Hi photog,<\/p>\n
I\u2019m a reviled civic nationalist just like you but you shouldn\u2019t put more weight on successful predictions by the dissident right than they deserve. I realized in 2004-2006, when Republicans had the presidency and both houses of congress, that we were in deep do-do. With Republican control nothing changed. Literally, nothing changed. While I like to think I\u2019m smarter than the average bear it doesn\u2019t mean that I have a solution for all that ails the U.S. any more than the dissident right does.<\/p>\n
Before I stopped following the Zman (please don\u2019t think I have a grudge against him, I just know him better than most) he was reading a lot about Karl Marx and the early Russian communists. Zman was impressed by their sharp social criticisms; they did an excellent job of diagnosing the problems 19th century Europe was facing. The elephant in the room with the Marxists was their solution to these problems was horrific. Seeing a problem doesn\u2019t mean you can solve it.<\/p>\n
I hate to say it but a lot of what is happening in the U.S. right now reminds me of problems I used to associate with South America; a loss of the middle class\u00a0and large slums. When I was younger I would wonder why the ruling classes in these countries didn\u2019t do more to encourage the development of a middle class. As time passed I realized that the ruling classes in those countries liked things that way, they liked being an aristocracy that lorded it over the peasants. They had a class identity and not a national identity. I think that\u2019s where the U.S. is now but the dissident right solution of moving toward monarchy is not a solution. All it will do is formalize the class distinctions we\u2019re already seeing.<\/p>\n
At least that\u2019s how I see it.<\/p>\n
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