For generations, the source of conflict in the American political system is that it represents a small slice of the American people. The Yankee elite that rose up in the aftermath of the Civil War, later joined by Jews in the 20th century, represents not only a narrow cultural slice of American society, but a narrow economic slice as well. Since the end of the Cold War this has become acute. In 30 years, there have been three major reformist movements attempting to broaden the ruling coalition.
It seems like a lifetime ago, but Ross Perot was in many respects the prototype for Donald Trump’s 2016 run. Perot ran as an outsider, on the back of his folksy observations about the federal government. Despite being very rich, he was clearly a man of the lower classes. His picaresque presentation was very appealing to a large portion of the population open to populist appeals. If not for his enigmatic personality, he probably would have won the White House in 1992.
Of course, what opened the door for Perot’s 1992 run was the Buchanan challenge to George H. W. Bush in the Republican primary. When asked why he was running against Bush he said, “If the country wants to go in a liberal direction, it doesn’t bother me as long as I’ve made the best case I can. What I can’t stand are the backroom deals. They’re all in on it, the insider game, the establishment game—this is what we’re running against.” That should sound familiar.
Both of those efforts to broaden the establishment coalition to include the majority of white Americans failed, but they set up the 2016 Trump run. While it is clear that the Perot and Buchanan efforts failed in their mission, it is too soon to know if the Trump effort is a failure. The cracking of important institutions like the media and now the voting process will have consequences into the future. Perot and Buchanan focused on the people, while Trump focused on the system itself.
What we have seen thus far in the 30 years since the end of the Cold War is two of the three ways people can attempt to broaden the ruling coalition. Both are reform efforts that start outside with the desire to end up inside. Perot wanted to bring in new people, who would represent the broader public. Buchanan and Trump both wanted to reform the system by reforming one of the parties. Buchanan wanted a genuine right-wing party, while Trump wanted a populist party.
The third way, of course, is the purely outsider movement. This is when the unrepresented create an alternative outside the ruling coalition. They either peacefully compel the ruling elite to acknowledge their interests or they replace the ruling elite, and the system they rule, with a new elite and a new system. This is exactly what happened with the American Revolution. A new elite replaced the old elite and created a system that worked for them to replace the old system.
This is what makes the current moment so dangerous. Within one generation three efforts to broaden the ruling coalition have failed, while the condition of the unrepresented has declined. Just as important, the number of people feeling threatened by the status quo has increased. In the 1990’s, reformers were speaking for the white working class. Today, it is the broader middle-class that is becoming increasingly radicalized by the intransigence of the ruling class.
Another subtle point of comparison between now and that previous revolutionary moment is the divide between the reform from within crowd and the emerging outsiders, rallying around the election fraud. Ann Coulter took a swipe at Nick Fuentes over his criticism of some things she said. Coulter’s Tory instincts got the better of her and she inadvertently confirms the Fuentes criticism. Despite her reformist rhetoric, Queen Ann has always been a loyalist.
Another little glimpse of this divide is in the Ed Dutton interview of Steve Sailer last week, in which the election was a topic. Sailer strangely says that he has seen no evidence of election fraud. This is something you hear from other old paleocons and it reflects that old loyalist instinct. They cannot question the integrity of the system, as their goal has always been to join the system as a reformer. Therefore, their faith in the system is unshakable. It is civic nationalism in a nutshell.
Finally, the other bit of comparison is that the Founders did not view themselves as radicals or revolutionaries. The Declaration itself is a bourgeoise document filled with objectivist rhetoric explaining their actions. Even at the point of the break, they sounded like men willing to meet the crown halfway. Certainly, many of them knew this was impossible and saw this moment coming for a long time, but the need to show they were forced into this position was important to them.
That same instinct is turning up in the election protests. The young people out on the streets in state capitals are using the language of reform, but are clearly ready to make a break with the system entirely. They are young and enthusiastic, so they may not see it, but the logic of their arguments can only lead to a rejection of the system as being illegitimate. If the voting system is fraudulent, then the results of it are fraudulent, making this government the fruit of a poisoned tree.
It is tempting to dismiss what is happening as heat of the moment rhetoric that will fade as passions fade. There is some truth to it. The establishment will rehabilitate some former Trump supporters like Coulter, putting them back on television. Others will temper their rhetoric in the hope of being rehabilitated. The media will try to surround the remnant in a cone of silence. The ruling class will apply the same ointments they used the last time they suffered a populist outbreak.
The trouble is, the causes of this last populist outbreak have not gone away and they promise to get worse. The fundamental problem that existed at the end of the Cold War exists today. That is, forty percent of Americans have no representation in either political party and as a result have no voice in government. The number is certainly larger, but blacks and most white liberals are so easily deluded with ceremonial tokens they imagine themselves as vital parts of the ruling coalition.
The Declaration of Independence was at the time and is today a very radical document, which is why our rulers don’t mention it much anymore. A couple of generations ago it was the center piece of civics instruction. Today it has been replaced by critical race theory and other nonsense from the multicultural fever swamps. Even so, the message still resonates today. Whenever any form of government ceases to represent the will of the people, it is the right and duty of the people to abolish it.
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I remember a conversation with an uncle about the 1992 election. He said he voted for Perot, then quickly said, ‘yeah, I know, I was stupid. It was a vote for Clinton!’
Has anyone ever seriously speculated what a second term of George H.W. Bush been like? Other than extending the careers of 30-40 Democrats in Congress in the 1994 election, what would have happened?
We would hate him even more intensely.
An additional 10,000 employees at the CIA snooping into the lives of American citizens.
The second war with Iraq would have happened in a year or two, followed by war with Iran. Domestically, it would have been much like Bush 2.0. Perot bought us some time, which was squandered. Trump bought us some time. We bets not squander it again.
Thought Perot was a ‘nutter until I read “On Wings of Eagles” by Ken Follet. Wish I’d read it before Bush II rose to office. Would your boss hire a mercenary team to rescue you abroad, after explicitly being told by the State Dept. he’d go to jail if he did so? Mine sure as heck wouldn’t . That’s Ross Perot. Patriot and populist, and boy howdy I wished he’d thrashed the Bush dynasty and served 2 terms. The Bushes trashed a good man in pursuit of a multi-generational political dynasty, which is all they really know how to do.… Read more »
I read “On Wings of Eagles” a couple of years before the election, so I was an enthusiastic Perot voter. Yeah, he was quirky, but so what? Just liked he cared for and felt responsibility for his employees, he wanted to save America and the American workers’ jobs that were going to Mexico and other countries.
Sounds a bit like people saying that we should sit out a few election cycles today.
Your uncle was wrong. His vote was the right vote. If the system is offering cat-poop, dog-poop or kibble and you opt for kibble but you get dog-poop, the problem is the limited options themselves, not having to choose between them.
Maybe we have to resurrect the old “no taxation without representation”. These fools demonizing a large segment of the country are playing with fire and all that’s needed is the spark.
Heh. That’d be nice… but for our elites it’ll be more like ‘no representation without vaccination’.
And “no vacation without vaccination”.
“No vacation without vaccination”.
Snort!
I’m stealing that.
The lines will be drawn among LEOs on this issue in the very near future. It all boils down to loyalty to the concept of individual liberty or “but muh boat payment.”
I work very closely with LEO’S and I can tell you that a majority of them are only concerned with their paycheck and retirement. They will gladly arrest and beat you and your loved ones if told to do so.
America has fallen into the same trap that the Romans and Spanish fell into. Specifically, the empire has provided the ruling elite with a source of funding that is exogenous to their society – and therefor outside the bounds of control that previously existed. For the Romans it was the conquest of wealthy regions and an influx of slaves. For the Spanish it was Latin American silver and gold. For the US it’s the petro dollar and endless “debt”. America is at a point where taxes don’t matter at all for funding the federal government. They’re utility is only in… Read more »
Lucky for us without the petrodollar the US is still a leading oil producer. That makes the whole thing even more senseless. Almost like we’re the muscle for somebody else…
The petro-dollar is what permits the money printer to go *brrrr*
These fools demonizing a large segment of the country are playing with fire
fire can be extinguished, the german peasants rebelled against their masters in the 16th century because heavy burdens were put on them, the serfs were defeated a year later, 100 000 were killed, worse reprisals followed after, the peasants became obedient.
If the coup succeeds, many Americans will rationally conclude that we have passed a tipping point in our nation’s history. Once election theft at the presidential level is legitimized, the rule of law is dead and we no longer have a bond as citizenry. This is no trivial thing, so what to do about it? In a nutshell, prepare now to confront and oppose the inevitable tyranny. Do this with seriousness and intelligence. It is existential. Your actual life depends upon your tangible actions going forward. Natural evolution is being restarted like an oncoming freight train.
In a nutshell, prepare now to confront and oppose the inevitable tyranny Mental preparedness begins with accepting this simple instruction. For those just waking up, start small and start now. Look around at the elements of the Machine that have enslaved you (debt, “job security”, academic pursuit financed by debt, mortgage dependent on the Greater Fool, prog family, etc) and respond right now. TODAY. Food, water, & physical security…start there. Take stock of your position. Make corrections, fortify and begin jettisoning your dead weight. Anyone defending any idea that voting harder, or getting our guy into _________ cannot be convinced.… Read more »
I agree. Fine essay, and not just because I agree with the fundamental premise, heh heh. Campaigned (while living in the USA) for both Perot and Buchanan, pleased to have done so, and then left the country for the final time. I hope Prez Trump prevails in this mess that proves the premise of this essay. Whether he does or not, however, the “system” is indeed broken, as is the idea of a united “proposition” for the nation. There are now two propositions and only one can prevail. The outcome will be of great import going forward, particularly if a… Read more »
Precisely right. There is no point in attempting to reform a corrupt system. Both parties are simply branches of a poisoned tree. Without the ability to participate, we need to rid ourselves of a ruling class that now openly despises us. I know some of them personally and I can read the hatred and determination on their faces. They have to go.
Today, it is the broader middle-class that is becoming increasingly radicalized by the intransigence of the ruling class. Yes, it’s funny in a way. I hear many people lament the demise of the middle classes – as both an social and economic entity – yet from where I sit almost all our problems are caused by this sort of person. I have yet to be lectured by a scaffolder, bricklayer, mechanic or whatever you fancy on ‘the need to enforce strict tax measures to save our planet’ or ‘to wear the mask as it saves lives’. These people also have… Read more »
The bug guy came to my house yesterday. When he walked in the door I said you don’t have to wear the mask if you don’t want to and he gratefully took it off. We didn’t have a long conversation but it was almost in code and we knew exactly where each other stood
Depends. Chimney guy was at my home few months back. Even on the ladder he wore a mask. I couldn’t resist, and it turns out he was a retired union worker from up north, and was voting for the pretender because the pretender”s experience in government would get it functioning properly again.
Yep. I had a furnace guy and he wouldn’t take the mask off either
This is an edgier version of Z’s TakiMag article from yesterday. The Sturm und Drang process of republican government always depended on a reasonable ruling class to ward off disaster. We didn’t have those reasonable people in the 1850s and we don’t have them today. The Media Class is hell-bent on seizing power with the help of their political shills, and the “opposition” is nowhere to be found (with the possible exception of golf courses). Unless we find leadership that is unafraid of risking their “lives, fortunes, and sacred honor”, we have no choice but to rebel without them.
I always thought what Perot ran on, the loss of manufacturing jobs (the Giant Sucking Sound) and the national debt problem, struck a chord with many Americans. He couldn’t win the election, though, because most weren’t ready to make a break from the establishment. While Trump has many faults, exposing and ridiculing the establishment press isn’t one of them. Same with his exposure of the establishment voting process.
You’d think after 12 years of Bushes, the blindfold would be off and people would have enough of Team “R”.
Yet here we are, the “Fate of the Republic” rests on two nothingburgers in GA winning their runoff Senate races.
The more things change…
Limbaugh had lined up against him (no small thing at the time) saying that he wasn’t serious. Fair or not, his choice of Admiral Stockdale as VP fed in to the storyline that he was running more on some personal grudge with Bush than some high-minded crusade. In hindsight this was not fair as a non-establishment candidate isn’t exactly going to have his pick of administrative personnel (see: Trump).
Your observation that Trump is a foreign body that they felt the need to flush out was spot-on, but the problem is that any organism that wants to achieve homeostasis needs to establish a feedback loop for regulation. But the ruling class that just ousted Trump is not just homicidal against white normies and Christendom. It is nihilistic and suicidal as well. Pointing out that they’re materialistic does not prove they want to live; the pleasures of expensive wine enjoyed by a Hillary Clinton or underage girls by the husbands of these harridans is just to dull the pain (Bill… Read more »
The tipping point may very well come when businesses and perhaps even local governments begin enforcing “mandatory” C19 vaccine laws. You will need a vaccine card to enter a supermarket, a doctor’s office, or to even drive your own car (vehicle checkpoints on your local streets?). With the C19 lockdowns the ruling class now has the blueprint for nationwide pacification. I’m afraid we ain’t seen nuthin’ yet.
This is the flashpoint we need to focus on. By refusing to cooperate, we can use Covid as the raison d’etre for launching a counter-revolution. The ruling class have handed us a weapon we can use against them.
You know the old adage “the difference between cops and criminals is that cops have permission to kill”? Well with the circumstances you describe it begs the question how many LEOs will remove their badge and weapon and place them on their supervisors desk and how many will gleefully jump at the chance to arrest an 85 year old granny and smash her face into the sidewalk enforcing “executive orders”?
It will be mostly neither depending on where you live. Police see the hollowed out economy the same as everyone else. Only those with other employment options will pop smoke based on their morality, because they want to care for their family same as many others. Many of the rest will do what they do now, and turn a blind eye and let slide stuff that their common sense knows isn’t worth enforcing. But what should be concerning is that new group, those who don’t share bonds with the community or drunk on the power of imposing their own restorative… Read more »
Or you say fuck it and order everything from amazon
if the Washington post begins pushing for vaccinations, we will know what is really the end game
For another glimpse, Charles Murray admitted on Twitter that he voted for Biden. He said he didn’t reluctantly because Trump is not Presidential. He did not respond with any further explanation or justification that I saw. He also regularly praises his AEI colleague Jonah Goldberg, even though Goldberg is the personification of an intellectual lightweight and doesn’t defend Murray when the mob gets ginned up after him.
The evolution of Murray has been interesting and saddening to watch.
Not presidential, eh? Perhaps somebody can correct me, but I cannot recall him regularly banging the ‘white guilt’, ‘white supremacy’, ‘apologize for your history’ war-drums – like almost every other ‘Presidential’ candidate.
I have read Murray and respected him despite flaws that were evident in him. Now I loathe him and his ilk.
“not Presidential”
That’s literally the dumbest criteria for voting.
Sad that Murray isn’t brave enough to admit that he’s simply a tard.
Murray is from Iowa, and middle-class Midwesterners simply can’t stand Trump’s personality.
That said, while Murray may be HBD aware, he’s not pro-White. There’s a difference. You see it every day in Sailer’s comments.
I’d go as far to say the “system” is really our race and as long it is only us within it that reform might be possible.
personally, I just can’t see how reform is possible as long as blacks are here. ((()))s are also a problem but they can be constrained with some will power, and they reflexively and rather peacefully revert back to that outsider position like a cat picked up by the scruff. ,
That’s always the hang up. Some stasis could be found between all the other groups in the landmass save one: the lowest common denominator is just too low.
Slight off-topic tangent: The Declaration always struck me as a post hoc justification for what the founders were going to do anyways. It was more or less some enlightenment rhetoric to justify the rising elite taking power. Read the Declaration and then read the British response. Who sounds like the more reasonable party? Especially enjoyed this line from the Brits: “No precise, unequivocal terms of submission to the authority of Parliament in any case, have ever been offered by any Assembly. A concession has only produced a further demand, and I verily believe if every thing had been granted short… Read more »
I made the same point in a comment awaiting “moderation”.
Steve Sailer saying he sees no evidence of fraud really astounds me. Civic nationalism or undying belief in institutions doesn’t explain it well for me. One of us is not right in the head and I don’t think it’s me.
If he thinks California of which he lives in is doing hunky dory then we have to put this guy out to pasture. (I don’t know if he does, but if?)
I listened to that interview and when Sailer said that, it was astonishing. And Dutton agreed with him, although I get the feeling he hasn’t followed the election fraud that closely. When it comes to numbers and statistical probabilities, etc, I normally would put Dutton and Sailer right at the top of the list. It’s also surprising that on yesterday’s TDS show, Mike Enoch also said he didn’t think there was enough election fraud to swing the results. But maybe that’s Trump dislike talking.
Sailer’s reluctance over the past five years or so to move forward has been interesting and saddening. He seems stuck in a time warp at about the year 2000, constantly trying to convince David Brooks-types that it’s in their interest to lay off Whites. I realize that Sailer always hoped to be part of the accepted pundit crowd around the level of Murray and Coulter, but he had to have realized years ago that this wasn’t going to happen. In addition, he’s definitely noticed that even crew is being replaced by more militant and younger writers so there’s not much… Read more »
A lot of people seem to assume you need a Snidely Whiplash character twirling his mustache while explaining to a camera how they are going to commit fraud. In truth, we all know that left to their own devices, people will do whatever cheating they need to win. The null hypothesis for any election should therefore be “The election was fraudulent unless very compelling evidence states otherwise.” Can anyone say with the issues with machines with proprietary code, massive issues with chain of command, vote counting going on for WEEKS, unobserved ballot counting, and non-existent signature matching that this is… Read more »
Between being a pro-vax mark, denying election fraud, and him living in his closet I’m permanently done with Sailer.
Sailer just can’t bring himself to cross the river to our side. That said, his writings bring a lot of people to riverbank so they can see the other side. It’s up to them (with our help) to get them across.
Yes there is opportunity, but lacking any real physical real world preparation – not talk, not blogs- there will be no “luck.”
= sums to status quo.
Sad to say.
Washington DC stole the election from Trump. Trump is planning to ‘steal’ it back. If ‘constitutional’ niceties can be maintained so much the better. Otherwise the outcome will depend on the correlation of forces. How many regiments does Nancy Pelosi and Joe Biden command?
Shutting down all the small businesses is starving all the Trump supporters and the populist. Could the Ukraine and the holodomor happen here?
The Ron Paul movement was another attempt at reform. It was hampered by his libertarianism and professorial demeanor. Even though he represented the largest minority bloc in the GOP, They shut him down, not allowing even a 1 minute speech at either convention. McCain and Romney, both odious, especially couldn’t tolerate Paul’s criticism of the Forever Wars. That gave Trump a big issue when he ran in 2016.
That is absolutely shocking that Steve Sailer said there was no evidence of election fraud. Nothing could be more obvious. You know, I saw those ballots in Georgia. The Sunday before the election I drove up to the mountains and I was just north of the city driving past the Fulton County Annex and there is a U-Haul parked in the street with its hazards on and a bunch of black guys wheeling black suitcases into the annex. I knew something was wrong when I saw it and now course I know what it was
Yes, Mr Sailer hasn’t distinguished himself this year with some of his writings.
PSA: Sailer is a pro-vax mark and is publicly praising an obvious vax-shill account he is allowing to run amok in his comment threads.
Perot was right about a lot of things but his weirdness about his daughters wedding or whatever that issue was kinda gave me pause. Buchanan was a normal guy. Perot nor Trump are quite as normal and stable as Buchanan was. Trump has his weird baggage too. I just wished the nation would have seen the value of Pat Buchanan.
But it is what it is.
We need a new system not the cucky Republicans of Conservative Inc today.
I oppose Ann Coulter and her vindeta against all things Trump.
Remember ’92 well and was one of those people realizing that once the Cold War was over, our “elites” really had no idea what to do. (Read “While We’ll Soon Miss the Cold War”–published back around 90-91in the Atlantic) Voted for Perot because he seemed to be the only guy, in his quirky way, that realized what was “next”. But something very different in the air now. The benefit of Trump being elected is all pretense and subtlety was dropped by our erstwhile masters in the effort to mount an immune response to the Trump virus. And don’t believe there… Read more »