I decided to subscribe to this stack in good faith, and on suggestion of Matt Stoller, whose opinion I deeply respect (among other reasons because it has been proven largely unbiased). I leave this stack now - and I expect I will not be alone by any means in doing so - as I cannot, also in good faith, continue to read thinly-veiled apology for literally every single misstep, large or small, this administration is making - and as a matter of reflex, no less. To deconstruct just on how many levels this article does not make sense would take far too much time that can otherwise be spent on anything else (including reading works of actual quality within the realm of political thought)
As someone who’s here for the same reason, I read this post very differently. Reading between the lines just a bit, it’s actually an attack on Trump, or at least a characterization of him as the worst possible solution to the crisis in elite institutions. He’s like a geyser that blows up, destructively, when all other routes to relieve pressure are blocked. Oren is urging elite institutions to open their own pressure valve in a controlled way pretty much explicitly so Trump (and whatever comes next) can be stopped.
Oren realizes that no one else besides Trump would have had the determination and courage to end globalization. Globalization decimated our manufacturing base and tore apart many communities built around those industries in the Rustbelt and beyond.
Deaths of despair ie suicide, drug overdoses, loss of communal support...all ensued. The eiltes had plenty of time to realize the severity of the problems with globalization, but chose not to do much or even deny the problems existed. Then Trump came along.
The blue-collared working class put Trump in the White House and Trump is doing this for them. Trade is meant for two nations to trade in balance, not have one nation destroy its own manufacturing base in the name òf trade. I look forward to when Oren joins the White House as an economic advisor, either in this administration or that of JD Vance.
"Reading between the lines just a bit, it’s actually an attack on Trump, or at least a characterization of him as the worst possible solution to the crisis in elite institutions."
While you're correct that Oren's criticisms very obviously apply to Trump with even greater force than to any other elite institution, I don't think he's entitled to any benefit of the doubt that this is something other than an accident. Just look at Oren's companion pieces last week--which first pre-committed to criteria he would use to judge Trump's tariff announcements, only to then praise Trump's tariff announcement despite tacitly acknowledging they failed on every single one of his criteria--and it becomes difficult to conclude he's anything other than an obsequious hack with respect to the current administration.
Yeah I mean his framing clearly is designed to not alienate Trump-world, which is generally a good strategy if you’re actually trying to exert influence
Exactly. He talks about how it is the elite who *can* govern better, if they choose to govern selflessly. If anything, this felt like a conciliatory message towards us.
Possibly in recognition of the fact that a bomb can’t be aimed - lots of unproductive destruction even if there may be productive as well.
I find it regrettable, but not surprising that someone from your political/economic orientation leaves. After all, for the last 10 years or more, that's been the strategy if one is unable to shout down the opposing viewpoint; or censor for that matter. For example, my X feed is FILLED w/people asking protesters from your side easy questions...such as 'Why are you protesting?" and get:
1. Assaulted
2. Screamed at, or
3. Run away. If you look at Elon's X feed you'll see tons of examples in his re-posts.
Y'see, when I read your comment above about you scuttling off, the thought popped into my head that this is perfectly representative of your side- which is also the side that goes to protests fully masked; either a COVIC mask or a keffayah.
Well, since you're off of Orren; you might benefit from reading Sasha Stone here. I say that b/c her story is similar to mine: hard core lefty who couldn't ignore facts on the ground. For Sasha, it began w/the trannys in schools. That was the beginning for her, and it led to her questioning more and more until she realized that she had been lied to for decades.
For me it was the Twitter files; that took me from being a socialist ALLLL the way to buying a MAGA hat last summer.
What Sasha & I have in common and you woefully lack is a mind open enough to question our own base assumptions. And man oh man is that hard. It's almost like psychotherapy when a patient comes to a breakthrough. It's a powerful experience at the moment, but the real work lies in integrating this new perspective into a coherent world view when most of the fundamentals have proven to be false.
I see you as someone who's 'not there yet'. You may never be, but your tribe is shrinking.
Ouch Jim. Shout down? Me thinks I'd rather be shouted down than bludgeoned with a confederate flagpole during an armed insurrection. But perhaps you're right and the admonition to drink bleach, the big lie, the serial bankruptcies, the spouting of fever swamp conspiracies, etc, are just the maestro playing 4D chess. The self proclaimed very stable genius hard at work. Perhaps:) Meanwhile, watch out for the "tranny's", even though all 12 of them live in faraway lands, they're very clever and they may be coming for you...
I mean, you really don't buy any of the stuff you just posted as actually being factual, right?
I'm forced to ask b/c I've been caught out by satire (b/c I ain't too smart I guess...) I need a :) at the end. But you didn't gimme a :) nor an lol so I'm not sure. So...
Yep. Dead serious. Yet I also understand that some believe the big lie, etc. So maybe you're right. Maybe the film of the attack and the resultant trials were fake. And maybe the Trump appointees and other R's who testified were lying. Maybe the bleach tape was faked. And the tape where he didn't know what the nuclear triad was. Or the multiple tapes where he brags about "acing" a test meant to detect dementia-but I seem to remember him proudly reciting: "person, woman, man, camera, tv". I acknowledge that's possible, but my money's on the other side. As for the tranny's", I see no need to pile on fellow Americans who, like many of us, face unique struggles in life. I'd rather focus on issues that put more money in the pocket of the working class, isn't that what maga supposedly is all about?
Oh Lord... there's so much here to work with and only 24 hrs in a day...
Nah... you're too far gone, sorry. I wish that wasn't the case, but you're a lost cause.
Maybe just watch more ATW or somethin', I dunno. But the above brain vomit you wrote is just too damn messy; there's not a single fact in it; sure it works for a 30s soundbite on MSNBC, but not to people who actually look at it.
I understand Jim. Tape is hard to argue with. Like the tape of JD’s first, and honest, assessment of Don (Americas Hitler?). And all the other assessments of Don from his own appointees, the people he assured us were “the best people” when he appointed them. Tell me, why DO all these people go on tape telling the truth, only to self-geld, again on tape, later?
A tough but fair response. It's kind of crazy that the traditional media is so intent on ignoring your cohort. It seems really obvious to me that by far the most interesting story of the moment is that the election obviously turned on a decisive votor block of previously loyal democrats who woke up one day and decided that we MIGHT end up better off as a country if we remove whoever it was that was running the country regardless of the risks. The story becomes more fascinating when we consider how many--like yourself--feel that we DEFINATELY are better off.
Interesting take. I’d add that most of these elite institutions named did in fact have the trust of most of the American people until social media became available. But why?
My opinion: because things that were done hidden away were never discovered or reported. Then as social media grew people connected with others that had a different piece of the puzzle. When the puzzle was put together a larger disturbing picture emerged.
Then as a knee jerk reaction, those institutions hiding the pieces became obsessed with censoring social media (see twitter files) so as to hide enough pieces so the picture would be incomplete.
To me social media was the light turned on in a dark room to expose the cockroaches slowly destroying things. Some went and hid and some tried to turn the light back off.
With the genie out of the bottle, now it’s damage control and misdirection. That to me is happening now. Fake astroturf protests, activist judges, gov’t employees locking themselves in their offices when DOGE shows up.
That’s one way to read it. Another could be that a lot of things are inherently messy, and social media algorithms lead people to hyper focus on that messiness, leading to more negative opinions.
Gawd, Such elite emoting. Enough. Why can't people just admit the obvious. Don isn't a conservative, he's not a reformer, he's a lunatic. I'd take any normal pol, far right or far left ideologically, if they were merely a normal, decent human who respected our institutions. Better wake up y'all, there is far more than economic theory playing out now. Don't think we too can't become Hungary.
In a normal world, staging an armed insurrection, on TV, leading to the first non-peaceful transfer of power in our nations history, should suffice? If that's insufficient, here are a few more things. Maintaining, even today, the lie about the 2020 election/insurrection, and requiring prospective employees to support the lie. Those two acts alone, undermining faith in our electoral process, are the worst acts ever committed by a US prez, and right out of the classic authoritarian playbook. But there is so much more... Installing unqualified loyalists in the power ministries-justice, defense, law enforcement, intelligence. Pardoning felons convicted for violence, including beating cops with confederate flagpoles, during the insurrection. Shaking down law firms for the "crime" of representing fellow Americans who dared speak out against the dear leader. Seeking to break the civil service under the guise of efficiency. Attacking the university community, again seeking to silence dissent. Disappearing people with no due process. Threatening judges and other officers of the court. And of course, violence permeates all of the above. Violence is key. I could go on, but damn... What if Obama, or Bush, or any other prez did just one of these things? Read one of our many scholars on global authoritarian movements, how they start, how they succeed.
Ah yes, Don is the victim:). He's just a regular ole guy, acting normally, and doggone it people keep being mean to him. It's central to his schtick, and many ingest his bleach. What's most depressing is not that a demagogue like Don appeared. History is replete with them, and the founders did their best to construct a system to deal with them. The depressing part is how the elites in the R party, the business community and other institutions just capitulated. Even though they know the truth, they are only willing to utter it in private. For me, I choose to believe the highest level staff from his first administration, the ones Don appointed while calling them "the best people". They warned us, they used the term that confuses you, "authoritarian". But perhaps you're right, and armed insurrections are the new normal. After all folks like you actually believe the election was rigged:)
Calm down Karl, you don't seem all that worried about being thrown in a concentration camp. Personally, I don't blame Trump getting a bit het up after the government/NGO complex tried to destroy him in all sorts of ways.
However noble (and timely) the populist movement might appear, the quality and competency of the execution still matters. I can't ignore the ham-fisted, slash-and-burn approach we're seeing that results in haphazardly firing and rehiring critical-function federal employees, circumventing congressional authority (and the Constitution), or purging books and historical documents. Plus, the pardoning of the January 6 gang, especially those who assaulted cops. And RFK Jr.? Really? There is a lot of overdue course correction that can be done in a much more constructive and thoughtful way. This populist wave is likely to implode thanks to the misbehavior of the governmental and cultural hobbyists who are in control. I hope the elites and populists (whoever they are) can learn from this painful period and work towards leadership that doesn't repeat the mistakes that got us here.
When we miss out on medical breakthroughs we’ll all feel the pain of these choices. This is all become much like Mao’s cultural revolution, which included much rage but no benefit. Populism is too easily steered towards thoughtlessness as it’s driven forward by emotion over thinking.
Populism works in any political system. It’s about power and permission structures. It allowed Mao to get rid of other party leaders and the bureaucracy and to dumb down the country so he could rule unchecked.
The main thing I continue to be confused about is the conservative attack on Universities. Where is any evidence Universities are intentionally breeding the "communists" that conservatives seem to fear and now the MAGA republicans seek to bully into some form of submission. Likewise where is the provable evidence that DEI programs represent the evil conservatives have promoted? There of course will be cases that any such programs are performed poorly. I would argue they have not been given the true support and for most organizations were lip service and certainly far from having the impact that conservatives fear, i.e. the creation of a truly level playing field. Conservatives for some insane reason believe that there is no inequality in this country and that magically all minorities start at the same place as white males. If that was true then congress would truly represent our actual diversity and women would have a 50% representation. We are no where close to this for the simple reason that exploitive white men (by the way I am an elder white man) have long held power and have done all they can with that power to retain it and disenfranchise the minorities that for some reason they fear. A part of Mr. Cass's narrative sounds like what my white father in law said during the Vietnam war. All of those "long hair hippies" protesting the war should be rounded up by the police because they are un-American. We clearly know what a wasteful screw up the Vietnam war was and so that generation was right to rail against the impositions of a generation of old white male leaders. I appreciate much of what Mr. Cass indicates about any form of elitism. We have to decide as a people what we want our institutions to do for us. And when they swerve into the reality of doing for themselves we have to stop them. We are at that point. We need the views and ideas and recommendations of reasonable conservatives and of reasonable liberals. Our institutions are not delivering what we need. But burning them down with no real plan to replace them with better but to replace them with weaker such that the power of the elite is enable to continue is not the right answer.
I love when elitist pundits contort propaganda into “arguments “ that would make Monty Python proud. The fallacy that DEI is an evil is apparent when we see how trumped up and arbitrary ideas of “merit” produce a cabinet of fools. Cass’s arrogance assumes attacks on whatever he doesn’t like are true because they confirm his bias. I will continue to read this and similar stacks for the mirth that’s in it for me.
J D Vance says that elite institutions are inevitable and the task is to make them operate for the good of the public and not just for their own good. What we have instead now is feudalism without the noblesse oblige. We are better off than Europe though. Their institutions are not scared straight but doubling down.
What’s wrong with Hungary? Are you insane? Do you truly think it’s a selling point that the current maniacs in power want the United States to become more like Hungary? Our country has lost its mind. We have people publicly stating that we should make America (GDP per capita - $80,035 USD, the highest in the world) more like fucking Hungary (GDP per capita - $22,147, 46th globally).
Good piece. Speaking as a "Pragmatic Democrat", I think you're saying something that needs being said, and too many of my more left-leaning Democratic friends are unwilling to say it, so "Thanks". It underlines something I've been saying to others for a few weeks now - That what Trump is doing regarding universities and funding is, yes, regrettable, but necessary - as Federal research funding is the most effective lever he has. And, that universities taking actions under this pressure, either in partial or complete compliance to Trump's demands, is much less a matter of "caving" than it is a matter of finally being motivated to look within and realize that academia's status quo is, in fact, indefensible when exposed to scrutiny by the general public. It would be nice if such introspection came naturally to university leaders, but even last year's Congressional hearings were apparently not enough to fully motivate it. Dollars do tend to focus the mind, though, and minds are being focused. This is a good thing. I do not for a second believe that if Trump were to withhold money from Generic State U., with a demand that the university president stand on his head and whistle "Yankee Doodle", that any inverted whistling would commence, instead of lawsuits. Rather, the responsive changes that ARE being made at some schools are changes that "financially motivated introspection" has indicated needed to be made - on the merits.
The problem is that even if elites think that everybody should want what they want for themselves and try to provide it to life's less fortunate, the less elite can have a very different idea of what they want. Does Mother Hubbard have the right to value better living conditions or better education for her children over better health care (because health care is not a problem for her right now.) Does she have the right to choose what her "betters" would consider the short sighted choice. Who is correct is immaterial, and how could a "correct" assessment be measured? Democracy and freedom say a parent chooses for a child and an adult chooses for himself.
Hi Oren, this is my comment on your New York Times article of today, April 8, "Stop Freaking Out. Trump’s Tariffs Can Still Work":
As a longtime reader of Oren Cass at the American Compass, Commonplace and his blog, Understanding America, I hope the White House makes it a point to read this column and seriously contemplate incorporating some of his points.
I'm very proud of President Trump for ending globalization, which decimated many of our manufacturing communites and tore lives apart. We can do better for the working man
I look forward to the day when Oren becomes an economic advisor to White House. I've heard that Oren and JD Vance have an open communication line, and this bodes well for the future. In the meantime, the White House can read this column and other works by Oren and his team.
I decided to subscribe to this stack in good faith, and on suggestion of Matt Stoller, whose opinion I deeply respect (among other reasons because it has been proven largely unbiased). I leave this stack now - and I expect I will not be alone by any means in doing so - as I cannot, also in good faith, continue to read thinly-veiled apology for literally every single misstep, large or small, this administration is making - and as a matter of reflex, no less. To deconstruct just on how many levels this article does not make sense would take far too much time that can otherwise be spent on anything else (including reading works of actual quality within the realm of political thought)
As someone who’s here for the same reason, I read this post very differently. Reading between the lines just a bit, it’s actually an attack on Trump, or at least a characterization of him as the worst possible solution to the crisis in elite institutions. He’s like a geyser that blows up, destructively, when all other routes to relieve pressure are blocked. Oren is urging elite institutions to open their own pressure valve in a controlled way pretty much explicitly so Trump (and whatever comes next) can be stopped.
Oren realizes that no one else besides Trump would have had the determination and courage to end globalization. Globalization decimated our manufacturing base and tore apart many communities built around those industries in the Rustbelt and beyond.
Deaths of despair ie suicide, drug overdoses, loss of communal support...all ensued. The eiltes had plenty of time to realize the severity of the problems with globalization, but chose not to do much or even deny the problems existed. Then Trump came along.
The blue-collared working class put Trump in the White House and Trump is doing this for them. Trade is meant for two nations to trade in balance, not have one nation destroy its own manufacturing base in the name òf trade. I look forward to when Oren joins the White House as an economic advisor, either in this administration or that of JD Vance.
"Reading between the lines just a bit, it’s actually an attack on Trump, or at least a characterization of him as the worst possible solution to the crisis in elite institutions."
While you're correct that Oren's criticisms very obviously apply to Trump with even greater force than to any other elite institution, I don't think he's entitled to any benefit of the doubt that this is something other than an accident. Just look at Oren's companion pieces last week--which first pre-committed to criteria he would use to judge Trump's tariff announcements, only to then praise Trump's tariff announcement despite tacitly acknowledging they failed on every single one of his criteria--and it becomes difficult to conclude he's anything other than an obsequious hack with respect to the current administration.
Yeah I mean his framing clearly is designed to not alienate Trump-world, which is generally a good strategy if you’re actually trying to exert influence
Exactly. He talks about how it is the elite who *can* govern better, if they choose to govern selflessly. If anything, this felt like a conciliatory message towards us.
Possibly in recognition of the fact that a bomb can’t be aimed - lots of unproductive destruction even if there may be productive as well.
I find it regrettable, but not surprising that someone from your political/economic orientation leaves. After all, for the last 10 years or more, that's been the strategy if one is unable to shout down the opposing viewpoint; or censor for that matter. For example, my X feed is FILLED w/people asking protesters from your side easy questions...such as 'Why are you protesting?" and get:
1. Assaulted
2. Screamed at, or
3. Run away. If you look at Elon's X feed you'll see tons of examples in his re-posts.
Y'see, when I read your comment above about you scuttling off, the thought popped into my head that this is perfectly representative of your side- which is also the side that goes to protests fully masked; either a COVIC mask or a keffayah.
Well, since you're off of Orren; you might benefit from reading Sasha Stone here. I say that b/c her story is similar to mine: hard core lefty who couldn't ignore facts on the ground. For Sasha, it began w/the trannys in schools. That was the beginning for her, and it led to her questioning more and more until she realized that she had been lied to for decades.
For me it was the Twitter files; that took me from being a socialist ALLLL the way to buying a MAGA hat last summer.
What Sasha & I have in common and you woefully lack is a mind open enough to question our own base assumptions. And man oh man is that hard. It's almost like psychotherapy when a patient comes to a breakthrough. It's a powerful experience at the moment, but the real work lies in integrating this new perspective into a coherent world view when most of the fundamentals have proven to be false.
I see you as someone who's 'not there yet'. You may never be, but your tribe is shrinking.
Ouch Jim. Shout down? Me thinks I'd rather be shouted down than bludgeoned with a confederate flagpole during an armed insurrection. But perhaps you're right and the admonition to drink bleach, the big lie, the serial bankruptcies, the spouting of fever swamp conspiracies, etc, are just the maestro playing 4D chess. The self proclaimed very stable genius hard at work. Perhaps:) Meanwhile, watch out for the "tranny's", even though all 12 of them live in faraway lands, they're very clever and they may be coming for you...
You're trolling, right?
I mean, you really don't buy any of the stuff you just posted as actually being factual, right?
I'm forced to ask b/c I've been caught out by satire (b/c I ain't too smart I guess...) I need a :) at the end. But you didn't gimme a :) nor an lol so I'm not sure. So...
Are you being serious right now?
Yep. Dead serious. Yet I also understand that some believe the big lie, etc. So maybe you're right. Maybe the film of the attack and the resultant trials were fake. And maybe the Trump appointees and other R's who testified were lying. Maybe the bleach tape was faked. And the tape where he didn't know what the nuclear triad was. Or the multiple tapes where he brags about "acing" a test meant to detect dementia-but I seem to remember him proudly reciting: "person, woman, man, camera, tv". I acknowledge that's possible, but my money's on the other side. As for the tranny's", I see no need to pile on fellow Americans who, like many of us, face unique struggles in life. I'd rather focus on issues that put more money in the pocket of the working class, isn't that what maga supposedly is all about?
Thank you for speaking my mind!
Your Welcome!
Oh Lord... there's so much here to work with and only 24 hrs in a day...
Nah... you're too far gone, sorry. I wish that wasn't the case, but you're a lost cause.
Maybe just watch more ATW or somethin', I dunno. But the above brain vomit you wrote is just too damn messy; there's not a single fact in it; sure it works for a 30s soundbite on MSNBC, but not to people who actually look at it.
I'll trundle along now.
I understand Jim. Tape is hard to argue with. Like the tape of JD’s first, and honest, assessment of Don (Americas Hitler?). And all the other assessments of Don from his own appointees, the people he assured us were “the best people” when he appointed them. Tell me, why DO all these people go on tape telling the truth, only to self-geld, again on tape, later?
A tough but fair response. It's kind of crazy that the traditional media is so intent on ignoring your cohort. It seems really obvious to me that by far the most interesting story of the moment is that the election obviously turned on a decisive votor block of previously loyal democrats who woke up one day and decided that we MIGHT end up better off as a country if we remove whoever it was that was running the country regardless of the risks. The story becomes more fascinating when we consider how many--like yourself--feel that we DEFINATELY are better off.
Interesting take. I’d add that most of these elite institutions named did in fact have the trust of most of the American people until social media became available. But why?
My opinion: because things that were done hidden away were never discovered or reported. Then as social media grew people connected with others that had a different piece of the puzzle. When the puzzle was put together a larger disturbing picture emerged.
Then as a knee jerk reaction, those institutions hiding the pieces became obsessed with censoring social media (see twitter files) so as to hide enough pieces so the picture would be incomplete.
To me social media was the light turned on in a dark room to expose the cockroaches slowly destroying things. Some went and hid and some tried to turn the light back off.
With the genie out of the bottle, now it’s damage control and misdirection. That to me is happening now. Fake astroturf protests, activist judges, gov’t employees locking themselves in their offices when DOGE shows up.
Elites self preservation.
That’s one way to read it. Another could be that a lot of things are inherently messy, and social media algorithms lead people to hyper focus on that messiness, leading to more negative opinions.
Gawd, Such elite emoting. Enough. Why can't people just admit the obvious. Don isn't a conservative, he's not a reformer, he's a lunatic. I'd take any normal pol, far right or far left ideologically, if they were merely a normal, decent human who respected our institutions. Better wake up y'all, there is far more than economic theory playing out now. Don't think we too can't become Hungary.
Hi. What's wrong with Hungary? Please be specific. Don't use vague derogatory words like "autocratic" or "xenophobic" or make references to Hitler.
In a normal world, staging an armed insurrection, on TV, leading to the first non-peaceful transfer of power in our nations history, should suffice? If that's insufficient, here are a few more things. Maintaining, even today, the lie about the 2020 election/insurrection, and requiring prospective employees to support the lie. Those two acts alone, undermining faith in our electoral process, are the worst acts ever committed by a US prez, and right out of the classic authoritarian playbook. But there is so much more... Installing unqualified loyalists in the power ministries-justice, defense, law enforcement, intelligence. Pardoning felons convicted for violence, including beating cops with confederate flagpoles, during the insurrection. Shaking down law firms for the "crime" of representing fellow Americans who dared speak out against the dear leader. Seeking to break the civil service under the guise of efficiency. Attacking the university community, again seeking to silence dissent. Disappearing people with no due process. Threatening judges and other officers of the court. And of course, violence permeates all of the above. Violence is key. I could go on, but damn... What if Obama, or Bush, or any other prez did just one of these things? Read one of our many scholars on global authoritarian movements, how they start, how they succeed.
Ah yes, Don is the victim:). He's just a regular ole guy, acting normally, and doggone it people keep being mean to him. It's central to his schtick, and many ingest his bleach. What's most depressing is not that a demagogue like Don appeared. History is replete with them, and the founders did their best to construct a system to deal with them. The depressing part is how the elites in the R party, the business community and other institutions just capitulated. Even though they know the truth, they are only willing to utter it in private. For me, I choose to believe the highest level staff from his first administration, the ones Don appointed while calling them "the best people". They warned us, they used the term that confuses you, "authoritarian". But perhaps you're right, and armed insurrections are the new normal. After all folks like you actually believe the election was rigged:)
Calm down Karl, you don't seem all that worried about being thrown in a concentration camp. Personally, I don't blame Trump getting a bit het up after the government/NGO complex tried to destroy him in all sorts of ways.
However noble (and timely) the populist movement might appear, the quality and competency of the execution still matters. I can't ignore the ham-fisted, slash-and-burn approach we're seeing that results in haphazardly firing and rehiring critical-function federal employees, circumventing congressional authority (and the Constitution), or purging books and historical documents. Plus, the pardoning of the January 6 gang, especially those who assaulted cops. And RFK Jr.? Really? There is a lot of overdue course correction that can be done in a much more constructive and thoughtful way. This populist wave is likely to implode thanks to the misbehavior of the governmental and cultural hobbyists who are in control. I hope the elites and populists (whoever they are) can learn from this painful period and work towards leadership that doesn't repeat the mistakes that got us here.
When we miss out on medical breakthroughs we’ll all feel the pain of these choices. This is all become much like Mao’s cultural revolution, which included much rage but no benefit. Populism is too easily steered towards thoughtlessness as it’s driven forward by emotion over thinking.
Do you think Mao is properly classified as a populist politician?
He was playing one with the Cultural Revolution
I don't know....seems like the concept of populism only makes sense in the context of democratic systems.
Populism works in any political system. It’s about power and permission structures. It allowed Mao to get rid of other party leaders and the bureaucracy and to dumb down the country so he could rule unchecked.
I don't know man...seems like the term "populist" loses any useful meaning if we associate it with the most extreme totalists in modern history.
Well Trump is being quite “totalist” right now. Do you think of him as a populist?
Do you live in an alternate reality? My god.
I’ve been following your work since before the Substack Oren — great stuff and only getting better. On the mark Homie
The main thing I continue to be confused about is the conservative attack on Universities. Where is any evidence Universities are intentionally breeding the "communists" that conservatives seem to fear and now the MAGA republicans seek to bully into some form of submission. Likewise where is the provable evidence that DEI programs represent the evil conservatives have promoted? There of course will be cases that any such programs are performed poorly. I would argue they have not been given the true support and for most organizations were lip service and certainly far from having the impact that conservatives fear, i.e. the creation of a truly level playing field. Conservatives for some insane reason believe that there is no inequality in this country and that magically all minorities start at the same place as white males. If that was true then congress would truly represent our actual diversity and women would have a 50% representation. We are no where close to this for the simple reason that exploitive white men (by the way I am an elder white man) have long held power and have done all they can with that power to retain it and disenfranchise the minorities that for some reason they fear. A part of Mr. Cass's narrative sounds like what my white father in law said during the Vietnam war. All of those "long hair hippies" protesting the war should be rounded up by the police because they are un-American. We clearly know what a wasteful screw up the Vietnam war was and so that generation was right to rail against the impositions of a generation of old white male leaders. I appreciate much of what Mr. Cass indicates about any form of elitism. We have to decide as a people what we want our institutions to do for us. And when they swerve into the reality of doing for themselves we have to stop them. We are at that point. We need the views and ideas and recommendations of reasonable conservatives and of reasonable liberals. Our institutions are not delivering what we need. But burning them down with no real plan to replace them with better but to replace them with weaker such that the power of the elite is enable to continue is not the right answer.
I love when elitist pundits contort propaganda into “arguments “ that would make Monty Python proud. The fallacy that DEI is an evil is apparent when we see how trumped up and arbitrary ideas of “merit” produce a cabinet of fools. Cass’s arrogance assumes attacks on whatever he doesn’t like are true because they confirm his bias. I will continue to read this and similar stacks for the mirth that’s in it for me.
Clear analysis, thank you.
J D Vance says that elite institutions are inevitable and the task is to make them operate for the good of the public and not just for their own good. What we have instead now is feudalism without the noblesse oblige. We are better off than Europe though. Their institutions are not scared straight but doubling down.
What’s wrong with Hungary? Are you insane? Do you truly think it’s a selling point that the current maniacs in power want the United States to become more like Hungary? Our country has lost its mind. We have people publicly stating that we should make America (GDP per capita - $80,035 USD, the highest in the world) more like fucking Hungary (GDP per capita - $22,147, 46th globally).
All very interesting, but I wanted to know about Hungary. It’s apparently even worse than the USA. Please explain.
Good piece. Speaking as a "Pragmatic Democrat", I think you're saying something that needs being said, and too many of my more left-leaning Democratic friends are unwilling to say it, so "Thanks". It underlines something I've been saying to others for a few weeks now - That what Trump is doing regarding universities and funding is, yes, regrettable, but necessary - as Federal research funding is the most effective lever he has. And, that universities taking actions under this pressure, either in partial or complete compliance to Trump's demands, is much less a matter of "caving" than it is a matter of finally being motivated to look within and realize that academia's status quo is, in fact, indefensible when exposed to scrutiny by the general public. It would be nice if such introspection came naturally to university leaders, but even last year's Congressional hearings were apparently not enough to fully motivate it. Dollars do tend to focus the mind, though, and minds are being focused. This is a good thing. I do not for a second believe that if Trump were to withhold money from Generic State U., with a demand that the university president stand on his head and whistle "Yankee Doodle", that any inverted whistling would commence, instead of lawsuits. Rather, the responsive changes that ARE being made at some schools are changes that "financially motivated introspection" has indicated needed to be made - on the merits.
The problem is that even if elites think that everybody should want what they want for themselves and try to provide it to life's less fortunate, the less elite can have a very different idea of what they want. Does Mother Hubbard have the right to value better living conditions or better education for her children over better health care (because health care is not a problem for her right now.) Does she have the right to choose what her "betters" would consider the short sighted choice. Who is correct is immaterial, and how could a "correct" assessment be measured? Democracy and freedom say a parent chooses for a child and an adult chooses for himself.
Hi Oren, this is my comment on your New York Times article of today, April 8, "Stop Freaking Out. Trump’s Tariffs Can Still Work":
As a longtime reader of Oren Cass at the American Compass, Commonplace and his blog, Understanding America, I hope the White House makes it a point to read this column and seriously contemplate incorporating some of his points.
I'm very proud of President Trump for ending globalization, which decimated many of our manufacturing communites and tore lives apart. We can do better for the working man
I look forward to the day when Oren becomes an economic advisor to White House. I've heard that Oren and JD Vance have an open communication line, and this bodes well for the future. In the meantime, the White House can read this column and other works by Oren and his team.