Saturday, July 30, 2005

Thomas Frank: What's the Matter with Liberals? Conservatives generally regard class as an unacceptable topic when the subject is economics -- trade, deregulation, shifting the tax burden, expressing worshipful awe for the microchip, etc. But define politics as culture, and class instantly becomes for them the very blood and bone of public discourse. Indeed, from George Wallace to George W. Bush, a class-based backlash against the perceived arrogance of liberalism has been one of their most powerful weapons. Workerist in its rhetoric but royalist in its economic effects, this backlash is in no way embarrassed by its contradictions. It understands itself as an uprising of the little people even when its leaders, in control of all three branches of government, cut taxes on stock dividends and turn the screws on the bankrupt. It mobilizes angry voters by the millions, despite the patent unwinnability of many of its crusades. And from the busing riots of the Seventies to the culture wars of our own time, the backlash has been ignored, downplayed, or misunderstood by liberals. 12:30:53 PM   permalink   comment []

I have crossed the Yadkin River four times today, and thus retrieved our younger offspring from camp. The boy having returned from basketball camp on Thursday, the family is reunited. I am glad to see everyone...but I could have used another week of Grown-up Camp. 11:15:37 AM   permalink   comment []