies complaining about “elites” while arguing for economic policies that keep these elites wealthy they will keep losing.