That right wing kook, Charles Murray, co-author of The Bell Curve, is at it again and this time the Washington Post provides the platform. He revives the age-old notion that the right has been pumping into their bloodstream for decades -- that "Elites" are dangerous to America's welfare and need to be exposed.
This kind of thinking is embedded in the "Producerist" narrative that drives right-wing populism: the notion that cultural elites are a danger to the middle and working class, because they use a parasitic underclass of the poor and minorities to undermine the "real" producers of society. Hollywood and academia have always embodied these "elites" for the right. And so here comes Murray, who seems to have discovered that there's a new "elitism" in our country.
It's all based on whether you watch NASCAR. No really.
With geographical clustering goes cultural clustering. Get into a conversation about television with members of the New Elite, and they can probably talk about a few trendy shows -- "Mad Men" now, "The Sopranos" a few years ago. But they haven't any idea who replaced Bob Barker on "The Price Is Right." They know who Oprah is, but they've never watched one of her shows from beginning to end.
Talk to them about sports, and you may get an animated discussion of yoga, pilates, skiing or mountain biking, but they are unlikely to know who Jimmie Johnson is (the really famous Jimmie Johnson, not the former Dallas Cowboys coach), and the acronym MMA means nothing to them.
They can talk about books endlessly, but they've never read a "Left Behind" novel (65 million copies sold) or a Harlequin romance (part of a genre with a core readership of 29 million Americans).
... The bubble that encases the New Elite crosses ideological lines and includes far too many of the people who have influence, great or small, on the course of the nation. They are not defective in their patriotism or lacking a generous spirit toward their fellow citizens. They are merely isolated and ignorant. The members of the New Elite may love America, but, increasingly, they are not of it.
Matt Yglesias explains the folly of these analogies.
Actually, what we're seeing is a new elite class emerge like never before. They are emerging with the help of a right-wing propaganda machine that has never existed in this country -- and as things stand, their infrastructure will only increase. And they are known this time in our history as The Tea Party. Their elitism follows these lines.
Tea Party elitism means that it's cool to...
Believe that tax cuts for Big Business are the best answer for any troubled economy even if their own cities are wiped out because CEOs decided to take their business to China.
Believe that you receive just as good an education if you get a college degree from Pat Robertson's Regent University as it is graduate Stanford.
Believe that businesses should not be bound by any anti-discrimination policies because they own the friggin' joint.
Believe that if you don't watch NASCAR, you're an elitist.
Believe that it's OK if they go on welfare, medicare and unemployment, but would vote against sustaining those programs if elected to Congress.
Believe women should be forced to give birth even after being raped and would consider sentencing the mother to jail if even contemplating an abortion.
Believe it's more important to have a six-shooter than it is to help feed the poor.
Believe that Christine O'Donnell is "you."
Most of all, they believe -- indeed, they argue endlessly, as Murray does here -- that the Tea Partiers are the only "Real Americans." Anything else? A minority, or gay, an immigrant, or -- heaven forbid -- a "Cultural Elite"? That's all The Other.
