Aren't you missing something? Calling something "tribalism" does not make it so. Tribes are based on shared genes, shared history, shared language, shared religion -- specifically on things that are not values-anyone-can-adopt but rather blood relationships and things that act as symbolic markers for them. Anyone can be WEIRD in the language of the article. Although money and education certainly help, those beliefs are open to anyone. Not everyone can be English, Pashtun, etc. Nice try, but no.
19
Needs a second chapter. The new cosmopolitan tribe sees itself as "post-colonialist" but in fact exhibit the same absolute confidence in their rightness and superiority to unenlightened people as did their classic western colonialist predecessors.
77
You lost me with this one Ross. If you think the only options are to be regressive or godless, think harder.
34
Last weekend in Portland Oregon we enjoyed the Naked Bike Ride. We Americans should consider ourselves lucky. There has been and always will be competition from various places, more so in desirable cosmopolitan cities, for work.
People should step back and take stock of how good we have it in Oregon. That by the way means that we have it good in America. Anyone from any economically distressed state or backwood in the Republic can move to Portland, take off their clothes, ride their bike around, put their clothes back on, get a job, and so forth. And many of you have!
Same as it was since the first lizard crawled out of the primordial froth, you have to be ready to emerge out of bad swamps, struggle across deserts or oceans, and find a new locale sometimes. Also there will be other lizards or creatures that are unfamiliar to you, but just be nice to them. They could be customers in the future.
Stop complaining! It could be much worse.
Provocative and insightful editorial, thank you
People should step back and take stock of how good we have it in Oregon. That by the way means that we have it good in America. Anyone from any economically distressed state or backwood in the Republic can move to Portland, take off their clothes, ride their bike around, put their clothes back on, get a job, and so forth. And many of you have!
Same as it was since the first lizard crawled out of the primordial froth, you have to be ready to emerge out of bad swamps, struggle across deserts or oceans, and find a new locale sometimes. Also there will be other lizards or creatures that are unfamiliar to you, but just be nice to them. They could be customers in the future.
Stop complaining! It could be much worse.
Provocative and insightful editorial, thank you
34
The first task of culture is to make most things invisible. It is a collective reduction and simplification process, and its force lies in how it operates before or below the level of consciousness.
A well-acculturated person is one who can safely be counted on the notice only certain classes of things (ideas, questions, people, trends, etc.) and not others. Our well trained mental eye simply slides over what it is not supposed to see, and comes to rest on those items of shared value, the totality of which will never threaten the comfort, rightness, or interests of them and theirs.
Such an understanding of what constitutes a "tribe" is far more useful and less parochial than the sneering model Mr. Douthat is employing. I do not disagree that the "urbanised elites" you describe do indeed exist, are far less open minded (that is actually seeing the full range of the social and political world around them AS IT IS rather than a highly selective and self-serving interpretation). And that this same weakness is finally, painfully rising to the level of common awareness (see David Brooks heading out on his listening tours).
But for you, Mr. Douthat, I would say, physician, heal thyself. Having once lived deeply immersed into a rural, southern universe myself, I can say that other such cultural "tribes" have little claim to truth or clarity to make that is better. And your/their current critique is more schadenfreude than anything else.
Switching sides is not finding truth.
A well-acculturated person is one who can safely be counted on the notice only certain classes of things (ideas, questions, people, trends, etc.) and not others. Our well trained mental eye simply slides over what it is not supposed to see, and comes to rest on those items of shared value, the totality of which will never threaten the comfort, rightness, or interests of them and theirs.
Such an understanding of what constitutes a "tribe" is far more useful and less parochial than the sneering model Mr. Douthat is employing. I do not disagree that the "urbanised elites" you describe do indeed exist, are far less open minded (that is actually seeing the full range of the social and political world around them AS IT IS rather than a highly selective and self-serving interpretation). And that this same weakness is finally, painfully rising to the level of common awareness (see David Brooks heading out on his listening tours).
But for you, Mr. Douthat, I would say, physician, heal thyself. Having once lived deeply immersed into a rural, southern universe myself, I can say that other such cultural "tribes" have little claim to truth or clarity to make that is better. And your/their current critique is more schadenfreude than anything else.
Switching sides is not finding truth.
10
"Cosmopolitanism" is just a brief period of experiencing the last vestiges of regional cultures before the full sweep of global monoculture. Wherever globalism takes hold, values and economic rewards narrow to finance and technology. If you criticize the "tribalists" who voted for Brexit, then realize you endorse disappearance of the English cultural history that brought the world Darwin, Shakespeare, Austen, Monty Python, the Beatles, and all else that has come from a unique place, unique people and their unique values. You welcome a future in which everywhere you go will be the same place. Like McDonalds, globalists are just the happy face of corporate capitalist monoculture.
28
Elite Tribalism? as opposed to true cosmopolitanism?
You mean the Republican tribalism that make all the Republicans walk in lock step? That created and lives the Hastert rule? That follows the Norquist pledge? That organized upfront sabotage of Obama's presidency?
Your political friends are the perfect showcase for tribalism. No sophistry needed on your side to display what and where the tribalism rules.
You mean the Republican tribalism that make all the Republicans walk in lock step? That created and lives the Hastert rule? That follows the Norquist pledge? That organized upfront sabotage of Obama's presidency?
Your political friends are the perfect showcase for tribalism. No sophistry needed on your side to display what and where the tribalism rules.
35
There is also an accountability problem with the elites that lead or public lives. You can argue that those who fail are maintained simply because they benefit that elite. I'd cite the neo con Kagan as an example of this. In any rational just society he would not have the voice he still has based upon Iraq. On the left you could cite Summers and his roles with derivatives and financial liberalization. One can make the case that this lack of accountability has created much of the current political climate. It's not being elite, it's elite unaccountability. I di not want to be seen s taking sides left Vs right here, but while the nytimes cites clintons experience, i see her nomination as not being held accountable for the mistakes she has made getting that resume. If the elites refuse to hold each other accountable, then what should we / they expect to happen
15
Yes. Tribalism hasn't been abolished. It's simply another tribe, and unfortunately, one every bit as convinced of its superiority and entitlement to rule over others as many other tribes.
28
Relatedly, a lot of so-called "cosmopolitans" (a category that might include me) have a smugness about their supposed openness to diversity that misses how attached they (like any people) are to the cultural context with which they're familiar.
As a result, they misunderstand themselves and others. They make up bogus alternative explanations for why they enact policies to protect the culture of their communities, and they assume that it's racism when other people do similar things. I've felt alienated by the lack of Jews in some places even though I'm not Jewish, and I think I'd feel alienated if I had to live on a kibbutz. A town with no central americans would seem weird, but I wouldn't want to live in a Guatemalan town where no one spoke English. And while I'm a church-going, english-speaking Catholic who usually befriends a group of other Catholics when I get to new places, I've found extended periods in environments where we're the only people unbearable.
People's attachment to their cultural surroundings is nearly universal and is probably healthy. Other people in such places will get your jokes and understand your allusions to books and TV shows. You can easily assess social settings. You intuitively know where to go for which purchases.
That I'm most comfortable on the BOS-WASH corridor, am less comfortable in Paris but still fairly at home, and wouldn't know what to do if I were dropped in Idaho isn't a moral victory over people whose comfort zones are different.
As a result, they misunderstand themselves and others. They make up bogus alternative explanations for why they enact policies to protect the culture of their communities, and they assume that it's racism when other people do similar things. I've felt alienated by the lack of Jews in some places even though I'm not Jewish, and I think I'd feel alienated if I had to live on a kibbutz. A town with no central americans would seem weird, but I wouldn't want to live in a Guatemalan town where no one spoke English. And while I'm a church-going, english-speaking Catholic who usually befriends a group of other Catholics when I get to new places, I've found extended periods in environments where we're the only people unbearable.
People's attachment to their cultural surroundings is nearly universal and is probably healthy. Other people in such places will get your jokes and understand your allusions to books and TV shows. You can easily assess social settings. You intuitively know where to go for which purchases.
That I'm most comfortable on the BOS-WASH corridor, am less comfortable in Paris but still fairly at home, and wouldn't know what to do if I were dropped in Idaho isn't a moral victory over people whose comfort zones are different.
36
Is Mr. Douthat suggesting that he would just as well live under the Goths as the Romans? I fail to grasp his point.
24
Ha, the sheer hypocrisy, the convenient elision! It's the educated, liberal elites vs the hoi polloi while the moneyed conservative class and its lackeys in the right-wing intelligentsia, who since Saint Ronny and Dame Maggie have been preaching a trickle down screed that is now demonstrably bunk, specially for the ageing working classes in rusty far away places like Sunderland that failed to get on the global boat, get away unblemished and unmentioned. If you're going to build a straw man, Douthat, make sure to give it two arms, one on the left and one most definitively on the right.
53
No no Ross, you're wrong. Cosmopolitan sorts walk the talk my friend. We (gasp) befriend kind people of lesser means, we find value in intelligence and openness wherever it lies. We emphasize and appreciate what connects us all and we seek to find connections wherever we go. We hope to contribute to a world that values all individuals and tolerates all sorts. And it is not a rant. It is a belief system that if we all shared would make the world a better place.
46
Mr. Douthat is right about the decline of cosmopolitanism, a personal trait that flourished in Rudyard Kipling's day, when it took some fortitude and openness to new experience to feel at home in distant lands. Today, if you are college educated you can go almost anywhere in the world and whether you stay in a 5-star hotel or a youth hostel you will find people like yourself, who even speak your own language--provided it's English. So cosmopolitanism has been replaced by globalism. That having been said, Mr. Douthat could said aside philosophizing about elite tribalism and focus on the problem all social analysts are talking about: the problem that in post-industrial societies the benefits of globalism accrue to the information-manipulating few and leave industrial workers behind.
24
Also globalists are destroying the globe. They are working to maximize world GDP, and believe that more money solves all problems. The global corporations that fund globalism want growth, including population growth. The Western establishment has bought into their agenda of growth thru immigration in Western countries, and benign neglect of population elsewhere is leading Africa to go from 1 billion to 4 billion people in this century.
Globalism has brought offshoring, financial crash, wealth extremes, Iraq war, illegal immigration, hostile superpower China, $19 trillion debt, Zika, Dengue, superbugs...
Globalism has brought offshoring, financial crash, wealth extremes, Iraq war, illegal immigration, hostile superpower China, $19 trillion debt, Zika, Dengue, superbugs...
35
The battle is should we embrace our sisters and brothers here in America, black, brown, yellow and uncolored, or reject every color in favor of our own.
Is that possible, to go "all the way"!
One way or the OTHER.
Embrace diversity or reject it.
Nahhhh, The Donald has spoken. It's all bad, but he has a one liner that will Trump A Size it.
Just trust me, I know what I'm doing.
Is that possible, to go "all the way"!
One way or the OTHER.
Embrace diversity or reject it.
Nahhhh, The Donald has spoken. It's all bad, but he has a one liner that will Trump A Size it.
Just trust me, I know what I'm doing.
9
Normally a good writer this is just a bunch of cliches reinforcing stereotypes. This American liberal sent his kids to majority minority school. In Europe and in the areas of the USA with good public school systems there are plenty of working class intellectuals. The alleged divide has been fostered by a lazy anti-intellectual media and I don't just mean Fox, CNN's hiring of Trump's goon is a typical example - no effort is made to move beyond hostility as an audience draw.
11
It is a mistake to view this column through a partisan lens. It stands on its own, as the best commentary yet on Brexit. Douthat achieves an objectivity that eludes liberal commentators.
Yes, the educated, mostly liberal, and mostly upwardly mobile of this world are tribal in every respect – just as tribal as the Trumpers or Leavers they revile.
Most Times commenters belong to that Cosmopolitan tribe. Often, they will blame their elders for the problems, and pin the hated "neoliberal label on them. But that reflects an intergenerational conflict within the tribe. They're all part of the same tribe, regardless.
Self-absorbed and self-justifying, these Cosmopolitans express only their own fears and concerns when they write about Brexit. Few ever touch on the anguish and distress of working class whites here in the US: the early deaths due to suicide and substance abuse, the family and community breakdown, the loss of jobs, income and status. Or the corresponding problems of the white, working class in England.
There's certainly been enough publicity about this epidemic of despair, but the Cosmopolitans appear unmoved. These victims are outside the tribe, after all. They are expendable.
http://tinyurl.com/nrf6d5x http://tinyurl.com/oeudqug http://tinyurl.com/jt65v5m http://tinyurl.com/hg5ykpy
Yes, the educated, mostly liberal, and mostly upwardly mobile of this world are tribal in every respect – just as tribal as the Trumpers or Leavers they revile.
Most Times commenters belong to that Cosmopolitan tribe. Often, they will blame their elders for the problems, and pin the hated "neoliberal label on them. But that reflects an intergenerational conflict within the tribe. They're all part of the same tribe, regardless.
Self-absorbed and self-justifying, these Cosmopolitans express only their own fears and concerns when they write about Brexit. Few ever touch on the anguish and distress of working class whites here in the US: the early deaths due to suicide and substance abuse, the family and community breakdown, the loss of jobs, income and status. Or the corresponding problems of the white, working class in England.
There's certainly been enough publicity about this epidemic of despair, but the Cosmopolitans appear unmoved. These victims are outside the tribe, after all. They are expendable.
http://tinyurl.com/nrf6d5x http://tinyurl.com/oeudqug http://tinyurl.com/jt65v5m http://tinyurl.com/hg5ykpy
37
When dinner table conversation veers to the merits of one international airline's business class vs another's, you've reached the Cosmopolitan class. Real estate or the latest cool edible leaf are obsessions (Parilla was discussed for 20 minutes at a recent dinner). We dress well, but similarly, i.e. expensive suits purchased duty free or casual clothes from ZARA or UNIQLO. I've been a proud member of the Cosmo club since graduating from university 30 years ago. Membership has taken me beyond uninspiring suburbia (the San Fernando Valley!!) to worlds and experiences seen only in my National Geographic magazines in the 1970s. A cousin recently wrote a review of a local Chick-fil-a and proudly posted it on Trip-advisor. I did the same last year, but for a groovy cafe in Antwerp. I can visit Chick-fil-a anytime (but won't), but she will never even visit Belgium, which I find a little sad.
6
Yes, cosmopolitanism is a tribe. It is a multiracial, multiethnic, feminist tribe that is also tolerant of homosexuality. In other words, it is a tribe defined not on permanently identifiable external characteristics, but on beliefs. It is a learned tribe, open to all who chose to educate themselves in the ways of empathy. Is it perfect? No. Is it the only tribe that can lead us out of the 21st Century? Yes.
13
You describe the world of academic professors in many ways. mostly white, educated, well-off, liberal politically. They think themselves open-minded and cosmopolitan but are often VERY closed minded and judgmental. I teach as an adjunct and feel a huge rift. They like everyone else are in their own self-serving bubbles out of touch and exclusionary. But they don't think so. Even the anthropology and sociology professors who should know better.
We are all tribal, and for good reasons. We just haven't evolved enough to be inclusive.
We are all tribal, and for good reasons. We just haven't evolved enough to be inclusive.
20
@cheddarcheese oregon
As a person with a science background, I have a problem with people who don't believe in evolution or that global warming is man made.
None of the Republican presidential candidates this year would admit in public to either of those.
Call me closed minded and judgmental.
On the other hand, I grew up blue collar, the first one in my family to go to college, started working in high school and paid for college and graduate school, all the kinds of accountability and responsibility characteristics that conservatives should like. But tell them I voted for Obama, that ends any conversation.
They tell me we need to teach our children to be good Americans.
I ask them why not just teach our children to be good people?
As a person with a science background, I have a problem with people who don't believe in evolution or that global warming is man made.
None of the Republican presidential candidates this year would admit in public to either of those.
Call me closed minded and judgmental.
On the other hand, I grew up blue collar, the first one in my family to go to college, started working in high school and paid for college and graduate school, all the kinds of accountability and responsibility characteristics that conservatives should like. But tell them I voted for Obama, that ends any conversation.
They tell me we need to teach our children to be good Americans.
I ask them why not just teach our children to be good people?
18
Exactly.
8
Thank you Mr. Douthat. As a center-left reader I appreciate your abilities as a translator to let us know how the right sees the left. We on the left seek to understand the imbalances that created the BLM movement, the human desire of immigrants to seek a better life for themselves and their children, the social isolation of the poor who are for the most part, left to their own devices.
And yet, we often use name-calling and shaming when concerns are raised by those on the right. Is there a chance that maybe, just as the right wraps itself its jingoistic nationalism, the left wraps itself in its smug superiority? Or is it that those on the right genuinely feel strongly enough about their country to enlist in the military, fighting and dying for their country, and those on the left genuinely see this country as a light in the darkness, a sanctuary for all the down-trodden around the world.
I guess it depends on your point of view. Perhaps people on both sides need to reconsider just how sure we are of our understanding of the 'other'.
And yet, we often use name-calling and shaming when concerns are raised by those on the right. Is there a chance that maybe, just as the right wraps itself its jingoistic nationalism, the left wraps itself in its smug superiority? Or is it that those on the right genuinely feel strongly enough about their country to enlist in the military, fighting and dying for their country, and those on the left genuinely see this country as a light in the darkness, a sanctuary for all the down-trodden around the world.
I guess it depends on your point of view. Perhaps people on both sides need to reconsider just how sure we are of our understanding of the 'other'.
18
"...perhaps we should speak no more of left and right, liberals and conservatives. From now on the great political battles will be fought between nationalists and internationalists, nativists and globalists. From now on the loyalties that matter will be narrowly tribal .... or multicultural and cosmopolitan."
No, Douthat still did not get to the core - the fundamental issue is the unequal distribution of wealth that fuels all these "isms" -
People are so afraid to point to class inequity for fear of hearing the screech "communism" as a solution that they are unwilling to identify the problem.
All these "ism" can be collapsed into two words: Rich. Poor. Everything else is secondary. 19th century redux.
No, Douthat still did not get to the core - the fundamental issue is the unequal distribution of wealth that fuels all these "isms" -
People are so afraid to point to class inequity for fear of hearing the screech "communism" as a solution that they are unwilling to identify the problem.
All these "ism" can be collapsed into two words: Rich. Poor. Everything else is secondary. 19th century redux.
22
like a young writer I knew who had traveled Africa and Asia more or less on foot for years, not for a book but just because
---------------------
I saw a pilgrim coming past the sidewalk café on the lane leading to the sacred spring at Lourdes, noticing his staff, rucksack, a seashell (symbol of St. James, co-patron saint of Spain since founding the Basilica of El Pilar in Zaragoza in 40 A.D.), heavy-duty walking shoes, and a badge on his cap that said "Jerusalem." I asked him to join me, I was intrigued. He'd walked from Madrid to Santiago de Compostela, then on the camino east to St Jean de Luz, France, south to Lourdes along the foothills of the Pyrenees, then southeast to Aix and along the Med. shore to Italy, southeast to its boot heel, by ferry to Greece, etc. Walking the entire way. He'd been baptized anew in the river Jordan, at the site where John the Baptist worked his magic, had a certificate from there, and another for having walked the camino (600 miles). He was on his 11th pair of shoes, donated by folks along the way, as was lodging, and some meals. He had meager $$. He was walking to Spain thru the tunnel from Pau, FR to Zaragoza, then to Madrid.
"What motivated you?" I asked. "I'm doing it on behalf of a friend who has breast cancer," he said. He joined our group (incl. cancer survivors) for dinner that night, and shared his story. Our group visited much of Spain and Portugal the next week. The Iberians' faith was deep, with many saints.
---------------------
I saw a pilgrim coming past the sidewalk café on the lane leading to the sacred spring at Lourdes, noticing his staff, rucksack, a seashell (symbol of St. James, co-patron saint of Spain since founding the Basilica of El Pilar in Zaragoza in 40 A.D.), heavy-duty walking shoes, and a badge on his cap that said "Jerusalem." I asked him to join me, I was intrigued. He'd walked from Madrid to Santiago de Compostela, then on the camino east to St Jean de Luz, France, south to Lourdes along the foothills of the Pyrenees, then southeast to Aix and along the Med. shore to Italy, southeast to its boot heel, by ferry to Greece, etc. Walking the entire way. He'd been baptized anew in the river Jordan, at the site where John the Baptist worked his magic, had a certificate from there, and another for having walked the camino (600 miles). He was on his 11th pair of shoes, donated by folks along the way, as was lodging, and some meals. He had meager $$. He was walking to Spain thru the tunnel from Pau, FR to Zaragoza, then to Madrid.
"What motivated you?" I asked. "I'm doing it on behalf of a friend who has breast cancer," he said. He joined our group (incl. cancer survivors) for dinner that night, and shared his story. Our group visited much of Spain and Portugal the next week. The Iberians' faith was deep, with many saints.
16
Thank goodness that Mr. Douthat is able to rise above his class and see things as they truly are, unlike most of us! Please.
To the extent there is truth in his observations, they are widely shared among the very people he professes to loath.
But mostly, his observations are without truth. Don't tell me that a group of people that believes in the science of global warming is the same kind of "tribe" as the group that denies the science. Don't tell me that those who wish to deny gay people the right to marry are essentially the same as those who wish to live and let live. Don't tell me that Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin, early members of the global, cosmopolitan elite that Mr. Douthat disparages, represent a "tribe" the way ISIS is a tribe.
Mr. Douthat's column is semantics, a platform for a cheap attack on educated liberals. Mr. Douthat and his readers would be better served if he spent a column or two examining the sources for his resentment.
To the extent there is truth in his observations, they are widely shared among the very people he professes to loath.
But mostly, his observations are without truth. Don't tell me that a group of people that believes in the science of global warming is the same kind of "tribe" as the group that denies the science. Don't tell me that those who wish to deny gay people the right to marry are essentially the same as those who wish to live and let live. Don't tell me that Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin, early members of the global, cosmopolitan elite that Mr. Douthat disparages, represent a "tribe" the way ISIS is a tribe.
Mr. Douthat's column is semantics, a platform for a cheap attack on educated liberals. Mr. Douthat and his readers would be better served if he spent a column or two examining the sources for his resentment.
32
Reply to Mark Roderick,
What self-justiying nonsense!
Nowhere does Douthat claim any similarities between the tribes he discusses. He merely points out that they are both equally "tribal," each with its own values and points of view.
What self-justiying nonsense!
Nowhere does Douthat claim any similarities between the tribes he discusses. He merely points out that they are both equally "tribal," each with its own values and points of view.
30
I read the words.
I understand the English.
I have no idea what Douthat is trying to say.
My instinct is that he is somehow trying to blame Liberals for the rise of Trump and BREXIT.
My own belief is the common thread to Trump and BREXIT is 35 years of Reaganomics and Thatcherism, the shifting of manufacturing jobs to China, and the enormous increase in wealth of the two financial districts, Wall St. and The City.
What I don't see are the same problems of laid off factory workers in Germany or Switzerland or Denmark, etc. And they faced the same 35 years of globalization.
I understand the English.
I have no idea what Douthat is trying to say.
My instinct is that he is somehow trying to blame Liberals for the rise of Trump and BREXIT.
My own belief is the common thread to Trump and BREXIT is 35 years of Reaganomics and Thatcherism, the shifting of manufacturing jobs to China, and the enormous increase in wealth of the two financial districts, Wall St. and The City.
What I don't see are the same problems of laid off factory workers in Germany or Switzerland or Denmark, etc. And they faced the same 35 years of globalization.
19
Very perceptive commentary. But I’ll choose the cosmopolitan “tribe” every time over those pushing super-patriotism, prejudice, no-nothingness, hate, and violence. The United States, the UK, and Europe are all at the crossroads when choose they must. Celebrate liberal values while there are still any left
16
I have a frequent complaint that our leaders are not listening. How could they possibly be so oblivious to the pain and anger radiating off the people?
Because these are people who either were born into Money & Privilege, or went to Harvard and then ascended directly to Olympus. They don't clean toilets, or go grocery shopping, or take care of their sick parents, or worry about paying their electric bill, or get laid off, or have their grown kids move back in. A few of them may have memories of seeing their parents do those things, but not many.
Because these are people who either were born into Money & Privilege, or went to Harvard and then ascended directly to Olympus. They don't clean toilets, or go grocery shopping, or take care of their sick parents, or worry about paying their electric bill, or get laid off, or have their grown kids move back in. A few of them may have memories of seeing their parents do those things, but not many.
21
As a white person, I believe I can safely report whites will (generally) do whatever is reasonably possible to avoid dealing with/having contact with non whites. It's not that white people have any animus against non whites - it's just that they aren't that much interested in other racial groups. And on balance, this is a good thing. I like being a member of the white tribe, and thank God for being born so. Diversity can only bring destruction. Homogeneity is the only rational social order. Nothing else makes any sense, has withstood the test of time..
3
This is the heart of the matter. Group-think occurs within tribes and enormous social pressure is exerted both consciously and unconsciously making it extremely difficult, if not Herculean, to see clearly through one's own tribal bubble. The antidote is to seek out and seriously consider "out-group" ideas. It is easier said than done. But it is extremely important that policy makers, regulators and media conglomerates make the effort. If not voluntarily than by design.
Referring to the financial crisis, Joseph Stiglitz said: “I think that mindsets can be shaped by people you associate with, and you come to think that what’s good for Wall Street is good for America.” Well, the same can be said for any particular "group." Mindsets, worldviews, are shaped by the people you associate with.
The consequences of group-think can be catasrophic for society and it is imperative when some groups are in crisis that others, especially those with power, listen.
Referring to the financial crisis, Joseph Stiglitz said: “I think that mindsets can be shaped by people you associate with, and you come to think that what’s good for Wall Street is good for America.” Well, the same can be said for any particular "group." Mindsets, worldviews, are shaped by the people you associate with.
The consequences of group-think can be catasrophic for society and it is imperative when some groups are in crisis that others, especially those with power, listen.
14
It is no revelation that hypocrisy exists among progressives of the world. The only debate is whether or not internationalism, immigration and cultural openness are on balance forces for good. It's going to be a bumpy ride, but the answer is yes. In twenty or fifty years those who oppose gay marriage will be about as common as those who oppose interracial marriage. Greater world travel and migration will dilute one's ideas of their own cultural superiority or exceptionalism. Racial and cultural grievances will persist in some form, but much of the visceral attitudes about certain things will have been effectively bred out of people in large part because of the mixing of peoples and cultures. When I asked my high school son if any kids at school were "out" he was dumbfounded at such a ridiculous question. Almost nobody at school cared. This is the future here. It will be the future elsewhere as well with fits and starts albeit perhaps at a slower pace. It is inevitable and there will be controversy but there should be no doubt that it is on balance a positive development.
2
What Mr. Douthat describes as the world-view of "the Brexiteers and Trumpistas and Marine Le Pen voters" is what opponents of civil rights in the United States have been encouraging for the past 60 years or so. Its what George Wallace said when he came North for the first time in 1964. It what Jesse Helms made his career on. Since then the political right has become adept at sublimating the message and distancing itself at the same time, with devices like the "I'm just sayin'" tone of this column. But it looks like that's not going to work for very much longer. The right-wing members of "our tribe," like Mr. Douthat, are going to have to choose a side.
I wish I was more optimistic about which side they will choose.
I wish I was more optimistic about which side they will choose.
1
I am not an elite (my income is low), but I could be called cosmopolitan. So allow me to give an example in defense of my "tribe":
I was living in Japan but was temporarily in China when the Iraq war was getting started. I wasn't up on all the details, but one line I heard laid starkly bare the quality of thinking behind it:
"They will greet us as liberators."
No cosmopolitan would have uttered those words. They exposed a vast ignorance of the world, and a prognosis for a war undertaken with such ignorance that has been borne out in multiple ways.
Unfortunately, Ross tries to portray cosmopolitanism as despising yet other groups of people, but he has to base it on sloppy thinking that (a) allows him to conflate it with that catch-all bad-guy, the (undefined) "elite" or the "global elite", and that (b) conflates it with triviality like going to different restaurants. He's content to use such verbal acrobatics to try to stuff cosmopolitanism into the tribalism box, thereby "proving" what isn't actually so.
I was living in Japan but was temporarily in China when the Iraq war was getting started. I wasn't up on all the details, but one line I heard laid starkly bare the quality of thinking behind it:
"They will greet us as liberators."
No cosmopolitan would have uttered those words. They exposed a vast ignorance of the world, and a prognosis for a war undertaken with such ignorance that has been borne out in multiple ways.
Unfortunately, Ross tries to portray cosmopolitanism as despising yet other groups of people, but he has to base it on sloppy thinking that (a) allows him to conflate it with that catch-all bad-guy, the (undefined) "elite" or the "global elite", and that (b) conflates it with triviality like going to different restaurants. He's content to use such verbal acrobatics to try to stuff cosmopolitanism into the tribalism box, thereby "proving" what isn't actually so.
9
Dunno, but what was the point? We're going tribal as in Lord of the Flies?
3
I really do not understand your point; you write as if the well-to- do "liberals" were still driving our national policy when nothing could be further from the truth.
For example, your reference to "aging hippies" seems to imply that you believe the "Hippie Generation" is a monolithic "liberal" voting bloc. The problem is your overly broad generalization of this dying liberal elite is incorrect; the hippies or Boomers, take your pick, are the voters who came of age during the 70' and 80's and were largely responsible for the Right Wing shift in our national politics.
Moreover, your description of the hypocritical cosmopolitans would imply that the professional classes are overwhelmingly democratic elitists, which seems to ignore the fact that the majority of voters, particularly in " election off years," tend to be from the higher income quintiles, which is comprised primarily by the "elitists" you describe.
For example, your reference to "aging hippies" seems to imply that you believe the "Hippie Generation" is a monolithic "liberal" voting bloc. The problem is your overly broad generalization of this dying liberal elite is incorrect; the hippies or Boomers, take your pick, are the voters who came of age during the 70' and 80's and were largely responsible for the Right Wing shift in our national politics.
Moreover, your description of the hypocritical cosmopolitans would imply that the professional classes are overwhelmingly democratic elitists, which seems to ignore the fact that the majority of voters, particularly in " election off years," tend to be from the higher income quintiles, which is comprised primarily by the "elitists" you describe.
6
One can certainly dig through the same old "nobody's more of a bigot than a liberal," jazz, and sort of agree that pretty much most of the ruling class pretends to a cosmopolitanism that they don't actually have, nor believe in.
And yeah, Burton and Kipling and Lawrence.
Then we get into eensy problems like Douthat's skipping lightly by that this flattening, this "melting all that is solid into air," comes from capitalism, not cocktail parties among the intelligentsia.
Nor are people who watch the same TV shows members of a tribe.
Also, and weirdly, we currently have a Prez who's about as cosmopolitan as they get. Odd how that never came up.
And yeah, Burton and Kipling and Lawrence.
Then we get into eensy problems like Douthat's skipping lightly by that this flattening, this "melting all that is solid into air," comes from capitalism, not cocktail parties among the intelligentsia.
Nor are people who watch the same TV shows members of a tribe.
Also, and weirdly, we currently have a Prez who's about as cosmopolitan as they get. Odd how that never came up.
3
Once again a Ross Douthat column explaining why everything that goes wrong is the fault of liberal elites in big cities. Too bad that the overwhelming "Remain" vote throughout both urban and rural Scotland doesn't fit into your neat little narrative.
4
To sum up, the argument is that globalization is probably out of our reach. This strikes me as true, as I believe tribalism is one result of 3 billion years of biological evolution. The tendency toward tribalism confers an obvious survival advantage to groups versus individuals. This is so ingrained now in our DNA that overcoming it seems near impossible. So, how can we globalize?
When I am in a discussion with people who think oppositely to me on politics, I keep reminding myself that they represent a tribe who have survived and are my equals. This calms me down and I don't get so mad at them for their dumb ideas :)
When I am in a discussion with people who think oppositely to me on politics, I keep reminding myself that they represent a tribe who have survived and are my equals. This calms me down and I don't get so mad at them for their dumb ideas :)
2
This reads as if a man from the accused begins speaking as the mob with pitchforks arrives, "I'm glad you're here mates, I held them till you arrived." I thought the author was more global than he is, one of the lifelong fine Catholic families who brushed by us at Church on Sundays. We had 5 days a week of religion school and were miffed that our father dropped his hammer on Sundays and dragged us to Catholic Church. Having Jesus and my father as carpenter-in-chief meant that our eaves never leaked. I lost the faith at 11 when the author was gaining his. Of course, I regained it when I saw the menu at a protestant restaurant. I've been on the internet for 17 years but I am not global. I don't fly enough. You need boots on the ground to be global. However, I remember insisting that my mother never throw the Cosmopolitan magazines away.
More unwarranted generalizations, all to put people in bins. How easy. Can't you get past that and deal with people as each actually is? You're as bad as the WSJ editorial page, where binning is rampant -- us verses them. Can't you see what that leads to?
4
There is nothing new here only old stuff repackaged and obscured by bad grammar, incorrect nomenclature and intentional obfuscation.
Your entire POV is based in the unstated false idea that ignorance is a legitimate state of being. It is not. It is a fact of life that people exist in ignorance but it is like being hungry, a thing that must be corrected if one is to live well or at all.
Technical ability and educational specialization do not necessarily remove ignorance learned in early life. Hence the expression “As the twig is bent so grows the tree.” It is why the religious fight so hard to be allowed to indoctrinate their children into their cult. People know intrinsically that if a child is allowed to grow past X age before being indoctrinated they are more likely to ask uncomfortable questions and not be happy with bad answers.
That said this Brexit and the other forms of Balkanization rearing their ugly head 70+ years after WWII and the postwar effort to make sure it would not happen again is the direct result of the 1% turn to de-regulation and what they call globalization which is actually anti unionism renamed and on a larger scale and more well planned than Henry Ford and his ilk ever imagined it could be. Part of that effort has been to appeal to ignorance so they could recreate ‘tribes’ to manipulate and confuse as they used to before postwar efforts to stop this entirely destructive dishonest practice.
What we see is intentional. Follow the money.
Your entire POV is based in the unstated false idea that ignorance is a legitimate state of being. It is not. It is a fact of life that people exist in ignorance but it is like being hungry, a thing that must be corrected if one is to live well or at all.
Technical ability and educational specialization do not necessarily remove ignorance learned in early life. Hence the expression “As the twig is bent so grows the tree.” It is why the religious fight so hard to be allowed to indoctrinate their children into their cult. People know intrinsically that if a child is allowed to grow past X age before being indoctrinated they are more likely to ask uncomfortable questions and not be happy with bad answers.
That said this Brexit and the other forms of Balkanization rearing their ugly head 70+ years after WWII and the postwar effort to make sure it would not happen again is the direct result of the 1% turn to de-regulation and what they call globalization which is actually anti unionism renamed and on a larger scale and more well planned than Henry Ford and his ilk ever imagined it could be. Part of that effort has been to appeal to ignorance so they could recreate ‘tribes’ to manipulate and confuse as they used to before postwar efforts to stop this entirely destructive dishonest practice.
What we see is intentional. Follow the money.
9
I'm confused. Aren't the "elites" the wealthiest 1% that completely own the GOP? Otherwise, Mr. Douhat need to do a little traveling to places like rural Texas where Gay marriage is unbelievably still an issue. He wouldn't last 5 minutes.
5
Why is it unbelievable? In most states where it was put to a vote, voters refused to approve gay marriage. It was legalized throughout the country by a Supreme Court ruling, but there are still large numbers of people who did not want gay marriage -- for reasons of religious conviction or cultural discomfort. There are a lot of people who do not want to be forced to participate in a gay marriage by the state. I know judges who have decided to stop performing all civil marriages because they do not want to perform a gay marriage. In most cases, it is out of religious conviction. I wouldn't say they are inclined to mistreat people who are LGBT or deny them rights in other areas. One said civil unions were OK, but gay marriage was a line they didn't want to cross.
For the record, I voted in favor of gay marriage in my state a decade ago and I beileve it should be legal. But I also think there needs to be respect for dissent and for the religious convictions of those who oppose it. Your response, dripping with disdain, is a good example of the sort of attitude the columnist is writing about.
For the record, I voted in favor of gay marriage in my state a decade ago and I beileve it should be legal. But I also think there needs to be respect for dissent and for the religious convictions of those who oppose it. Your response, dripping with disdain, is a good example of the sort of attitude the columnist is writing about.
15
Folks, the cosmopolitans - well educated, professional and usually rich, -,are the liberal technocrats who work for the oligarchical 1%.
Brexit , the Hillary nay sayers, the Trump white working class, etc. are all symptoms of the despair caused by the 1% . Many see the problems, few see the solutions. (Which are : end austerity , restore Keynesism, end America the indispensable country, foreign wars, empower workers, etc)
New mantra: workers are our friends, technocrats and the 1% are our enemies.
Brexit , the Hillary nay sayers, the Trump white working class, etc. are all symptoms of the despair caused by the 1% . Many see the problems, few see the solutions. (Which are : end austerity , restore Keynesism, end America the indispensable country, foreign wars, empower workers, etc)
New mantra: workers are our friends, technocrats and the 1% are our enemies.
13
@Haitch76 Watertown
I agree. And you don't see these problems in countries like Denmark, Switzerland, Germany, etc. who have faced the same years of globalization.
And Forbes ranks Denmark the number 1 country for business and Forbes ranks the US number 22.
Those countries also have better economic mobility than the US, that ability to "pull one's self up by our bootstraps." Of course this makes sense when you compare education in those countries to education in the US.
I agree. And you don't see these problems in countries like Denmark, Switzerland, Germany, etc. who have faced the same years of globalization.
And Forbes ranks Denmark the number 1 country for business and Forbes ranks the US number 22.
Those countries also have better economic mobility than the US, that ability to "pull one's self up by our bootstraps." Of course this makes sense when you compare education in those countries to education in the US.
12
Cosmopolitan folk are different from ordinary folk, according to Douthat. They are liberal Christians only. western, similarly educated, rich and democratic. That excludes a lot of humanity.
Mr. Douthat, who is not liberal, nevertheless is a cosmopolitan. Or was, having acquired more sense by age 11. He learned that "openness is hard to sustain" and that some people feel left out of the merry tribe of elite cosmopolites.
The privileged and well-connected from right or left hold economic sway over the rest of us, and being "cosmopolitan" has nothing to do with it. Good old boys will always reign because they can. The rich and powerful will always take what they want and leave the rest of the world to figure it out. Doesn't seem very "open" to me.
Brexit resulted when an ill-informed, riled-up majority prevailed over disengaged remain voters. That it is an enormous cultural wrench and an economic maelstrom didn't bother the leavers. Brexit wasn't a rising up of great unwashed masses yearning to sling off the yokes of the liberal elites. They simply wanted t[ keep more pounds at home and keep immigrants out and they were largely wrong on both counts. Immigrants will come from former colonies and the share of revenue from the EU is not what the leavers promised.
Trump and the leavers promise the moon on a silver platter and uninformed, undereducated, people too busy being angry to think will buy it. It's the economy, stupid. With a lot of emphasis on that last word.
Mr. Douthat, who is not liberal, nevertheless is a cosmopolitan. Or was, having acquired more sense by age 11. He learned that "openness is hard to sustain" and that some people feel left out of the merry tribe of elite cosmopolites.
The privileged and well-connected from right or left hold economic sway over the rest of us, and being "cosmopolitan" has nothing to do with it. Good old boys will always reign because they can. The rich and powerful will always take what they want and leave the rest of the world to figure it out. Doesn't seem very "open" to me.
Brexit resulted when an ill-informed, riled-up majority prevailed over disengaged remain voters. That it is an enormous cultural wrench and an economic maelstrom didn't bother the leavers. Brexit wasn't a rising up of great unwashed masses yearning to sling off the yokes of the liberal elites. They simply wanted t[ keep more pounds at home and keep immigrants out and they were largely wrong on both counts. Immigrants will come from former colonies and the share of revenue from the EU is not what the leavers promised.
Trump and the leavers promise the moon on a silver platter and uninformed, undereducated, people too busy being angry to think will buy it. It's the economy, stupid. With a lot of emphasis on that last word.
12
"or American liberals who hail the end of whiteness while doing everything possible to keep their kids out of majority-minority schools."...
Or who hail their
- post-modern pluralism,
- inclusive, 'welcoming' hearts and
- prescriptive judgments on "backward looking bigots" in border states
while living in highly racially homogeneous communities and states ... like Vermont, New Hampshire - with populations over 90% white - or Portland, OR - the whitest major city in America.... Lots of talk, no real multiracial, multicultural day to day living and working...
They surely do like the _ideas_ of these progressive-sounding things - just don't make 'em actually I I v e with their Utopian ideals in practice... It gets messy sometimes - and I am not sure even Texas has enough room for the number of "safe spaces" needed from the onslaught of 'micro aggressions' that are just part of learning to actually live, day to day, in a vibrant, diverse multicultural environment...Takng advice from Vermonters, the Upper East Side of Manhattan, Portland or Seattle about how to be open and multicultural is like listening to the entrepreneurship professor in business school whose only real experience was a childhood lemonade stand.
Or who hail their
- post-modern pluralism,
- inclusive, 'welcoming' hearts and
- prescriptive judgments on "backward looking bigots" in border states
while living in highly racially homogeneous communities and states ... like Vermont, New Hampshire - with populations over 90% white - or Portland, OR - the whitest major city in America.... Lots of talk, no real multiracial, multicultural day to day living and working...
They surely do like the _ideas_ of these progressive-sounding things - just don't make 'em actually I I v e with their Utopian ideals in practice... It gets messy sometimes - and I am not sure even Texas has enough room for the number of "safe spaces" needed from the onslaught of 'micro aggressions' that are just part of learning to actually live, day to day, in a vibrant, diverse multicultural environment...Takng advice from Vermonters, the Upper East Side of Manhattan, Portland or Seattle about how to be open and multicultural is like listening to the entrepreneurship professor in business school whose only real experience was a childhood lemonade stand.
6
"They [self-styled cosmopolitan] can’t see that their vision of history’s arc bending inexorably away from tribe and creed and nation-state looks to outsiders like something familiar from eras past: A powerful caste’s self-serving explanation for why it alone deserves to rule the world."
Perhaps I've missed a major point, but I'm puzzled by this conclusion. To me, the "eras past" (not the ancient past) consist chiefly of somewhat quasi-isolated nation states and an attendant nationalism that sees "the other guy" as a potential enemy, all of which contributed to near-continuous wars, most of which were silly and ought not to have been fought.
Exactly how does the other "tribe" see history since the rise of the nation state?
Perhaps I've missed a major point, but I'm puzzled by this conclusion. To me, the "eras past" (not the ancient past) consist chiefly of somewhat quasi-isolated nation states and an attendant nationalism that sees "the other guy" as a potential enemy, all of which contributed to near-continuous wars, most of which were silly and ought not to have been fought.
Exactly how does the other "tribe" see history since the rise of the nation state?
2
How about between 62 haves and the 7 billion have nots?
1
I am speechless. Mr. Douthat has finally written something worth saying.
My only comment is there is a very large difference between being a monetary elite and being an intellectual elite. You can be poor as a church mouse and be an intellectual elite.
My only comment is there is a very large difference between being a monetary elite and being an intellectual elite. You can be poor as a church mouse and be an intellectual elite.
5
If you looked in the dictionary for an antonym for "cosmopolitan" you would find a picture of Donald Trump. He seems to take pride in not being in any sense of the word "cosmopolitan". He is the "brother from another mother" to Boris Johnson. Boris Johnson has even been mistaken for Trump while on a visit to New York. Not only do they look alike, but their politics resonate as well. Both have made xenophobia and racism the driving force in the politics they proffer. Truth does not enter into what these men have promoted. Johnson has wrought a political and economic disaster in Great Britain that will reverberate for a long time to come, and should serve as a warning to those seeing Trump as some kind of white savior.
It's always the liberals who are the problem according to you Mr. Douthat. There are undeniably "limousine liberals" who will promote and provide funding for better living conditions for the poor as long as it isn't next door to them. However, I will take a limousine liberal with at least a clue as to what ostracism must feel like over the exclusionary Republicans any day. Our "self-styled (Republican) cosmopolitans" are the ones who lacked the foresight to see where their "vision of history's arc" would lead when they thinly veiled their promotion of racism, xenophobia, and misogyny. That arc bent back towards the 1950's.
It's always the liberals who are the problem according to you Mr. Douthat. There are undeniably "limousine liberals" who will promote and provide funding for better living conditions for the poor as long as it isn't next door to them. However, I will take a limousine liberal with at least a clue as to what ostracism must feel like over the exclusionary Republicans any day. Our "self-styled (Republican) cosmopolitans" are the ones who lacked the foresight to see where their "vision of history's arc" would lead when they thinly veiled their promotion of racism, xenophobia, and misogyny. That arc bent back towards the 1950's.
3
Yup, Charles. WEIRD is precisely what the Trumpiteers are rebelling against. And their chosen chief is the weirdest (in the traditional sense of the word) specimen they could find to lead them to paradise. Make America Grate Again. And again. And again.
Tribalism truly is the epitome of human interaction and bonding. This, almost by definition, limits the size of the group. Like stones in water vis a vis salt in water, tribalism and globalism will always be a mixture, never a solution.
Tribalism truly is the epitome of human interaction and bonding. This, almost by definition, limits the size of the group. Like stones in water vis a vis salt in water, tribalism and globalism will always be a mixture, never a solution.
2
"American liberals who hail the end of whiteness while doing everything possible to keep their kids out of majority-minority schools."
I observe that, despite conservatives singing the praises of Real (i.e., white, rural) America, they aren't exactly breaking down the doors of poorly-funded rural schools to get their kids admitted so they can hob-nob with Real Americans, either.
BTW, as a liberal, I do, on occasion, read Mr. Douthat's columns. Not so much for their content (which is sometimes quite interesting, I'll admit), but because I wait to see how Mr. Douthat will manage to work in at least one off-topic, gratuitous slam against liberals. (He gets bonus points when he takes problems conservatives have created for themselves and twists himself into a pretzel blaming liberals for it -- my all time favorite was when he blamed liberals for the rise of Donald Trump. Funny stuff.)
I observe that, despite conservatives singing the praises of Real (i.e., white, rural) America, they aren't exactly breaking down the doors of poorly-funded rural schools to get their kids admitted so they can hob-nob with Real Americans, either.
BTW, as a liberal, I do, on occasion, read Mr. Douthat's columns. Not so much for their content (which is sometimes quite interesting, I'll admit), but because I wait to see how Mr. Douthat will manage to work in at least one off-topic, gratuitous slam against liberals. (He gets bonus points when he takes problems conservatives have created for themselves and twists himself into a pretzel blaming liberals for it -- my all time favorite was when he blamed liberals for the rise of Donald Trump. Funny stuff.)
7
Having worked in the field of study abroad, also known as international education, for nearly 20 years I can say that Mr. Douthat is spot on. It is no secret that there is an elitism that stokes the engine of an industry that has promoted the concept of "global citizenship" without examining what that really means. For all intents and purposes, "global citizenship" is an invention concocted by an aristcratic elite that have inherited the baton passed on to them by supporters of Esperanto. Educating our younger generation about the world and how to interact with people from other countries is noble. But let's not fool ourselves, with some exceptions, for many the idea of "global citizenship" or "cosmopolitanism" is merely an example of noblesse oblige. There is a condescension that underlies many approaches to cosmopolitanism: many universities abroad are asked to offer more classes in English; if American students were truly cosmopolitan, shouldn't they be taking courses abroad in the native language? The field of international education itself is very tribal, exhibiting many of the traits that Mr. Douthat mentions. For the past several years I have been working to advocate for unemployed international educators, with little success. It appears that once a member of this exclusive club loses a job or title, they are no longer part of the "group." Cosmopolitanism is many things to many people, but we have to recognize that it is the ultimate form of tribal identity.
4
I am not surprised that Ross has an analog view on what is increasingly a universally digital world. People increasingly interact virtually with more "otherness" every day and that situation is quickly becoming the norm. A large percentage of the people I work with are from India, including my leader and our CEO and that just seems normal. Also, I usually have no idea where they are located when we interact. Ross is discussing a transition that will, thanks to instant global access, move us quickly to a point when cosmopolitanism will seem quaint. We will all be global citizens and while tribalism will still persist in various ways, what Ross describes will become a memory.
1
Douthat unfortunately misses (or chooses to miss) the point that the “cosmopolitans” encompass a lot more than the 1/10 of 1%ers whose control of politics and policy has enriched their tiny tribe while leaving everyone else behind, including many, many other “cosmopolitans,” and he also ignores the fact that there are many young cosmopolitans for whom the commitment to social justice and global good goes well beyond eating in their neighborhood Afghan restaurant (and in the US that “commitment” could have manifested itself in something as simple as turning out to vote for Sanders) - Douthat simply lumps all the “cosmopolitans” together in critiquing them as a singular hypocritical tribe, but the vast majority of them are not the economic elites who have used globalization to further enrich themselves while leaving billions of others behind.
3
Wonderful essay. Ross Dothan's writing quality should make the NYTimes proud. Extraordinary stuff. Deep thinking that is aware of culture, politics and history. -- written from Palo Alto, California.
1
Best piece on the opinion page in a very long time, and a succinct analysis of a very serious problem. Now, how do we fix it? More precisely, how do we fix ourselves?
3
I'm sorry this article is so full of condescension and self-righteousness I can't stand it. First of all, true cosmopolitan people are those who celebrate living in a place where they constantly are delighted by running into multitudes of people who look, speak, sing, and move differently then they do. The people you speak of Mr. Douthat are hardly that. You are talking about elitist upper crusters who happened to have moved to cities and made a bunch of money. These are the people who are derisive toward integrative and multicultural events, snubbing their noses at political correctness. These are people who would never deign to smile at a busboy or counter person, let alone befriend one of them. They come to the cities to make financial killings and increase their own personal power. Call them what you want but don't call them cosmopolitan. In my opinion, a better description is conservative Republican.
6
As a former clergyman, I am amused at how much global elites and clergy are alike. Jesus put it well for the both of us: their words are bold but their deeds are few. Only a few saints or religious fanatics (or their secular equivalents) actually put their noble religious or secular visions into practice by moving out of their pleasant bubbles into the gritty world without.
3
The rise of the Neo Ottomans !
I would broaden Ross' point beyond 'cosmopolitan' or not: The reality is that we have a global economy and lack of global society. Societal bonds are one of the prerequisites for the survival of a country and comity amongst people whether that is 'tribal', religious, or built on shared moral traits. That chance that the entire earth will bond into a single society in the next century is highly unlikely. The chance that a global economy that does not have the support of a wide majority of the societies (representing humans) will survive is even less likely. Economies revolve around money (not a pejorative statement) and societies revolve around people.
6
If you liked this column, then "Listen, Liberal" - or - What Ever Happened to the Party of the People" by Thomas Frank is a wonderful excoriation of the liberal elite (aka "Davos Man"). Few things more delicious in this world than liberal hypocrisy detailed for all to see by an insider.
8
Don't we need "all of the above"? And isn't that now necessary more than ever? Most importantly, the communities of "types" need to interact and communicate more-- be it on the Internet, or in person. The globalist liberals, if they're honest with themselves, perfectly well know the caste with which they most identify, but their strata-- with more humility imposed by populism-- is still critical to moving spaceship Earth forward.
6
Thank you, Ross Douthat, for today's column. You succinctly provide a retort for those of who get nothing but an avalanche of disdain and dismay heaped on them for questioning unfettered "globalization".
So many in power - those with money and media control - have definitely skewed the Brexit discussion as well as the same here in America to their global perspective. These global citizens, are just as reductionist in their either-or type of arguments as those who oppose them.
Some questions we all should be asking:
Why can't there be a balance between globalization and parochialism?
Why can't people call for a go slow or stop of immigration while we figure out what type of society and culture we want to have?
Why can't there be a re-balancing between the outsized influence of trans-national corporations and financial houses versus the needs of communities, regions and nations?
For these global citizens to derisively dismiss the concerns of those dealing with the impact of globalization as being xenophobic, racist and close-minded is belittling, insulting and an attempt to suppress reasoned debate.
We all need to start engaging in more dialogue and change management, especially our elected leaders, for the benefit of all, not just for those that know how to navigate the new world order or, even worse, those that have managed to game the system.
So many in power - those with money and media control - have definitely skewed the Brexit discussion as well as the same here in America to their global perspective. These global citizens, are just as reductionist in their either-or type of arguments as those who oppose them.
Some questions we all should be asking:
Why can't there be a balance between globalization and parochialism?
Why can't people call for a go slow or stop of immigration while we figure out what type of society and culture we want to have?
Why can't there be a re-balancing between the outsized influence of trans-national corporations and financial houses versus the needs of communities, regions and nations?
For these global citizens to derisively dismiss the concerns of those dealing with the impact of globalization as being xenophobic, racist and close-minded is belittling, insulting and an attempt to suppress reasoned debate.
We all need to start engaging in more dialogue and change management, especially our elected leaders, for the benefit of all, not just for those that know how to navigate the new world order or, even worse, those that have managed to game the system.
5
Mr. Douthat's comments point out both a central problem and a solution to the Leave or Stay dilemma. Many conservatives are anxious about "internationalism" taking away their traditions and values, hence portray multicultural people as elitist and chauvinistic posers, which some of them are. But, as an expat living and raising children here in Germany, I am happy to report that there are lots of mainstream, middle class folks living and working in a European multicultural reality without reservations at Davos or condos on the Thames. And it is working out better on the street that the media reports would lead one to believe: Often, instead of traveling on foot across Africa for exotic experiences, many of us simply talk to our neighbors: the truck driver from Iran, the German-Chinese journalism student, the Russian-German retiree, the British-German single mom. We all benefit greatly from cross-border technical standards, cultural exchanges, free movement and much, much more. Speaking to one another seems to clear up quite a few misconceptions, and I hope that Mr. Douthat and more of his ilk find the opportunity to get out and do just that. And he need not worry: there is multi-culture aplenty to be experienced in our own neighborhoods, if we would only have the courage and curiosity to cross "tribal" boundaries and introduce ourselves instead of building upon the sands of our own assumptions.
3
This demographic also goes by the belief that bureaucracy driven diversity is the new law of the land, the new religion to be worshipped. Obey it. Don't dare speak out against such policies or you will be destroyed. The problem is the people pushing it on the rest of us do not deal with the drawbacks. They are protected by their multi-million dollar homes and posh offices with security desks. Do we really expect Syrian or Somali refugees to be housed within sight of these people? Reminds me of the same people pushing the "white privilege" curriculum at the Bank Street School. Ask any poor person in Kentucky or West Virginia how much privilege they think they have. Or better yet, take a drive through there some time.
6
It is not the case that some categories have broken down. Pace Wittgenstein, categories themselves no longer do the work we put them too. Elite or expert opinion is meant to be an extension of common sense, not it's competitor. That they seem to be in opposition is a sign of failure on the parts of both. Joe six pack needs to get that America's freedoms are not meant solely to allow him whatever whim he wishes to indulge. Our institutions need care, especially when they need upgrades, as is the case today. The smart guy class needs to do less thinking and more learning; the computer revolution, as one example, is not just another industrial revolution. It is a revolution in what we understand about our human cognitive abilities. Our 'thinkers' need an upgrade to their views about the common sense of, 'We the People." Things today are not as they were even two years ago, in a divergence that is hard to fathom by those trained in the 20th century. Do not let that scare you. Let it motivate you to do the homework that has been sitting on your desk for a long time.
2
The title of this article really should have been "What's the Matter with London?"
Brilliant. And the only thing more enjoyable is reading the Comments section. "Surely, he's not talking about us. . .right?"
Brilliant. And the only thing more enjoyable is reading the Comments section. "Surely, he's not talking about us. . .right?"
4
Don't forget that most of the people who consider themselves "cosmopolitan" have never been anywhere. They're just the temporarily embarrassed billionaires of the American middle and lower classes who buy into the same "free trade" propaganda that's been around since the 1600's, which brought them tea and iPhones.
5
As is usual in the NYT, you miss the main point. The nationalist-globalist divide is a manifestation of class war.
While it is misdirected, the nationalists (such as Brexit and Trump voters) are realizing that they are being oppressed by a global capitalist elite. They have simply failed to realize yet that it is the 1%, at home and abroad, who are oppressing them.
While it is misdirected, the nationalists (such as Brexit and Trump voters) are realizing that they are being oppressed by a global capitalist elite. They have simply failed to realize yet that it is the 1%, at home and abroad, who are oppressing them.
10
"A powerful caste’s self-serving explanation for why it alone deserves to rule the world" - sounds like the libertarian capitalists particularly the nearly hereditary part.
Another quibble: "basically liberal Christianity without Christ"? How about basically liberal Christianity without the voodoo.
Another quibble: "basically liberal Christianity without Christ"? How about basically liberal Christianity without the voodoo.
3
There is real anger from the provinces. Caused primarily from loss of meaningful or at least respectful work and the accompanying $ while a very small group accumulates 99.9% of the economic gains of growth. Since our society measures meaning and success on one's financial wealth this large number left further and further behind are "fed up" with political promises. They've stopped believing in their political leaders. Need to address extreme income inequality. The "job creators" not doing so well.
6
As usual, Mr. Douthat trades in generalizations so broad that they might be called "global."
I'd recommend that he read Anthony Appiah's essay "The Cosmopolitan Scholar" for a more nuanced version of the term. The author ends with what he considers the motto of Cosmopolitan thinking, "I am a human being: I think nothing human alien to me."
That's been my goal since I was a working class kid lucky enough to attend great schools, but along my journey I came to realize, as Mr. Douthat does not, that the counterforce--let's call it the Mob--needs constant entertainment and meaningful employment. Otherwise they grow angry and overthrow, even annihilate, the educated, cosmopolitan elite.
I often wonder how much backlash there would be against Latinos if white working-class Americans still had jobs that paid living wages and provided benefits and job security. That's our task today: to provide the right bread and circuses for those who otherwise live in fear of the alien and the educated.
I'd recommend that he read Anthony Appiah's essay "The Cosmopolitan Scholar" for a more nuanced version of the term. The author ends with what he considers the motto of Cosmopolitan thinking, "I am a human being: I think nothing human alien to me."
That's been my goal since I was a working class kid lucky enough to attend great schools, but along my journey I came to realize, as Mr. Douthat does not, that the counterforce--let's call it the Mob--needs constant entertainment and meaningful employment. Otherwise they grow angry and overthrow, even annihilate, the educated, cosmopolitan elite.
I often wonder how much backlash there would be against Latinos if white working-class Americans still had jobs that paid living wages and provided benefits and job security. That's our task today: to provide the right bread and circuses for those who otherwise live in fear of the alien and the educated.
2
Liberals are fine with diversity in appearance or sex life but not diversity in thought. Thus, the rabid intolerance of conservatives in the universities.
5
Well written. Interesting viewpoint.
1
Donald Trump was born to a very wealthy family, but he does not fit at all the WEIRD model Douthat discusses. Which kind of PM or President would you prefer: a Trump/Boris model, or one of the WEIRD? Which would be better for the working class? The question is not will there be an elite - always has been, always will be. The question is what kind, and how open is it?
18
Dear Mr. Douthat, Pay more attention to Thomas Piketty. From, The peons
6
It's not as if left wing populists haven't come on the scene, but the cosmopolitan elites of both parties (most OECD countries have been dominated by two parties for a long time) relentless destroyed their programs. In fact when anti bankers from the left won they usually seem to adopt neolibral policesVs . This has fostered the rise of the right wing populists everyone is currently having fits about. it's an uglier from of populism to be sure. Think Sanders Vs Trump, the socialist doing labor reform in france, Syrzia in Greece was crushed. Hence where did you think those unhappy with the current system were going to go. If the elites don't understand how the choices they have made drove the results they seem to dislike they are just in denial
http://www.ndtv.com/opinion/why-brexit-is-just-the-first-earthquake-of-i...
http://www.ndtv.com/opinion/why-brexit-is-just-the-first-earthquake-of-i...
4
Ross, your analysis holds water like a colander. Rural Scots and London professionals are very different people. They are not of the same tribe, though they both voted to remain. In my youth, I was warned about not getting my exercise by jumping to quick generalizations. It is easy to say no, to complain, to be angry and difficult, and to do nothing. To be constructive and inclusive requires more thought, imagination, empathy, and self investment. The leaders of the Brexit voters who chose to leave the EU, like Trump's desire to "tear up" free trade pacts, have no plan "B". Hence, Boris Johnson and Sarah Palin, Newt Gingrich, and soon Donald Trump head for the exits so they can complain, complain, and complain. As Archie Bunker would say "Donald, Stifle It!"
2
Culture schmulture. If we Had been dividing the pie fairly for the last 30 to 40 years, I suspect many of the people who are supporting Trump and favored Brexit would not have done so. We better start providing them with the benefits of globalization before it is too late and they come to get us, not just with votes, but with force and violence.
8
Precisely, Ross Douthat. Economic globalists are not cultural cosmopolitans. They will go where money and opportunities beckon, no doubt thinking that they are cultural cosmopolitans. A cosmopolitan world is flat and multilingual, made up of many histories, none of them subsumed or silenced. Louis Bromfield wrote "There are other things besides a standard of living, such as roots and land passed on from generation to generation" - cosmopolitanism is not limited to money and markets or the polis and development. It transcends power, it is certainly the city but it is also the countryside. It is in and of the East as it is in and of the West. It is very inclusive.
We are closer to the world of Kenya before independence from Britain described by Ngugi Wa Thiong'O where in school drama clubs Africans dressed in Elizabethan attire declaimed in "iambic pentameter."
We are closer to the world of Kenya before independence from Britain described by Ngugi Wa Thiong'O where in school drama clubs Africans dressed in Elizabethan attire declaimed in "iambic pentameter."
When the few who ascend to the top and become elites, they forget where they came from and lose sight of the masses that had helped them in the first place. The elites grow increasingly distant. And then everyone else who feel left behind or betrayed revolt.
It's a cliche but it's true: Don't forget where you came from. Those who achieved great success should remain humble among the crowd as they work with everyone else to find success.
It's a cliche but it's true: Don't forget where you came from. Those who achieved great success should remain humble among the crowd as they work with everyone else to find success.
2
God, this is tedious. The issues are rooted in economics and race. Brits were as worried about Polish and Romanian immigrants (economics) as much as they were about Syrians and other dark-skinned people. Same here ... this is about race and economic disenfranchisement. Cosmopolitanism here is a substitute for economic mobility and allergies to racism. If these folks cluster in cities, you can call it whatever you want, but it's economics and race.
1
I find all of this elite bashing to be very enigmatic. First of all, we all benefit from elitism that is based upon merit. If one is in need of open heart surgery, we want the most elite doctor we can find to perform it. I am very comfortable having elite economist, scientists politicians, and other individuals who have achieved their status by way of merit and by thoughtful application of their lives to their professions. Populists, and those especially on the right, need to remember that the world marches on. Manufacturing jobs are not coming back, and globalization is here to stay. People who say otherwise are either liars or fools. As we say out here in the West, those cows have already left the barn and they're not coming back. What we need to have are true, elitist thinkers, who are willing to take on capitalism and reinvent it for the 21st century so that wealth is shared more equally giving everyone in society their share and thus their dignity in life.
2
You are confusing meritocrisy and elitism.
2
"A powerful caste’s self-serving explanation for why it alone deserves to rule the world."
Then unexpectedly to them revolution arrives.
Then unexpectedly to them revolution arrives.
5
It would seem to me the Mr. Douthat is doing an excellent job here of describing the Republican party.
A party that once held a 'Rockefeller' wing combining fiscal conservatism with liberal social relativism. This party hasn't existed in years, preferring to idolize those who refuse to accept elections, democracy, or much of the Constitution (Second amendment excluded of course).
What group tends to be more close minded than conservative Christians (a clear oxymoron) clearly not you who has repeatedly teetered on the path to schism rather than follow 'that man in the Vatican' in following the footsteps of both Francis, and Jesus.
Look in a mirror Ross and reconsider who you should be addressing.
A party that once held a 'Rockefeller' wing combining fiscal conservatism with liberal social relativism. This party hasn't existed in years, preferring to idolize those who refuse to accept elections, democracy, or much of the Constitution (Second amendment excluded of course).
What group tends to be more close minded than conservative Christians (a clear oxymoron) clearly not you who has repeatedly teetered on the path to schism rather than follow 'that man in the Vatican' in following the footsteps of both Francis, and Jesus.
Look in a mirror Ross and reconsider who you should be addressing.
2
Mr. Douthat's Gordian knot of isn't much of a criticism. The strongest point he's apparently trying to make is that the cosmopolitan tribe is not as down and dirty multicultural as they like to say they are - they have some taint of hypocrisy because they comprise a global tribe with similar beliefs and behaviors.
Then: this Taint makes them unworthy to rule, according to the clear-eyed analysis of the working-class tribe.
What is beyond absurdity is that Mr. Douthat believes that this taint explains the rise of Populism. He's saying that Liberals (who are the meritocracy) are the cause of the Republican debacle, not the endemic dumbness of Republicans like himself.
The working-class animus against the meritocracy is due to jealously. They look down upon themselves because they know they're not as accomplished or traveled as the international meritocracy.
This global meritocratic tribe is in power simply because they're competent and they work hard.
They are the professionals - doctors, top managers, scientists, professors, policy makers - who graduated with advanced degrees from international universities. They're mostly Liberal because being smart and worthy requires that you be open to change and to new information.
This tribe of the Elite does not have the negative characteristics of lower-class tribalism, there's no inbred fear of others or fear of change that requires the constant celebration dumbness as a condition of continued membership and support.
Then: this Taint makes them unworthy to rule, according to the clear-eyed analysis of the working-class tribe.
What is beyond absurdity is that Mr. Douthat believes that this taint explains the rise of Populism. He's saying that Liberals (who are the meritocracy) are the cause of the Republican debacle, not the endemic dumbness of Republicans like himself.
The working-class animus against the meritocracy is due to jealously. They look down upon themselves because they know they're not as accomplished or traveled as the international meritocracy.
This global meritocratic tribe is in power simply because they're competent and they work hard.
They are the professionals - doctors, top managers, scientists, professors, policy makers - who graduated with advanced degrees from international universities. They're mostly Liberal because being smart and worthy requires that you be open to change and to new information.
This tribe of the Elite does not have the negative characteristics of lower-class tribalism, there's no inbred fear of others or fear of change that requires the constant celebration dumbness as a condition of continued membership and support.
3
You forgot to include incredible arrogance as one of the criterion - along with, among others, smart and worthy - for inclusion in your Elite tribe. I'm assuming we can attribute that inherent arrogance to the superior DNA ("there's not inbred fear") of Elites.
Further, you misjudge disdain and contempt for jealousy.
Further, you misjudge disdain and contempt for jealousy.
3
This is an interesting thought piece, but it is essentially a hypothesis. It is getting more and more frustrating given the times we are in to see NYT columnists take hypotheses, string them together as several paragraphs as one might over after-dinner drinks, and then state them as if they were true observations. There are no actual facts or true observations in this piece. I clicked on your links to see if they were actual evidence and they do not appear to be. Without any evidence, pretty much every statement in this piece is little more than a rant expressed toward a group of people who one can presume classify. I could do the same while seeing someone in a pickup truck on the road, thinking they are a gun owner, when in fact they are an opera singer. I can also be quick to judge what I presume to be the tech-knowledgable/successful generation. However, at the moments that I find myself judging them, I then remind myself that in all likelihood the story is much more complex with people joining this group from a huge number of different backgrounds, many of whom may have very challenging and diverse personal concerns. My suspicion is that in fact what we are seeing is a great deal of randomness with people ending up doing well in this "meritocracy" either through luck or in many cases, plain merit, with no relation to a supposed common "World view" that the author hypothesizes. However, I do not know the answer and I would welcome a better composed essay than this.
4
It is interesting how tribal this piece is. Not one word of how either the nativists or the global cosmopolitans should deal with crime, poverty, poor health care, and unequal public education systems etc.
Then there is the housing where the rich do not want to live beside either for ethnic or reasons of crime and poverty. No answers about the housing problems.
I give you credit, Ross, your last paragraph tells all. "A powerful caste's system self-serving explanation for why it alone deserves to rule the world." And as such keep the spoils of the material world looking inside themselves only to find the means and ways to keep all they have and ever would want. While all others are left in a continuing ever sinking desolation of being always outside and left out.
Then there is the housing where the rich do not want to live beside either for ethnic or reasons of crime and poverty. No answers about the housing problems.
I give you credit, Ross, your last paragraph tells all. "A powerful caste's system self-serving explanation for why it alone deserves to rule the world." And as such keep the spoils of the material world looking inside themselves only to find the means and ways to keep all they have and ever would want. While all others are left in a continuing ever sinking desolation of being always outside and left out.
1
All the words in the world won't change the heart of the matter (here & in the UK) which is that racism and the fear of change are the root of all (perceived) evil. It's not complicated. Neither coal mining or seperate water fountains are coming back.
1
As a self anointed cosmopolitan, the truth is I don't want to belong to any group that would have someone like me as a member, including the hair club.
The reason I moved to Provence 14 years ago wasn't to associate with the French cosmopolitan. I moved to get as far away from America as I could arrange. I have no interest in getting up close and personal with the French.
As a stroke of luck, my village neighborhood is made up with like minded Europeans also wishing to get away from their native countries. Once a year in June, we get together for our annual picnic in order to maintain our acquaintance.
Last year, one retired military neighbor got drunk enough to take off his trousers and do a solo dance for our benefit. This year's picnic saw a striking reduction in membership, apparently due to the drunken male strip tease.
For the rest of the year we semi stateless neighbors live our private lives and revel in our anonymity!
The reason I moved to Provence 14 years ago wasn't to associate with the French cosmopolitan. I moved to get as far away from America as I could arrange. I have no interest in getting up close and personal with the French.
As a stroke of luck, my village neighborhood is made up with like minded Europeans also wishing to get away from their native countries. Once a year in June, we get together for our annual picnic in order to maintain our acquaintance.
Last year, one retired military neighbor got drunk enough to take off his trousers and do a solo dance for our benefit. This year's picnic saw a striking reduction in membership, apparently due to the drunken male strip tease.
For the rest of the year we semi stateless neighbors live our private lives and revel in our anonymity!
2
While you're reveling in anonymity as far from the US as possible, it must be nice to keep in touch with things back home via the Times.
2
The Myth of Conservative Ideology is another way to interpret this piffle of sophomoric (elitist) thinking. Or perhaps, even better, The Fraud of Conservative Ideology.
3
One should never generalize. Or say never.
I've lived outside the USA (mostly in France and Czech Republic, but also Mexico) for the past 22 years, I am a well educated political progressive, I've worked a lot in the public policy arena, and I'm rather amused by the knee-jerk defensiveness of many of the commenters. Actually, I think Douthat is spot on with this column.
My experience is that there is, indeed, a technocratic professional elite who consider themselves cosmopolitan and liberal when in fact they are fully invested in the sort of globalization that exploits the majority of people in most countries on the planet. They justify their views by assuming anyone who disagrees with them is uneducated and/or racist, religious, close-minded, etc. Personally, I avoid these people as much as I can---their view of the world is surprisingly narrow-minded---though I do have to interact with them because of my work.
That said, I find it peculiar to hear Douthat espousing a view that affirms the role of class and confirms that class exploitation is widespread. I think he's correct, but I'm not sure that someone with his ideological views can take the next step and call for the sort of socio-economic interventionist policies that are required to level the playing field that the professional elite manage so well for the very wealthy and most powerful players.
My experience is that there is, indeed, a technocratic professional elite who consider themselves cosmopolitan and liberal when in fact they are fully invested in the sort of globalization that exploits the majority of people in most countries on the planet. They justify their views by assuming anyone who disagrees with them is uneducated and/or racist, religious, close-minded, etc. Personally, I avoid these people as much as I can---their view of the world is surprisingly narrow-minded---though I do have to interact with them because of my work.
That said, I find it peculiar to hear Douthat espousing a view that affirms the role of class and confirms that class exploitation is widespread. I think he's correct, but I'm not sure that someone with his ideological views can take the next step and call for the sort of socio-economic interventionist policies that are required to level the playing field that the professional elite manage so well for the very wealthy and most powerful players.
8
I do not always share Mr.Dohouts views, but this piece was highly original and spot on. I loved the wonderful piece of childhood memory.
2
Insightful article and one I enjoyed reading. However I don't really think "cosmopolitan" as described in this article is something for which we should aspire. I like the notion that there are Italians, Germans, Bostonians, Californians, etc. But I like going home to a place that isn't cosmopolitan. Maybe I'm provincial, but I'm completely fine with that. It makes my encounters with the aforementioned groups and beyond that much more interesting.
4
The issue, quite frankly, is that most of us belong to both groups. We enjoy the cosmopolitan idea of globalization and cultural sharing, you have to if you want to be a part of today's modern world, but we also enjoy our own democratic nationalism and what that means. Sadly, the so called elites of the world, think that adhering to nationalism, understanding that the western idea of democracy, liberty, fraternity, equality, is superior to the reactionary and backwards thinking in many 3rd world nations makes those of us who are proud of our western heritage to be racist and ignorant. The elites, whose narcissism and self-importance, drive the acceptance of cultural relativism are who will destroy freedom. That is what we are fighting against. Not putting a dome over our nations, but the truth that not all cultures are equal and not all cultures are to be respected.
31
I don;t understand what this column means. So I must not be cosmopolitan.
5
Douthat is right. There is no god's eye view to be had by any of us. No view point is universal. All of us are situated in time and place, and it is a very common human habit to try to make our own time and place seem more universal than it is or ever could be. We see this now as a political phenomenon playing out across the globe, but it is the same principle that finds expression in every opinion of the supreme court, where a group of people with their own agendas rooted in their own histories behave as if they found (not made) the inevitably correct "law", and then write to cover the tracks that lead back to their own local perspective. This occurs in many other forums as well, in fact, in every forum where there are people.
3
There's truth in this, but the sound bite attempt to characterize a more liberal group is reminiscent of Tom Wolfe. Look at how well that has aged.
"Whereas once I began attending a global university, living in global cities, working and traveling and socializing with my fellow global citizens, my experience of genuine cultural difference became far more superficial."
Since you took this to a personal spae, it's interesting that you didn't mention WHICH global university you began attending. It has a name: Harvard. And based on your point of view, you're drastically understating the impact it's had on you. Harvard's the reason elites and anyone else pays any attention to your ideas. Being a conservative at Harvard assured your credentials as a pundit. Do you think you'd have had the same career, have this precious column space in The New York Times, if you'd graduated from Liberty University? You're the elite you're talking about, just the other side of the coin. The same multicultural experiences that link the so-called elites in our scoiety are what bind you to them, give you the platform to say what you think about them and have people care. But make no mistake, you are very much part of this system regardless of how inconvenient that is for your stance.
The reality is you owe Harvard for your career. The whole elite university system works for the people who are a part of it, regardless of the political stripes they choose to wear. The least you can do is mention the educational institution that accomplished this for you. It's Harvard - their colors are crimson and white. Wear 'em with pride. Congratulations.
Since you took this to a personal spae, it's interesting that you didn't mention WHICH global university you began attending. It has a name: Harvard. And based on your point of view, you're drastically understating the impact it's had on you. Harvard's the reason elites and anyone else pays any attention to your ideas. Being a conservative at Harvard assured your credentials as a pundit. Do you think you'd have had the same career, have this precious column space in The New York Times, if you'd graduated from Liberty University? You're the elite you're talking about, just the other side of the coin. The same multicultural experiences that link the so-called elites in our scoiety are what bind you to them, give you the platform to say what you think about them and have people care. But make no mistake, you are very much part of this system regardless of how inconvenient that is for your stance.
The reality is you owe Harvard for your career. The whole elite university system works for the people who are a part of it, regardless of the political stripes they choose to wear. The least you can do is mention the educational institution that accomplished this for you. It's Harvard - their colors are crimson and white. Wear 'em with pride. Congratulations.
5
How much more can I take?, instead of what needs to be done?. Same wizard behind the curtain, Ross, no matter your "new" name for scoundrel.
Do you think Mr. Trump should be made to show both a birth certificate to get into a bathroom in North Carolina (for place of birth, not gender) and show his tax returns to get into the White House? I'm sure the documents are on a private email server at one of his homes.
(cosmopolitan humor)
Do you think Mr. Trump should be made to show both a birth certificate to get into a bathroom in North Carolina (for place of birth, not gender) and show his tax returns to get into the White House? I'm sure the documents are on a private email server at one of his homes.
(cosmopolitan humor)
1
I believe Ross has hit the proverbial nail on the head. Members of the "cosmopolitan" elite simply surround themselves with people like themselves regardless of race, ethnicity, country, religion, sexual orientation. At core the elite share a sense of entitlement and faux enlightenment. They cherry pick the aspects of a culture that they enjoy -- most often the food - and reject or ignore the rest. They travel to Dubai to demonstrate their lack of Islamaphobia. They interweave bits and pieces of a language they don't know when speaking with a native speaker. Etc.
I think Ross's point is straightforward -- although many commenters seem to have missed it. The cosmopolitan elites are as insular as the masses they look down on. Spot on Ross.
I think Ross's point is straightforward -- although many commenters seem to have missed it. The cosmopolitan elites are as insular as the masses they look down on. Spot on Ross.
8
The author attempts to make a case for CINOs; cosmopolitan in name only, but he is really tilting at class differences. The description of those, namely in London who voted to remain; “a nearly hereditary professional caste of lawyers, journalists, publicists, and intellectuals, an increasingly hereditary caste of politicians, tight coteries of cultural movers-and-shakers richly sponsored by multinational corporations”, was much more succinctly described in the Guardian; “If you’ve got money, you vote in,”…..“If you haven’t got money, you vote out.”
A person of any economic status can be cosmopolitan, but mobility will generate more of those likely to be cosmopolitan than the current encroaching state of inequality will. Mobility has been a hallmark of the United States, one of the reasons that so many came and are coming to the country, but many see it slipping away as the economic tide leaves more boats grounded. I've watched some hard core Libertarians change some of their views as they've experienced what happens when an increasingly smaller moneyed class drives up prices on some items, putting more of what they could previously afford out of reach.
I recall discussions with coworkers decades ago, including a number of tool makers from the UK, and they noted that the US was less class oriented, the country and society provided more mobility. It appears that a hardening class structure is something else that we have imported with globalization.
A person of any economic status can be cosmopolitan, but mobility will generate more of those likely to be cosmopolitan than the current encroaching state of inequality will. Mobility has been a hallmark of the United States, one of the reasons that so many came and are coming to the country, but many see it slipping away as the economic tide leaves more boats grounded. I've watched some hard core Libertarians change some of their views as they've experienced what happens when an increasingly smaller moneyed class drives up prices on some items, putting more of what they could previously afford out of reach.
I recall discussions with coworkers decades ago, including a number of tool makers from the UK, and they noted that the US was less class oriented, the country and society provided more mobility. It appears that a hardening class structure is something else that we have imported with globalization.
3
Business Leaders Have Abandoned the Middle Class
Umair Haque
June 27, 2016
Business Leaders Have Abandoned the Middle Class
Harvard Business Review, July/August 2016
Brexit seems to have finally woken the political and economic elites on both sides of the Atlantic to a reality they’ve been trying desperately, for years, to ignore: the middle class is suffering, and terribly.
https://hbr.org/2016/06/business-leaders-have-abandoned-the-middle-class
Good job ross.
Umair Haque
June 27, 2016
Business Leaders Have Abandoned the Middle Class
Harvard Business Review, July/August 2016
Brexit seems to have finally woken the political and economic elites on both sides of the Atlantic to a reality they’ve been trying desperately, for years, to ignore: the middle class is suffering, and terribly.
https://hbr.org/2016/06/business-leaders-have-abandoned-the-middle-class
Good job ross.
6
Thank you Ross.
I have spent much time lately reading and listening to very wise informed people talking about the very issue you are discussing. When John Ralston Saul wrote The Collapse of Globalism and the Reinvention of the World he was paid scant attention in Europe and America. In Australia Latin America and certain areas of Academia Dr Saul is very much in demand as a speaker.
It seems utterly remarkable to me that despite Dr Krugman and the rest of the High Priests of the Cosmopolitan Church of Economics being wrong and Dr Saul being correct the Cosmopolitan wannabes seek Dr Krugman to explain why he was wrong rather than find out from Dr Saul why he was correct.
There is no difference between neoliberals and neoconservatives they both seek affirmation in the approval of their peers regardless of the empirical evidence to the contrary. Ross you call it the Myth of Cosmopolitanism Saul calls it The Cult of Neoliberalism.
I have spent much time lately reading and listening to very wise informed people talking about the very issue you are discussing. When John Ralston Saul wrote The Collapse of Globalism and the Reinvention of the World he was paid scant attention in Europe and America. In Australia Latin America and certain areas of Academia Dr Saul is very much in demand as a speaker.
It seems utterly remarkable to me that despite Dr Krugman and the rest of the High Priests of the Cosmopolitan Church of Economics being wrong and Dr Saul being correct the Cosmopolitan wannabes seek Dr Krugman to explain why he was wrong rather than find out from Dr Saul why he was correct.
There is no difference between neoliberals and neoconservatives they both seek affirmation in the approval of their peers regardless of the empirical evidence to the contrary. Ross you call it the Myth of Cosmopolitanism Saul calls it The Cult of Neoliberalism.
1
Oh the irony. Only a NY elitist would care about who is truly cosmopolitan. One need only drive (something those of us outside NYC do every day) 30 min to reach alien terrain where the concerns of NY elitist cosmopolitans are replaced worries over mortgage payments, cutting the lawn, and the next family trip to the Cheesecake Factory.
Get over yourself, sir. Most of us really don't care about such nonsense or about your disdain for it. We wouldn't even know it existed were it not for your whining.
Get over yourself, sir. Most of us really don't care about such nonsense or about your disdain for it. We wouldn't even know it existed were it not for your whining.
4
Douthat once more trots out the "dividing line" and once more gets it wrong.
There are people who want to live their lives freely, and allow others to do the same. These are people who don't care whether you're gay, or straight, or want an abortion, or don't want an abortion. They believe you have a right to your beliefs, and that you have no right to impose your beliefs on anyone by force. They believe you are free to express your beliefs - whenever and however you want, even ten seconds, minutes, hours, days, or weeks before an election - and that if you cannot convince anyone of your beliefs, you have no right to use government to force people to accept them.
Then there are people who see government as the baseball bat to be used against anyone who disagrees with their beliefs. These people include but are not limited to: Hillary Clinton, Liz Warren, Barack Obama, Al Gore, George Bush, Donald Trump, Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz, John Kerry, Barney Frank, John McCain, etc. They believe in power, and they feel like using it against anyone who displeases them.
If you want freedom, the first group is who you should look to. If you want something else, the second group is a better choice - but watch out, because today they may approve of you, and tomorrow, for some arbitrary whim, you may find their bat wielded on your head.
There are people who want to live their lives freely, and allow others to do the same. These are people who don't care whether you're gay, or straight, or want an abortion, or don't want an abortion. They believe you have a right to your beliefs, and that you have no right to impose your beliefs on anyone by force. They believe you are free to express your beliefs - whenever and however you want, even ten seconds, minutes, hours, days, or weeks before an election - and that if you cannot convince anyone of your beliefs, you have no right to use government to force people to accept them.
Then there are people who see government as the baseball bat to be used against anyone who disagrees with their beliefs. These people include but are not limited to: Hillary Clinton, Liz Warren, Barack Obama, Al Gore, George Bush, Donald Trump, Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz, John Kerry, Barney Frank, John McCain, etc. They believe in power, and they feel like using it against anyone who displeases them.
If you want freedom, the first group is who you should look to. If you want something else, the second group is a better choice - but watch out, because today they may approve of you, and tomorrow, for some arbitrary whim, you may find their bat wielded on your head.
4
Peter Mandler, whom Ross Douthat references, writes of a "London problem," but Mandler is in turn guilty of an "English problem," namely ignoring Scotland. How does Scotland fit into Ross's view; a nation with a strong self identity wishing to be part if the EU? I don't see elitism dominating the Scottish vote.
And, when did that person walk through Africa on foot, and when did that person live in Washington as a stepping stone to living in the Middle East? You can't so that now anymore than you can do what Richard Burton or Kipling did.
And, when did that person walk through Africa on foot, and when did that person live in Washington as a stepping stone to living in the Middle East? You can't so that now anymore than you can do what Richard Burton or Kipling did.
4
When people say thing like "liberals who hail the end of whiteness", they are, as this writer does, projecting their own views onto others, creating a word picture for similiarly minded people to scoff at others and feel superior in their wit within their own tribes.
6
Getting really tired of the term 'elites'. Why don't we call them exactly what many of them are, modern day 'robber barons'. These people instead of being admired for their wealth should be castigated morning, noon and night for their undeserved fortunes. Money gluttons are psychopaths. They can never have enough. It is up to us to tell them, "Enough."
As the world gets smaller due to the internet, these people can run but they can no longer hide. Reveal their excesses to the masses. Most people have NO idea how these entitled actually live. If they knew, it would shortly end.
If I were outrageously wealthy I'd be keeping a low profile, in Greenland.
As the world gets smaller due to the internet, these people can run but they can no longer hide. Reveal their excesses to the masses. Most people have NO idea how these entitled actually live. If they knew, it would shortly end.
If I were outrageously wealthy I'd be keeping a low profile, in Greenland.
6
Douthat's tautological argument reminds me of the tired old saw concerning altruism, which goes something like this: There is no such thing as altruism, because even selflessness can be construed as self serving.
Basically, he's defining tribalism out of existence. Oh please.
Basically, he's defining tribalism out of existence. Oh please.
5
The most insightful analysis that I have seen of the New Elite. Bravo Mr. Douthat !
3
A good companion piece is Andrew Greeley's "Intellectuals as an 'Ethnic' Group," in the July 12, 1970 NYT Magazine.
http://www.nytimes.com/1970/07/12/archives/intellectuals-as-an-ethnic-gr...
http://www.nytimes.com/1970/07/12/archives/intellectuals-as-an-ethnic-gr...
1
"Elite," that imprecise label, lends itself beautifully to demagoguery. Watching the pre-Brexit debate from afar, I got the impression that anyone who spoke rationally about the consequences of leaving the EU was elitist. Those who looked at the claims and tried to add up the numbers were uncaring cosmopolitans. Those who said the proposed solution didn't address the problems were spreading unpatriotic doubt and fear. Maybe the odds are always against reason in the democratic brawl, but they seem especially daunting at this moment in history. It's a moment that has come before. The Nazi party, the most successful rightist populist movement in history, had great success attacking elites during the Weimar elections of 1931. Their campaigns were weak on details, but strong in emotion and religious imagery. They were on a mission to redeem Germany and restore its greatness.
7
Douthat defines the terms and categories, and then criticizes them. Calls them a myth. Hmmm....you defined "cosmopolitanism" as this new way or classifying folks. Save it for Fox, where the people there aren't so clever (haha).
4
Douhat needs to do a little investigation in to the other areas (for example rural Texas) where Gay people are despised and feared, Brown skinned people are run out of town, and little old ladies who you don't even know ask you repeatedly where you "worship".
In a few more generations (if we survive that long) we will ALL be a beautiful shade of mocha and the world willl better for it.
In a few more generations (if we survive that long) we will ALL be a beautiful shade of mocha and the world willl better for it.
8
Genetics doesn't work that way. A more mixed race population would produce a certain number of very fair, blonde and blue-eyed people and a certain number of dark-haired, dark skinned and dark haired people, along with more people with medium skin tones, often from the same families. The U.S. might look more like Brazil or Puerto Rico than it currently does. I think it's probably likely that more Hispanic or Asian or black families will become culturally and ethnically white through intermarriage and cultural assimilation. Some of it will be intermarriage with "elites" but there is also quite a bit of mixing in the so-called "lower classes." Still, some of the racial disparities will unfortunately persist.
Yes, if you move to a small town in Texas or other rural areas, you should probably expect to be asked where you worship and it will take quite a while for people to warm up to strangers. That's their culture. If you come in as a stranger expecting to change the way people live and think instead of joining groups and trying to fit in and get to know others in the town, that's the reaction you're likely to get.
Yes, if you move to a small town in Texas or other rural areas, you should probably expect to be asked where you worship and it will take quite a while for people to warm up to strangers. That's their culture. If you come in as a stranger expecting to change the way people live and think instead of joining groups and trying to fit in and get to know others in the town, that's the reaction you're likely to get.
3
"brown skinned people are run out of town." This is a true statement. https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2014/10/29/college-grad...
1
"Genuine cosmopolitanism is a rare thing. It requires comfort with real difference, with forms of life that are truly exotic relative to one’s own."
I dunno, Ross. It seems to me the cosmopolitanism has nothing to do with being comfortable. It's about curiosity, openness to new ideas, and a willingness to welcome people who are different and unknown. It's opposite, of course, is provincialism. Where is cosmopolitanism is willing to start from open this, provincialism classically begins from suspicion. Kind of like the way you are describing the people who you label as being cosmopolitan.
I dunno, Ross. It seems to me the cosmopolitanism has nothing to do with being comfortable. It's about curiosity, openness to new ideas, and a willingness to welcome people who are different and unknown. It's opposite, of course, is provincialism. Where is cosmopolitanism is willing to start from open this, provincialism classically begins from suspicion. Kind of like the way you are describing the people who you label as being cosmopolitan.
62
Conservatives are always complaining about "elites". You know something, I like elites. When I go to a doctor, I hope he or she were part of an "elite" class in their medical school. If I need legal advise, I would certainly feel more assured if he or she graduated from an "elite" school of law. When our country is threatened by enemies, foreign and domestic, my most fervent hope is our armed forces are led by an "elite" set of officers. My sense is that conservatives are so critical and suspicious of "elites" because so few of them belong to one.
83
I would prefer that my doctors, lawyers, generals, plumbers, mechanics and teachers would be competent and trustworthy. But, I'm not an elite, so my values wouldn't resonate with yours.
2
At last--thank you. I'm so sick of the right-wing We Hate People Who Are Really Good At Stuff garbage; "elite" was getting to be my second-least-favorite word, after "voucher".
1
Cosmopolitans are a tribe, but many liberal cosmopolitans read literature, view art, watch cinema, and travel with the express point of learning what it is like to live in other tribes. That may not be visible from outside the tribe—and it may not even work to expand our awareness and change behavior—but Ross might have mentioned it. Did he overlook the power of the liberal imagination because he doubts that power, or because his conservative and religious dogmas limit that power it can hold for him?
5
Ross, as an academic who has taught at universities in blue states, California, Massachusetts, New York, I fully agree with you. There is enormous tribalism, enormous blindness, and at least in the blue states their members are "educating" our young.
Note that the postings with the largest number of approvals are all members of this tribe and all wear these "green crowns" of "verified" commentators. They are deaf to what you say and see you only as a Republican or as a Catholic and not as another human being who has something relevant to say.
In part the NYT's posting policy is at fault. People with green arrows are allowed immediate say. The "hoi polloi" have to wait. . (WAPO and WSJ allow postings to appear at once, you do not have to be a member of their "aristocracy". ) And the discussion is often closed after a few hours
So there is no way for the "tribe" to be exposed to educated people who think differently from them. To them,someone who disagrees is someone clinging to his guns and his Bible. NO real discussion whatever. (I say "his" because to this aristocracy, no woman owns a gun or ever reads the Bible).
So ironically, it is left to maniacs like Trump to say some truths which the "aristocracy" will not allow to be said. The only hope for America is that Trump picks a VP with some sense, and he himself grows up between now and November.
Note that the postings with the largest number of approvals are all members of this tribe and all wear these "green crowns" of "verified" commentators. They are deaf to what you say and see you only as a Republican or as a Catholic and not as another human being who has something relevant to say.
In part the NYT's posting policy is at fault. People with green arrows are allowed immediate say. The "hoi polloi" have to wait. . (WAPO and WSJ allow postings to appear at once, you do not have to be a member of their "aristocracy". ) And the discussion is often closed after a few hours
So there is no way for the "tribe" to be exposed to educated people who think differently from them. To them,someone who disagrees is someone clinging to his guns and his Bible. NO real discussion whatever. (I say "his" because to this aristocracy, no woman owns a gun or ever reads the Bible).
So ironically, it is left to maniacs like Trump to say some truths which the "aristocracy" will not allow to be said. The only hope for America is that Trump picks a VP with some sense, and he himself grows up between now and November.
4
Lack of comment moderation is the main reason why I quit reading WAPO. I'll live with the green checkmarks in exchange for not having to read some of the things I saw on those comment boards. I'm OK with being among the hoi polloi in exchange. Comment moderation is why I am willing to pay for a NYT subscription.
1
OMG, I agree with Ross.
1
A very insightful column, including the observation that several writers often bashed as imperialists (especially Conrad) are the real cosmopolitans (including scathing critiques of their own ethnocentric limitations). Too bad Mr. Douhat didn't do as well with the constantly-misunderstood quotation from Richard II. John of Gaunt (not Shakespeare) invokes "this blessed isle" and its uniquely protected status only to point out its "shame" because the government (Richard II) has leased out crown lands to pay for Richard's personal lifestyle excesses. For contemporary relevance, the rest of the quotation is more appropriate: "England, that was wont to conquer others / Hath made a shameful conquest of itself."
1
The one thing that seems obvious to me is that those that are against "globalization" were obviously not told that this was the direction the world was moving in. And they're being lied to by people who promise to reverse it. Whether it (globalization) is good or bad will be determined in the future, but this is just a natural result of the advances in travel and communication. From here in NY we can get to London in 7 hours. And I've been chatting online with friends in other countries since 7th grade - the mid 90's.
2
Ross, you have a point, but you stretch it too far. For one thing, the "cosmopolitans" aren't the same as the economic elite that really does rule the world nowadays. They (we) are much, much larger than the 1% or .001% that are the result of unequal economic outcomes and really are in control more or less. There are many millions in the US, for example, who would identify as cosmopolitan. So you're conflating a couple of types of elites here--cultural and economic.
But there is a certain amount of hypocrisy, which is always ugly and hard to see in oneself. We Cosmopolitans do tend to devalue and judge as rubes those who we see as intolerant and ignorant. I'm guilty of this, and embarrassed.
However, Cosmopolitan, as you've described it, sounds much like Pluralism, or Toleration. I defend those values in the most positive way I can: I am proudly intolerant of intolerance because I believe the liberal order is the best way of guaranteeing that humans are treated with dignity. And that the liberal order requires Pluralism--much space for minority rights and dissenting views and less space for bigotry. And that the liberal order requires the rule of law, which means much space for law and policy based on rationally-derived facts and ideas and little space for ideas based on prejudice and gut.
These days, the values of pluralism and tolerance are under attack by those you defend here. And along with those values, the liberal order is also under attack, which you well know.
But there is a certain amount of hypocrisy, which is always ugly and hard to see in oneself. We Cosmopolitans do tend to devalue and judge as rubes those who we see as intolerant and ignorant. I'm guilty of this, and embarrassed.
However, Cosmopolitan, as you've described it, sounds much like Pluralism, or Toleration. I defend those values in the most positive way I can: I am proudly intolerant of intolerance because I believe the liberal order is the best way of guaranteeing that humans are treated with dignity. And that the liberal order requires Pluralism--much space for minority rights and dissenting views and less space for bigotry. And that the liberal order requires the rule of law, which means much space for law and policy based on rationally-derived facts and ideas and little space for ideas based on prejudice and gut.
These days, the values of pluralism and tolerance are under attack by those you defend here. And along with those values, the liberal order is also under attack, which you well know.
2
Congratulations, you have written the best op ed I have read in these pages in months, and months. It's very accurate. Although being a graduate degree educated professional of the 1% type, it's not a meritocracy. It's is to some level, lots depend on the accident of your birth. And lots depends on your ability to look the other way at "corruption" and focus on making money, not morals. In fact a moral approach usually get in the way of others income streams and you then quickly removed from that circle.Lets face it, Martin gilens has pretty much proven what I'm telling you just in a different way. Also note, what you describe was invented as a concept years ago cultural hegemony describes the domination of a culturally diverse society by the ruling class, who manipulate the culture of that society—the beliefs, explanations, perceptions, values, and mores—so that their ruling-class worldview becomes the worldview that is imposed and accepted as the cultural norm; as the universally valid dominant ideology that justifies the social, political, and economic status quo as natural, inevitable, perpetual and beneficial for everyone, rather than as artificial social constructs that benefit only the ruling class.[1][2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultural_hegemony
3
This article brings to mind this past week, recalling Obama's highly touted speech , compared to a historical address in the Canadian House of Commons by JFK. Obama touched on all current anxieties the world faces. He promoted pending TPP as a giant step forward etc etc. He promoted immigration, music to Canadians ears as they thrive on immigration. Giving Obama credit for is oratory qualities, it took a couple days for one to digest what one heard. It was all positive and far reaching, but as always impractical. Impractical for reasons cited in this article. Globalization is out of hand and scares those left out. Yes we have helped lift millions of Chinese out of rural poverty. What does that mean.
2
Liberalism is Christianity without Christ?
Then what is Conservatism? Christ without compassion?
Form without substance?
Then what is Conservatism? Christ without compassion?
Form without substance?
5
It does take hutzpah to state that liberal Christianity equates to also being without Christ.
Conservatives have their share of Christians without Christ's full nature.
And this is a human problem of faith, loving and being a Spirit in Christ as we are human.
This is a universal problem of Spirituality and the Spirit of being a Christian.
Politics is essentially phrasing your world to get what you want, not necessarily what is Christian.
Conservatives have their share of Christians without Christ's full nature.
And this is a human problem of faith, loving and being a Spirit in Christ as we are human.
This is a universal problem of Spirituality and the Spirit of being a Christian.
Politics is essentially phrasing your world to get what you want, not necessarily what is Christian.
1
It sounds like more dichotomised thinking. Didn't that bring us Iraq, al-Maliki and ultimately ISIS? Is it all still "with us or against us"? That's the real myth.
I believe you are correct of the dichotomized thinking.
As long as a person is dichotomizing their world that person will not be one with another to anyone else. These people live in the tribe of dichotomizing and as such will not be able to leave the world of tribalism behind.
As long as a person is dichotomizing their world that person will not be one with another to anyone else. These people live in the tribe of dichotomizing and as such will not be able to leave the world of tribalism behind.
From the reaction to this column is seems apparent that far too many liberals lack the ability for interspection.
Because, what we see - as Ross Douthat aptly alluded to - that being "cosmopolitan" (i.e. a person with a liberal worldview) is just the flip side of those tribalists who believe in a "small-minded" world bigotry.
Because, in the end "cosmopolitans" are merely cultural tourists who would be agast at the notion that to be truly cosmopolitan they would have to leave the tour bus and live among the "natives."
Because, what we see - as Ross Douthat aptly alluded to - that being "cosmopolitan" (i.e. a person with a liberal worldview) is just the flip side of those tribalists who believe in a "small-minded" world bigotry.
Because, in the end "cosmopolitans" are merely cultural tourists who would be agast at the notion that to be truly cosmopolitan they would have to leave the tour bus and live among the "natives."
1
"It is still possible to disappear into someone else’s culture, to leave the global-citizen bubble behind. But in my experience the people who do are exceptional or eccentric or natural outsiders to begin with". This reminds me of a woman originally from Kansas who as a teenager who left the continental US to attend school in then barely a state Hawaii. There while studying Russian she met a man from Kenya, got pregnant and married him. Later she moved on to Indonesia where she married a native of Java. Her travels took her to Pakistan and other places where she was an expert on economic anthropology and rural development. As the mother of President Obama her influence on his world view was profound. If only she had lived to see the great man her son has become.
3
The framework here is a merely asserted, but unproven “either/or”; one can either be a “cosmopolitan,” internationalist or a “narrow, tribalist.” However, a few fundamental facts about the real place we live on show we need less caricatured versions of both. Too often forgotten lessons from the early era of environmentalism were the “There is only one earth,” “It is endangered,” and the tricky: “We are all interconnected” (whether we realize that or not). While we are so focused on the issue-of-the-day, backed up by our comfortable ideologies, the facts that basically underpin our life and societies do not go away.
We, at least as a people, need to take sustainability actions at all scales, even at the same time. It can be done. The Rotary Clubs, acting largely at the local level, nearly wiped out polio on a global basis. Those only comfortable acting within their own “tribe,” can do so, but while recognizing the need for others to take sustainability actions within theirs, while connecting where possible. We don’t have the continued luxury of forever staying within our ideological comfort zones and re-playing our familiar fights.
We, at least as a people, need to take sustainability actions at all scales, even at the same time. It can be done. The Rotary Clubs, acting largely at the local level, nearly wiped out polio on a global basis. Those only comfortable acting within their own “tribe,” can do so, but while recognizing the need for others to take sustainability actions within theirs, while connecting where possible. We don’t have the continued luxury of forever staying within our ideological comfort zones and re-playing our familiar fights.
1
One of the great cosmoplitan vectors is the American military, with ats mysiad overseas bases. That aside, Doughat seems to feel that the Brotherhood of Man is an elitist operation.
1
Most liberals and Democrats aren't "rich elitist cosmopolites." They are the poor, working and middle class people who know who is on the side of the greedy versus the needy.
No matter how much you and David Brooks try to bury the truth under a mountain of opaque punditry, the problem remains: the playing field is tilted at historic levels, and our lawmakers bought and paid for by the avaricious.
"The Myth of Cosmopolitanism?" Next time, how about Get the Money out of Politics!
www.newyorkgritty.net
No matter how much you and David Brooks try to bury the truth under a mountain of opaque punditry, the problem remains: the playing field is tilted at historic levels, and our lawmakers bought and paid for by the avaricious.
"The Myth of Cosmopolitanism?" Next time, how about Get the Money out of Politics!
www.newyorkgritty.net
8
I learned geography as a story written about a boy named Peter Martin who followed his father around the world – he had in my mind a cool job; for the past 20 plus years, I have been doing the same thing as a byproduct of good preparation and good luck. I have more in common with the Afghan I meet, or the Palestinian, or the Moldovan, - no need to run through the 30-plus countries – than I do with my next door neighbor in the US. I exist on a plane where jobs, shared experience, connections, lead to acceptance and passports are an anachronism. ‘Tribe’? Okay. However...
I don’t identify with Ross’ version of a self-serving elite, deserving of and justifying its rule based on its intellectual virtues. Privilege doesn’t equate to power: if it did, those of us privileged enough to live on ‘the plane’ but work in the trenches like I do may already have helped to get us to a better place – think Europe after World War II and the Marshal Plan. Not so. Power, something Machiavelli understood, but Ross doesn’t, resides in a locus of points; and those occupying the points agree – or not – to accept limits, the subject of Machiavelli’s The Prince. Those in positions of power don’t differentiate between those in privileged positions – or not. All are the same for the Prince for whom to kiss or to kill were the same thing. Ever thus.
I don’t identify with Ross’ version of a self-serving elite, deserving of and justifying its rule based on its intellectual virtues. Privilege doesn’t equate to power: if it did, those of us privileged enough to live on ‘the plane’ but work in the trenches like I do may already have helped to get us to a better place – think Europe after World War II and the Marshal Plan. Not so. Power, something Machiavelli understood, but Ross doesn’t, resides in a locus of points; and those occupying the points agree – or not – to accept limits, the subject of Machiavelli’s The Prince. Those in positions of power don’t differentiate between those in privileged positions – or not. All are the same for the Prince for whom to kiss or to kill were the same thing. Ever thus.
1
I agree with all except this: you state that privilege does not equate to power, however, power always is running over with privilege. More power, more privilege. As a Prince one owns the kingdom.
1
So the conversation is not to be about the one percent versus the 99% but about the 30% against the 70%. How convenient for the one percent! Just as "globalist" institutions like the IMF were beginning to self-critique and raise concerns about the failings of neoliberalism and just when Basel 3 was about to step in and put an end to tax shelters for the ultra-wealthy, the game changes and those who won (or gamed) the meritocracy to become successful doctors, lawyers and yes, bankers all are rolled together into a new "class" of self-loathing pseudo-internationalists by Douthat and his scribbling confrères.
Sorry, I'm not buying it. Liberals continue to promote opportunity for all, openness to other cultures, and a decent social safety net. The "rabble" continues to value these things, though it often takes a college education to articulate them and identify solutions.
Sanders is right – the real issue continues to be the insane amount of wealth going to the top one percent. According to Picketty, this will only get worse if not halted and halt it we must. The rest is smoke and mirrors.
Sorry, I'm not buying it. Liberals continue to promote opportunity for all, openness to other cultures, and a decent social safety net. The "rabble" continues to value these things, though it often takes a college education to articulate them and identify solutions.
Sanders is right – the real issue continues to be the insane amount of wealth going to the top one percent. According to Picketty, this will only get worse if not halted and halt it we must. The rest is smoke and mirrors.
7
If physically attacking Trump supporters and have members of liberal, cosmopolitan media condone, justify, or ignore that violence is not tribalism, then the definition of the word should change.
3
Very thoughtful column. I'd add that it was interesting to watch cosmopolitan meritocrats negative reaction to Bernie Sanders. Quite a number of self-described liberal cosmopolitans reacted to his candidacy by becoming fussy and irritable beyond what one would expect from mere policy differences. Your sociological inquiries may be on to something, not sure what exactly, but it does make for an interesting read.
5
Another stimulating column from Mr. Douthat. (Where has he been?) There is a lot to think about here. My initial response is that the global tribe is more right than wrong. While some regions of the world may remain impervious to the influences of WEIRDness, those influences will eventually remake much of the world and it will become a better place for most people. Countries and cultures that choose not to participate, North Korea and Iran for example, will be graciously ignored (if possible) by the global tribe. There will be plenty of other places to go and things to do as the new global community emerges.
2
It's all very well to say that the young people voted to remain, but a pretty good chunk of them just didn't vote. Not sure what the ones who didn't vote would say. It's nice to read something in a newspaper that isn't just "the people who voted to leave, and the Trump voters, are snookered and stupid". Because I just can't believe that's true. You're talking about a lot of people - some of them have got to be thoughtful people. Let's hear it!
While reading this I am reminded of David Halberstam's "The Best and the Brightest" about the elites that got us into the Vietnam morass. It's always the same - those in power think they know what is best for us and if we disagree, it's because we're ignorant and uninformed.
I am racist if I don't want my kids attending urban schools where education is not valued, but no one criticizes Obama for sending his kids to an elite private school. The elites on the right are no better. With a few exceptions (John McCain being the most notable) they are willing to fight wars, but only with other people's sons and daughters.
I am racist if I don't want my kids attending urban schools where education is not valued, but no one criticizes Obama for sending his kids to an elite private school. The elites on the right are no better. With a few exceptions (John McCain being the most notable) they are willing to fight wars, but only with other people's sons and daughters.
4
I, someone most people would consider a "liberal", and most others would not call you a racist for wanting to send your children to a good school, regardless of the racial make-up. Racism is partly responsible for why we have "elite" schools vs. most others. Surely there are cultural problems, and money problems, but I'm in favor of all our public schools being elite schools, and the enormous commitment it would take by all of us to make it happen. When minority students, like the Obama's, get into good schools, they do as well as everyone else. A liberal wouldn't care what color the children are, just that the school is good.
"American liberals who hail the end of whiteness while doing everything possible to keep their kids out of majority-minority schools."
Exactly which liberals are hailing the end of whiteness? Is Mr. Douthat confusing that with improving the lives of minorities?
To a true "liberal", the problem isn't sending your child to a school with mostly brown children, it's the lack of a quality education at that school due to racism. Racism is what is ultimately responsible for the problems with "majority-minority schools".
Unfortunately, racism is not dead. It is a long way from it in our conscious and sub-conscious. That is the problem, not the beautiful children who attend. They, their family, and their culture encounter and are hindered by racism before school, during school, after school, until death and beyond.
"American liberals who hail the end of whiteness while doing everything possible to keep their kids out of majority-minority schools."
Exactly which liberals are hailing the end of whiteness? Is Mr. Douthat confusing that with improving the lives of minorities?
To a true "liberal", the problem isn't sending your child to a school with mostly brown children, it's the lack of a quality education at that school due to racism. Racism is what is ultimately responsible for the problems with "majority-minority schools".
Unfortunately, racism is not dead. It is a long way from it in our conscious and sub-conscious. That is the problem, not the beautiful children who attend. They, their family, and their culture encounter and are hindered by racism before school, during school, after school, until death and beyond.
1
Really? In your 3rd to last paragraph, your description is of the group that when elected actually seems to try to help me. I tell you this: the R's method of manipulation of said 'tribal caste' into voting against their best interests is a sad misunderstanding on the role of government to help the helpless.
If we REALLY cared, our gov't. would have a powerful committee that researched the best laws of other Democracies. Why not? Copying is cheap and flatters. 'Best laws' should be the motto to dream about. Obviously the Scandinavian Democracies seem to have some secrets that would more than greatly benefit us - they have stuff like free education, child care, etc. How do they do it?
If we REALLY cared, our gov't. would have a powerful committee that researched the best laws of other Democracies. Why not? Copying is cheap and flatters. 'Best laws' should be the motto to dream about. Obviously the Scandinavian Democracies seem to have some secrets that would more than greatly benefit us - they have stuff like free education, child care, etc. How do they do it?
High taxes and avoidance of dumb wars. They also have very, very small populations. Surely, we could make an excellent society in LA or NY or Atlanta, if we didn't have the rest of the country to think about...
These children of diplomats, journalists and parents employed by multinational companies have long been with us ~ they go to the International or American high schools abroad and inter-marry and inter-breed. No matter where they go they circle the globe in a narrow ribbon of class and culture where they are always at home with people exactly like them. Increasingly however, it is an inherited position, distinguished by greater amounts of wealth and opportunity that separate them from the ordinary. And therein lies the rub.
5
One of your points is that 'it’s a problem that our tribe of self-styled cosmopolitans doesn’t see itself clearly as a tribe: because that means our leaders can’t see themselves the way the Brexiteers and Trumpistas and Marine Le Pen voters see them'. It is quite a project to see ourselves clearly. It might begin with the notion that to do so has some value. Far more often we are caught up in the apparent security of group identity. Political correctness tunes out an awareness of other interests when they are not argued away, or otherwise disposed of. I thank you Ross, for a piece which has the ring of truth to it. Unfortunately, there is an eve of destruction feel to things right now, as there has often been in history. Perhaps there is a divide as well between the which side are you on types and those that won't get involved. Can you get any conviction behind hopefulness at this time?
1
Now that the new emergent aristocracy is raising its head without shame, why not call these Davos men and women for what they really are: anti-democratic neo-reactionaries.
3
It's fun how conservative always blame liberals for being divisive (see: Obama and race) while simultaneously cleaving everyone into camps, pitting us-vs-them. Does anyone else know the complete hypocrisy of this column?
10
The Solution is always the problem to 'conservatives'.
1
So your point is that the cosmopolitanism of the global elite is only skin deep, so that makes them hypocrites and thus without merit? Couldn't the same be said of nativists, with their equally self-serving cant and "stop the world" mindset? If there were good paying jobs for all, maybe there wouldn't be a Trump--or a Brexit.
The unfettered capitalism that you and your fellow conservatives have espoused for so many decades set the rules for this divergence and is the real reason these two tribes exist. When winners take all, and the losers are left to starve in the dark, you get this kind of very human reaction to change. But we've seen that conservatives don't believe in helping those left behind, especially if they're asked to pay for it. How can you pretend innocence for helping to create this mess?
On the other hand, I've seen reports that Trump supporters are generally well off, not jobless and homeless. So I think the real reason they're supporting this bozo is not economic but cultural and tribal, the white tribe that is. They think that if the Muslims and Hispanics were sent home, and blacks put back in their place (under white feet), things would be hunky dory again, for them at least. They're going to be in for the shock of their lives if Trump is elected, because this con man won't be able to deliver on any of his promises. The only thing you can count on is that he'll make an even bigger mess of things.
The unfettered capitalism that you and your fellow conservatives have espoused for so many decades set the rules for this divergence and is the real reason these two tribes exist. When winners take all, and the losers are left to starve in the dark, you get this kind of very human reaction to change. But we've seen that conservatives don't believe in helping those left behind, especially if they're asked to pay for it. How can you pretend innocence for helping to create this mess?
On the other hand, I've seen reports that Trump supporters are generally well off, not jobless and homeless. So I think the real reason they're supporting this bozo is not economic but cultural and tribal, the white tribe that is. They think that if the Muslims and Hispanics were sent home, and blacks put back in their place (under white feet), things would be hunky dory again, for them at least. They're going to be in for the shock of their lives if Trump is elected, because this con man won't be able to deliver on any of his promises. The only thing you can count on is that he'll make an even bigger mess of things.
90
Umm... how are we defining 'white' here anyway, seems convenient to put Middle Easterners and Latinos as 'not white' when you want to blame some segment of 'whites' I get the point but do not think the Trump wave is only about race, in fact is more about class and economics, much more so than race because the underlying cause of this apparent racial/ethnic tension and those in the EU to are economic ones. There are some classic studies showing how prejudice and racial tensions tend to spike historically with recessions and depressions and of course the classic psychological study Dollard in the 1930's showing that when people get frustrated (as in recessions) they tend to exhibit more prejudice. Yes it's racial but it's more about the global economic mess we are in now.
1
Good article, much more needs to be written about this.
Maria Bamford: “You know when you are in a third-world shantytown at midnight, and you’re terrified, but then off in the distance you see the glowing logo of an international conglomerate, and you just feel like: Everything’s going to be O.K. Maybe it’s time I seek the Exxon within."
Religion has failed us. Civic institutions have failed us. Economic security is a myth. Meritocracy is a joke across the broad population.
Having won the economic battle through birthright and luck, the progressives want to be cosmopolitan so they can go to sleep at night in a more humanist world. Hey, we're not Reagan-era yuppies. Isn't that better?
The brands have changed from Saab to Uber. Model corporates from Micosoft to Google. But it's all the same- get on the bus of progressivism or you'll be left behind.
Change is hard- especially when you are unprepared it in every way for it with no one with your best interests in mind. Not republicans or democrats. So corporates with their inspiring branding and fast moving abilities will fill the gap.
Maria Bamford: “You know when you are in a third-world shantytown at midnight, and you’re terrified, but then off in the distance you see the glowing logo of an international conglomerate, and you just feel like: Everything’s going to be O.K. Maybe it’s time I seek the Exxon within."
Religion has failed us. Civic institutions have failed us. Economic security is a myth. Meritocracy is a joke across the broad population.
Having won the economic battle through birthright and luck, the progressives want to be cosmopolitan so they can go to sleep at night in a more humanist world. Hey, we're not Reagan-era yuppies. Isn't that better?
The brands have changed from Saab to Uber. Model corporates from Micosoft to Google. But it's all the same- get on the bus of progressivism or you'll be left behind.
Change is hard- especially when you are unprepared it in every way for it with no one with your best interests in mind. Not republicans or democrats. So corporates with their inspiring branding and fast moving abilities will fill the gap.
5
The Scots tribalists who wanted to leave the UK want to be part of the EU. So it is a bit more complicated than the narratives here.
8
Rarely, oh ever so rarely, do I agree, much less enjoy, an op-ed piece composed by Mr. Douthat. But the one element, the one premise that was left unsaid is that it is the affluence and privilege of the cosmopolitan elite that allows for that travel, that ease of communication, that abundant free time to.imbibe and dabble in the exotic and the new in the first place. And more and more that affluence and privilege owes its existence to the perpetuation of such financial and intellectual resources those self-same peoples enjoy because of political protection and the denial of such resources to those who actually work for a living and strive mightily to simply survive without ever enjoying much of the same access and privilege. It is a world where most must pay to have enough leg room on a plane to even move or to afford to go see a popular musician of the common people or afford a piece of fish that is more than a manufactured concoction of protein gruel.
11
Excellent piece! It is always uplifting to see that some people continue to think and avoid repeating similar trivialities.
5
Bingo!!!!
100% spot on!
Any solution to global issues necessarily understands the genetic heritage of 150 million years of evolution of the genus Homo.
This is currently the ONLY explanation of the current state of affairs.
100% spot on!
Any solution to global issues necessarily understands the genetic heritage of 150 million years of evolution of the genus Homo.
This is currently the ONLY explanation of the current state of affairs.
1
If you have "ascended" from a lower or middle class community in to "elite company" you have experienced the diaspora of success. Success affords luxury and privacy but for most of us, excepting those that actually enjoy exclusive clubs and hearing about all the wonderful achievements of the keeping up with the Jones crowd, this path is one you walk alone. I am no longer the white kid that showed up at an all black summer camp and left with a list of new best friends. The safety net of a bank account bars me from the authenticity of the experience. As the band Pulp sang, " call your daddy he can stop it all".
2
Not only are we a tribe, but if you can't see that others have a legitimate beef with our locally grown kale ways, then you prove exactly what Douthat is saying.
9
Will history repeat itself? Will the high and mighty be taken down a notch or two (or more) by the will and . . . dare I say . . . actions of the common man? This script seems so familiar. A Declaration, anyone?
Happy Independence Day!
Happy Independence Day!
4
Ross Douthat is a good columnist but he's making a career out of pointing out the hypocrisy of liberals. I get it. He went to Harvard (important to occasionally show off that credential), mixed it up with some smug lefties and found that he often had more in common with people who go to church. But this does wear thin after a while. Pointing out inconsistencies in human behavior may be satisfying but it's not terribly imaginative.
10
he's obviously hitting a lot of liberals' nerves here. Your attempt to denigrate Ross may say something about your own ambivalences, hypocrisies, as a "liberal".
3
Fantastic work, Ross, maybe your best ever. (And for once you got it done in less than 2,000 words!)
The cosmo-elite clearly ARE part of the problem (sorry, Socrates and Gemli, but you need to do a little introspection here), but mainly because they've somehow construed the financial elite to be their allies in opening the world.
Because they were at school with all those traders and bankers? Because they enjoy the same restaurants and galleries? Because their kids' nannies are best friends?
Whatever. The progressive elite needs to divorce itself from the predatory financial elite. Sure, let's have as much contact with other cultures as we can, but let's configure those contacts so they don't result in the marginalization of 70% of our population just to provide the top 20% with more richly varied experiences and the top 1% with more money.
The cosmo-elite clearly ARE part of the problem (sorry, Socrates and Gemli, but you need to do a little introspection here), but mainly because they've somehow construed the financial elite to be their allies in opening the world.
Because they were at school with all those traders and bankers? Because they enjoy the same restaurants and galleries? Because their kids' nannies are best friends?
Whatever. The progressive elite needs to divorce itself from the predatory financial elite. Sure, let's have as much contact with other cultures as we can, but let's configure those contacts so they don't result in the marginalization of 70% of our population just to provide the top 20% with more richly varied experiences and the top 1% with more money.
12
There is a catch-22 at work here. One of the fundamental principles of the "cosmopolitan" group that Douthat seems to be delineating is a sort of Anti-Tribalism. But some would call it "human nature:" as soon as a group of people collectively embraces a fundamental value, they seem to draw a circle around themselves and behave, at least implicitly, as if they are a tribe.
Douthat is right to suggest that failing to realize their tribal status in the eyes of "non-cosmopolitans" prevents cosmopolitans from fully understanding the other side's arguments. But the question remains: is it possible for a group of human beings to embrace a fundamental value (in this case, Anti-Tribalism) without becoming a "tribe?" I hope that the answer is yes -- that we can transcend our "human nature" enough to achieve this.
Douthat is right to suggest that failing to realize their tribal status in the eyes of "non-cosmopolitans" prevents cosmopolitans from fully understanding the other side's arguments. But the question remains: is it possible for a group of human beings to embrace a fundamental value (in this case, Anti-Tribalism) without becoming a "tribe?" I hope that the answer is yes -- that we can transcend our "human nature" enough to achieve this.
3
You left out the most important part: knowing a second language. The ignorant technocratic group you describe is a tribe of English speakers, monolingual on the American side and oddly disinclined to name names, such as Terence, "Homo sum, humani nihil a me alienum puto."
2
"But no less than Brexit-voting Cornish villagers, our global citizens think and act as members of a tribe."
Ta Da -And thus another sweeping generalization that supports moral equivalency between those who live by their informed thoughts and those who live by their blind emotions fueled by nativist demagogues; Supporting policies which will guarantee their continuing economic dystopia.
People who don't know who their friends are!
Ta Da -And thus another sweeping generalization that supports moral equivalency between those who live by their informed thoughts and those who live by their blind emotions fueled by nativist demagogues; Supporting policies which will guarantee their continuing economic dystopia.
People who don't know who their friends are!
2
For Peter Mandler to include journalists (the big bad liberal media) in his list of cosmopolitan elites, but fail to include bankers, financiers and venture capitalists -- and for Ross Douthat to repeat this quote -- is a laughably obvious example of the right's preference for money over people.
9
If being tolerant and democratic, and able to live in a peaceful, global group of different cultures and practices blended together is cosmopolitan, then isn't it better than living with one group separately from all other different cultures intolerant of one another? Cosmopolitan is way better.
7
tell that to the people in the deep Amazon.
Wow, that was a powerful column. I think I will invest the time an read it again.
16
I totally agree; it adds perspective on an otherwise slanted effort by publications like the NY Times to agree with their brand of globalism.
Are the "self-styled cosmopolitans" the ones who took us to Iraq, love anti-labor trade deals and rewrote the tax code to ensure hedge funder managers pay lower marginal tax rates than teachers and cops?
Who would have guessed that the real problem is that they're all multicultural Afghan restaurant goers?
Who would have guessed that the real problem is that they're all multicultural Afghan restaurant goers?
18
In Stalinist Russia, "cosmopolitan" was a derogatory term. it meant "Jewish." Anyone accused of being a "cosmopolitan element" was in danger for his life.
9
News flash. Everything written is not related to Jewishness. Is that word one more to be trade marked?
"Rootless cosmopolitan."
Dothan hits it on the head. "Elites" are so convinced of the superiority of their thinking that they apparently feel that explaining it is unnecessary. The "Remain" position was something like, "all thinking people agree with us."
Sure, if you are getting rich in the world's financial capitals, like London or New York, globalism is a pretty sweet deal. But go visit Newark, or Camden, or Toledo, or any other number of former manufacturing cities that are not sharing in that wealth and you will see real people with real disagreements with policy.
Condescending to "the little people" may be the only way the so-called elites know how to explain what they can't say out loud: The elites are doing well at the expense of the rubes, and they want to keep it that way.
Sure, if you are getting rich in the world's financial capitals, like London or New York, globalism is a pretty sweet deal. But go visit Newark, or Camden, or Toledo, or any other number of former manufacturing cities that are not sharing in that wealth and you will see real people with real disagreements with policy.
Condescending to "the little people" may be the only way the so-called elites know how to explain what they can't say out loud: The elites are doing well at the expense of the rubes, and they want to keep it that way.
114
Condescending to the little people accurately describes Donald Trump's approach to communication.
5
Such it has always been. And probably will always be.
Post war America saw booming times for the average worker. European industry was in shambles. Asia was worse. America's farmers fed the world and our factories supplied everything else, especially modern technology. Lack of education did not prevent Americans from reaching income levels formerly found only for college graduates.
It's now a different world. While there have been localized wars, overall peace has reigned for decades. Europe rebuilt and Asia blossomed. American workers have gone back to the economic level of their pre-war counterparts. They want college graduate living standards while performing the high school level jobs for which they qualify and they are no longer getting it. And they don't like it.
It's now a different world. While there have been localized wars, overall peace has reigned for decades. Europe rebuilt and Asia blossomed. American workers have gone back to the economic level of their pre-war counterparts. They want college graduate living standards while performing the high school level jobs for which they qualify and they are no longer getting it. And they don't like it.
1
I don't think I agree with the political implications of this article. But the sociological implications are just about irrefutable: that multiculturalism is itself a culture. Where the argument begins to fall apart is in failing to recognize that multicultaralism, like any other culture, has many different strands. Some factions may be more liberal, more elitist, or more affluent; others less so.
11
Multiculturalism as cosmopolitanism are not about diversity - they are about the isolation and eventual destruction of all ideas counter to the prevailing liberal thought of the day. They seek conformity to ideas that benefit elites both economic and educational while deriding those who oppose them as nativist, racist and simply uninformed. BREXIT was the first fully successful counter=attack by the everyday man against this western oligarchy, but not likely the last.
10
And no individual should ever aspire to be anything other than everyday, correct?
1
The US government is not divided by political parties even though you would think so when you listen to their child-like rhetoric and actions. No matter who enters the White House or Congress the results will be the same. It is the global powerbrokers, who dictate policy to every country, including the UK and US who want's to do international trade and make trade agreements.
What's happening is the people of this world are patriotic, but are not suppose to be nationalistic anymore, they are to be globalists. It is a beautiful idea where no one draws a line on a map and says this is mine and that is yours. Globalization means is suppose to be ours, however the reality is it only remains ours, until corruption and greed gives or takes it away.
Trade agreements are suppose to level the playing field. What it actually means is to take away from those who have and give it to the rich and powerful not to those in desperate need. It seems that everyone including governments now feel entitled to what the elitists have and don't have to work for what they want.
A case in point is to look at the mentality of Brazil getting or is not getting ready for the Olympics. Now they are entitled to federal bailout. Why, because they did not work for it, they are just entitled. Those who work for it wants what is theirs and those that don't... want what those have who worked for it. No wonder the UK and the US people are saying enough is a enough.
What's happening is the people of this world are patriotic, but are not suppose to be nationalistic anymore, they are to be globalists. It is a beautiful idea where no one draws a line on a map and says this is mine and that is yours. Globalization means is suppose to be ours, however the reality is it only remains ours, until corruption and greed gives or takes it away.
Trade agreements are suppose to level the playing field. What it actually means is to take away from those who have and give it to the rich and powerful not to those in desperate need. It seems that everyone including governments now feel entitled to what the elitists have and don't have to work for what they want.
A case in point is to look at the mentality of Brazil getting or is not getting ready for the Olympics. Now they are entitled to federal bailout. Why, because they did not work for it, they are just entitled. Those who work for it wants what is theirs and those that don't... want what those have who worked for it. No wonder the UK and the US people are saying enough is a enough.
4
“a nearly hereditary professional caste of lawyers, journalists, publicists, and intellectuals, an increasingly hereditary caste of politicians, tight coteries of cultural movers-and-shakers richly sponsored by multinational corporations.”
That is not a bad start Mr. Douthat. London or Washington? Spend a little time talking with Bernie, Elizabeth, Hillary, Donald and Sarah. Flesh out the details and then sort out cause and effect. Then look into a mirror, look deep beyond the image and you may catch a glimpse of your inner Democrat.
That is not a bad start Mr. Douthat. London or Washington? Spend a little time talking with Bernie, Elizabeth, Hillary, Donald and Sarah. Flesh out the details and then sort out cause and effect. Then look into a mirror, look deep beyond the image and you may catch a glimpse of your inner Democrat.
3
Oh Look !
Ross made up a straw man and slew it.
Ross made up a straw man and slew it.
13
Surprised that Ross doesn't lightly flagellate the cosmopolitan tribe not for liberal Christianity but for agnosticism and atheism, which are probably far more prevalent among this class than he lets on. Surprised that he ignores St. Paul, no doubt a hero of his, without whose endless journeys and broad tolerant cosmopolitanism Christianity would probably a long-forgotten tiny cult. Surprised that for someone whom I almost never agree with, I missed him on his month-long vacation and feared The Times had dropped him.
8
I am hard pressed to see how the term "cosmopolitan" applies to our worldwide interrelationships. The existence of "haves" and "have not's," the "wealthy" and the "poor," all come together to make of "peaceful co-existence" the utter failure it has become and there is no cosmopolitanism in evidence.
We are watching a vast experiment that is made up of start-ups and failures. The Trumps and the Johnson's of the world will come and go and with them their related problems. A week later, they will reappear wearing different faces. That is the human way.
It's not the least bit pretty but it's all we have ahead of us. Cosmopolitanism will never be anything more than a myth
We are watching a vast experiment that is made up of start-ups and failures. The Trumps and the Johnson's of the world will come and go and with them their related problems. A week later, they will reappear wearing different faces. That is the human way.
It's not the least bit pretty but it's all we have ahead of us. Cosmopolitanism will never be anything more than a myth
3
It's so weird how Mr. Douthat is able to take a good idea for a column and make is totally useless. For sure, there is an elite class and the forces of Trump and Brexit despise it. But I'm not sure what we are supposed to do with Mr. Douthat's criticisms? Apparently there are no mirrors in his world.
Of course there are self-righteous, flakey, hypocritical, rich, powerful people out there, and I'm not just describing DJ Trump.
Of course there are self-righteous, flakey, hypocritical, rich, powerful people out there, and I'm not just describing DJ Trump.
2
"They have their own distinctive worldview (basically liberal Christianity without Christ)," I donno about this one. Isn't the history of Christianity a religion losing its Christ. I haven't heard much about turning the other check, eye of the needle and love they neighbor, from the conservative crowd marching around with Trump and Cruz but there is hope with your pope of putting Christ back into Christianity.
4
A Catholic writes about multiculturalism and cosmopolitanism? Catholic = Universal.
This reads similar to William F. Buckley's response in debate to James Baldwin.
Grasping at the murky "cosmopolitanism" if this were written in the earlier 20th Century, I'd read this as a complaint against Joyce or Gertrude Stein's The Americans.
With all the tribal injections I'd read this mid century supporting John Birch.
And toward the end of the century I'd interpret this as our of step.
But if I read this before 9-11, I'd think you were confused by the internet.
Reading this today in obvious reaction to the dismal affairs of Brexit, it is clear you strive to react to the failure of isolationist politics you embrace(d) not even getting to the field for take-off, hence the muddy confusing mish-mash of antiquated terms combined in this murky stew hiding mediocrity that has been in the back of the fridge too long.
Grasping at the murky "cosmopolitanism" if this were written in the earlier 20th Century, I'd read this as a complaint against Joyce or Gertrude Stein's The Americans.
With all the tribal injections I'd read this mid century supporting John Birch.
And toward the end of the century I'd interpret this as our of step.
But if I read this before 9-11, I'd think you were confused by the internet.
Reading this today in obvious reaction to the dismal affairs of Brexit, it is clear you strive to react to the failure of isolationist politics you embrace(d) not even getting to the field for take-off, hence the muddy confusing mish-mash of antiquated terms combined in this murky stew hiding mediocrity that has been in the back of the fridge too long.
Well, this article certainly turns the world on its head. People who travel, try new things, read the news, go to college, are tolerant of others, and keep their minds open to new ideas are now the closed-minded elite. Meanwhile, people in small towns and urban neighborhoods, who often don't travel, often don't have much education, and tend to fear outsiders are somehow the enlightened folk who know what the real world is like.
Listen, can we stop with the silly generalizations? It's almost breath-taking to see pundits like Douthat painting the world with such a broad brush. Underneath this silliness, they are really trying to make sense of the collapse of a political entity, the Republican Party. The conservative movement is not the Republican Party. The Republican Party is a political entity that has long been stoking racist and nativist fears to tip elections their way. Now the crazies have control of the steering wheel.
Even as one of the "liberal elite" according to Douthat's dichotomy in this piece, I would welcome the conservative movement getting back to its basic core values, like free trade, smaller government, and even a sense of morality built on religious principles. The current Republican Party has lost its foundation in its quest for power. It's no longer a conservative party.
Listen, can we stop with the silly generalizations? It's almost breath-taking to see pundits like Douthat painting the world with such a broad brush. Underneath this silliness, they are really trying to make sense of the collapse of a political entity, the Republican Party. The conservative movement is not the Republican Party. The Republican Party is a political entity that has long been stoking racist and nativist fears to tip elections their way. Now the crazies have control of the steering wheel.
Even as one of the "liberal elite" according to Douthat's dichotomy in this piece, I would welcome the conservative movement getting back to its basic core values, like free trade, smaller government, and even a sense of morality built on religious principles. The current Republican Party has lost its foundation in its quest for power. It's no longer a conservative party.
6
"Listen, can we stop with the silly generalizations? Underneath this silliness, they are really trying to make sense of the collapse of a political entity, the Republican Party. The conservative movement is not the Republican Party."
Excellent post!
Excellent post!
Mr Douthat
Please, on the honor system, say whether you actually know a liberal who has done everything possible to keep his or her child out of majority-minority schools because of (an important qualification) the minority children -- as opposed to, say, seeking the best education for the child.
Please, on the honor system, say whether you actually know a liberal who has done everything possible to keep his or her child out of majority-minority schools because of (an important qualification) the minority children -- as opposed to, say, seeking the best education for the child.
9
I'd be gobsmacked if Mr Douthat knows any liberals -- outside of his colleagues at the Times.
3
great rationalization for racism. The best education just happens to be in the majority white schools?
I wanted my children to be comfortable with people from the trailer park to Park Avenue. That is hard to accomplish because to be at home everywhere is to be at home nowhere, but it is a worthy goal which enlarges one's perspective and enriches life. It can also increase compassion and justice. The great souls of this world have done it. (It helps to watch Anthony Bourdain if you don't happen to know any great souls.)
6
NYT readers and writers are one of the most brainwashed cult like think alike tribes you can find. They called and call Trump, who represents half of America a buffoon, a joke, an idiot and heaped distain and dismissal upon him as he rocketed to success. Douthat was one of the leaders! So its quite rich he is pontificating about tribe like thinking.
1
Absolutely brilliant analysis, one would only have to be a fly on the wall at Goldman to see what Douthat describes. The axis of politicians, business leaders, and media elites, all from the finest of schools and collecting all the benefits from globalization are the cancer which will destroy the very system they have created.
8
Like his fellow pious pundit, David Brooks, Mr. Douthat predictably avoids the underlying reality of economic class in this sermon from the Beltway bible. Substituting "tribe" for the financial foundation and interests of the cosmos he describes is a cute way of not going deeper into how his "powerful caste" actually rules here in the US, center of globalization's power enabled by ever-expanding militarism in service of the same "tribe" of insiders.
5
A cosmopolitan accuses other cosmopolitans of not being truly cosmopolitan.
3
As a genuine unwashed poor Montana farm boy currently in the throes of raging populist passions, I'll take issue with the "meritocratic" description.
With all extreme liberals, there is a lot of guilt in the baggage hold precisely because they don't feel they arrived at the pinnacle on merit. They maybe really lucked out in the Hollywood career lottery, or their families and fate steered them into acquiring the perfect credentials to access such upwards mobility as available, or maybe they even had one or two really good ideas on their own, but everything else in their brain locker is a joke.
They are not, therefore, true Renaissance men and women, so to feel secure (like they have really made it) they have to adhere to fashionable doctrines and allegiances with extraordinary PC rigidity.
The rest of us out here in flyover country, well, we have as our consolation the freedom to wonder aloud whether the gradual rate at which sea level has been rising maybe is NOT accelerating after all, whether globalism maybe in the end just hollows out the cores of great nations and leaves them to topple like ancient trees, whether maybe blue lives matter a lot in keeping society stable, whether safe rooms are good for college students, whether all traditional wisdom encapsulated in the Bible, the Constitution, and in all the other scribblings of old dead white men (and a few others) are maybe not so embarrassingly obsolete.
With all extreme liberals, there is a lot of guilt in the baggage hold precisely because they don't feel they arrived at the pinnacle on merit. They maybe really lucked out in the Hollywood career lottery, or their families and fate steered them into acquiring the perfect credentials to access such upwards mobility as available, or maybe they even had one or two really good ideas on their own, but everything else in their brain locker is a joke.
They are not, therefore, true Renaissance men and women, so to feel secure (like they have really made it) they have to adhere to fashionable doctrines and allegiances with extraordinary PC rigidity.
The rest of us out here in flyover country, well, we have as our consolation the freedom to wonder aloud whether the gradual rate at which sea level has been rising maybe is NOT accelerating after all, whether globalism maybe in the end just hollows out the cores of great nations and leaves them to topple like ancient trees, whether maybe blue lives matter a lot in keeping society stable, whether safe rooms are good for college students, whether all traditional wisdom encapsulated in the Bible, the Constitution, and in all the other scribblings of old dead white men (and a few others) are maybe not so embarrassingly obsolete.
9
"NOW that populist rebellions are taking Britain out of the European Union and the Republican Party out of contention for the presidency, perhaps we should speak no more of left and right, liberals and conservatives. From now on the great political battles will be fought between nationalists and internationalists, nativists and globalists."
Nonsense. It always has been a battle between Washington or Brussels working for the greedy self-serving economic elite and the rest of us who have finally had enough of it.
That is reason for the popularity of Bernie Sanders, Donald Trump and Brexit.
Nonsense. It always has been a battle between Washington or Brussels working for the greedy self-serving economic elite and the rest of us who have finally had enough of it.
That is reason for the popularity of Bernie Sanders, Donald Trump and Brexit.
4
Spot on!!
4
Now I have seen everything: After years of railing against Ross Douthat's columns, I finally agree with virtually every word in today's piece. Douthat's column seems to endorse the argument in Thomas Frank's excellent book, "Listen Liberal," and his indictment of the presumptions of the ostensibly "meritocratic" global elite is spot on.
5
Ross,
Someone's been reading Moldbug.
Someone's been reading Moldbug.
1
Although I have enjoyed "parts" of Douhat's past columns I certainly enjoyed the whole of this one. He is correct concluding as he did that many in the liberal educated class are cosmopolitan in name only. I see it among my friends who pay exorbitant amounts of money to send their kids to the most exclusive private schools while building great homes in "transition" neighborhoods but never really becoming part of them. And unfortunately I must admit I see it in myself. Thank you Ross for lending me a mirror to see myself even though the image is not as flattering as I may have liked.
5
In the 1940s the Stalinists complained about "rootless cosmopolitans" and began to purge them from government.
It's amazing to watch Republicans transform into neo-Stalinists by vilifying pernicious foreign influence and bourgeois cosmopolitanism. This column could have been written for Pravda a half century ago.
It's amazing to watch Republicans transform into neo-Stalinists by vilifying pernicious foreign influence and bourgeois cosmopolitanism. This column could have been written for Pravda a half century ago.
9
It seems that many in every new generation have to learn what has always been true among us humans, that birds of a feather flock together.
29
Ross speaks of the folks who work for the folks who run the world in order to make mega Corporations secure in their continued and ever increasing profitability. These are the servants of the Man--the Kings of this world. They are paid to keep a lid on things, to keep the natives from getting too restless, to explain why global warming, Christian values are bad and political correctness is good. In in word, to explain why black is the new white. It's all nonsense, of course, and they, the Cosmopolitans, are quite mad. Peasants arise!
2
In other words they are 'boot-lickers'.
1
This is avery insightful opinion, being read mostly by the members of the elitist thread of an unravelling twine that was meant to bind. Douthat explains simply and with relevant self-reference because many people worldwide are losing memory of the basics of their earliest (and probably only) tribal experiences -- childhood. Our confusion is perpetuated by, among other influences, the overwhelming onslaught and barrage of media and information, designed to sell (not to inform). There is no actual community left, except in very old and decaying rural areas of many nations (not just the U.S.). The trend to the dual-world phenomenon is peaking, though, as the movement of peoples envying the elite begin to infiltrate every more practiced nation in the West. I expect their coming disappointment and exclusion will begin to threaten both the rural lands and those comfortable suburban/city neighborhoods, comprised of both the right and left-leaning political do-gooders.
Should the educated/wealthy elite turn to hair shirts? Of course not. But should these people put down the cell-phones and pads for extended periods and perhaps foreswear Starbucks coffees during the summer and go for a walk in the woods, or spend a week on a farm near their home town, or take a mind-boggling tour of the state capitol in a bankrupt city like Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, well Yes?
Should the educated/wealthy elite turn to hair shirts? Of course not. But should these people put down the cell-phones and pads for extended periods and perhaps foreswear Starbucks coffees during the summer and go for a walk in the woods, or spend a week on a farm near their home town, or take a mind-boggling tour of the state capitol in a bankrupt city like Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, well Yes?
1
Mr. Douthat seems to generalize about the "cosmopolitan class" as being a cloistered, self-serving pseudo-aristocracy. I know many people whose education and status would qualify them for inclusion in that class who are quite different from the image Mr. Douthat offers. I would suggest pretty much everyone involved with organizations like Doctors Without Borders as but one example. My son in law is a newly minted doctor who would very much like to spend time with DWB after his residency. Selfishly I hope we can talk him out of it because it is very dangerous and we love him a lot - but I have profound respect for his motivation. There are many others like him - lawyers with the ACLU, teachers and professors working with students from deprived backgrounds - the list goes on and on. Just because such people are not, as a rule, interested in socializing with evangelical snake handlers, flat Earthers, people who think the planet is only 6,000 years old. who think Donald Trump is honest or who married their first cousin because she could make squirrel stew does not mean such members of the "elite" will not do their best to save the lives, educate the children and protect the civil rights of foolish, the ignorant and the just plain stupid. Be careful of generalizations. Oh!...Did I call some people stupid and foolish? Does that make me an elitist? I'll live with it. Not all cultures are equal. Mr. Douthat's "tongue speaking evangelicals" in my view are quite insane.
5
“They can’t see that their vision of history’s arc bending inexorably away from tribe and creed and nation-state looks to outsiders like something familiar from eras past: A powerful caste’s self-serving explanation for why it alone deserves to rule the world.” That is a neither new nor unexpected observation because history bends inexorably TOWARDS what Douthat calls the cosmopolitan. Travel, contract, communication, exchange, and interaction encourage change that is the engine of cultural evolution. Romans in the second century, Ottomans in the 16th century, Dutch in the 17th century, British in the 18th and 19th centuries, and Europeans in the 21st century are examples of a singular phenomenon that always roars past the equivalents of the Brexiteers and Trumpistas for whom change in any form is anathema. This is the neverending story of “History.”
2
As the comments pile up, it seems we all labor under our cherished but half-recognized cultural biases, accompanied, of course, by much hypocrisy all around. Mr. Douthat observes a truth and comments on it. Do we dispute his truth that the "cosmopolitan" elites might be more arrogant than cosmopolitan? I don't. The deeper truth hinted at here is that all of us are connected at some important level and that none of us can move ahead if we are content to attempt to leave so many behind. Formerly separated cultures are coming together in a relative instant, courtesy of communication and transportation technologies and a commercial desire to open trade, connect with other economies, and seek cost efficiencies. Shall we halt that? That's the political question inherent in Brexit and Trumpism. The elites are sailing high, benefitting from forces of globalization while ignoring the anchor that drags on their selfish ambitions and may now be threatening to pull the ship under. If they are so "elite" and destined therefore to lead, they should consider the whole of their citizens and work to bring everyone along for the ride. That's what I think Ross is saying. I agree.
4
Is the global elite truly a meritocracy? Surely, earning an advanced degree and then becoming successful financially and, perhaps, politically constitutes little more than taking a careerist path in life.
Where are the groundbreaking artists today? Where are the political leaders who not only inspire but actually display wisdom and guts? There are a few people in the scientific and technical realms who rise above their contemporaries, but where else does one find outstanding merit? The ruling class today is made up of people who are aggressive and acquisitive, while people of true merit -- discerning, courageous, and wise -- are sadly lacking even at the top.
Where are the groundbreaking artists today? Where are the political leaders who not only inspire but actually display wisdom and guts? There are a few people in the scientific and technical realms who rise above their contemporaries, but where else does one find outstanding merit? The ruling class today is made up of people who are aggressive and acquisitive, while people of true merit -- discerning, courageous, and wise -- are sadly lacking even at the top.
5
It's simpler...
'The Split' is between neoliberalism and nationalism.... but then it's complex and very ugly again.
Many of the 'nationalists' supporting trump have three very unsettling and related characteristics.
First, they both reject and cling to 'democracy', using it to validate their voices while they condemn its result.
Second, they reject 'experts' and reason, on a range of issues from climate change to trade to security.
Third, in many ways they are our Real Domestic Terrorists! Gleefully anticipating the demise of America (as we cherish it), while insisting on access to every weapon of mass destruction they can lay their hands on.
In many ways, in this strange and very dangerous trumpian season, the threat of 'outside' terrorism pales in comparison to our internal threats.
'The Split' is between neoliberalism and nationalism.... but then it's complex and very ugly again.
Many of the 'nationalists' supporting trump have three very unsettling and related characteristics.
First, they both reject and cling to 'democracy', using it to validate their voices while they condemn its result.
Second, they reject 'experts' and reason, on a range of issues from climate change to trade to security.
Third, in many ways they are our Real Domestic Terrorists! Gleefully anticipating the demise of America (as we cherish it), while insisting on access to every weapon of mass destruction they can lay their hands on.
In many ways, in this strange and very dangerous trumpian season, the threat of 'outside' terrorism pales in comparison to our internal threats.
6
The conservatives are ramping up a new attack against liberal thought.
The first salvo that I saw was in Vox a few weeks back, in which a columnist accused liberals of being "smug" and certain in their possession of "Correct Facts."
This was followed by an article in The Atlantic, or perhaps New Republic, about a lack for tolerance for anyone "stupid." Not exactly like the first article, but not too different either, since "stupid" people are those not in possession of the "Correct Facts."
And now an attack here on liberal cosmopolitanism. You can see the common thread: We need to back off and leave these people to pursue their parochial interests. This strikes me as the strategy of a group that sees itself losing ground. But here's the problem for liberals: the conservatives don't intend to go away quietly, they will continue to vote for the policies that try to force their religious and racial and sexual beliefs on those of us who want none of it, they will continue to oppose efforts to rein in climate change, and so forth.
Nice try, conservatives.
The first salvo that I saw was in Vox a few weeks back, in which a columnist accused liberals of being "smug" and certain in their possession of "Correct Facts."
This was followed by an article in The Atlantic, or perhaps New Republic, about a lack for tolerance for anyone "stupid." Not exactly like the first article, but not too different either, since "stupid" people are those not in possession of the "Correct Facts."
And now an attack here on liberal cosmopolitanism. You can see the common thread: We need to back off and leave these people to pursue their parochial interests. This strikes me as the strategy of a group that sees itself losing ground. But here's the problem for liberals: the conservatives don't intend to go away quietly, they will continue to vote for the policies that try to force their religious and racial and sexual beliefs on those of us who want none of it, they will continue to oppose efforts to rein in climate change, and so forth.
Nice try, conservatives.
6
Certainly this class of "internationalists" and "globalists" that Mr. Douhat identifies in this piece is real, but that class is hardly new and his taxonomy is far too neat, pat and ultimately reductive. There's an enormous blind spot here, best revealed by his most specific example comparing-rather strangely-figures like Burton and Lawrence to the elites who gather every year at Davos. Why not compare those who attend the World Economic Forum to those who attend the World Social Forum? The latter are certainly participating in a form of cosmopolitanism whose goals, worldview and ethical beliefs are absolutely distinct from the former. Honestly, examples that explode this analysis are just too easy to find. The activists who opposed NAFTA 25 years ago and who oppose TTP today on the grounds that, for example, workers-no matter where in the world they live-deserve safe working conditions and fair treatment are practicing a form of cosmopolitanism, regardless of whether they can afford to jet off to Paris for three-day weekends.
What Mr. Douthat calls the new cosmopolitanism class is really just another to say elites, obscuring the real issue in at least two ways. First, being an elite means engaging with other elites in other countries pretty much by definition today. Second, there's no shortage of people deeply engaged beyond the borders of their home countries and outside the cultures into which they were born who dissent from the agenda of Davos-type elites.
What Mr. Douthat calls the new cosmopolitanism class is really just another to say elites, obscuring the real issue in at least two ways. First, being an elite means engaging with other elites in other countries pretty much by definition today. Second, there's no shortage of people deeply engaged beyond the borders of their home countries and outside the cultures into which they were born who dissent from the agenda of Davos-type elites.
1
I too agree with Mr. Douthat for a change. He left out one thing however. These 'global citizens' also took all the money. They are less citizens than the newly self appointed aristocrats. To be a citizen one has to become endowed in one's polity and to be a democrat, one has to accept and know all of their fellow citizens. Oh, and perhaps respect them.
7
I've just completed a year-long work assignment in a small town in the deep South, largely populated by native resentniks who despise, but mostly fear, the rapid rise of economic and cultural globalization. You see, before the representatives of this imagined tyrannical group rose to power - the soulless, bland, inauthentic, multi-cultural automatons filtering through the world's airports and boardrooms - it was much simpler for these salt-of-the-earth real Americans to define and target the enemies they had been comfortable hating for generations - Blacks, Jews, Immigrants, Homosexuals, University Graduates, Vegetarians - indeed the cosmopolitan tapestry Douthat admits being threatened by early on in his own personal history. And now look how life is spinning out of control, with laptops and a mix of skin colors congregating throughout the world's public commercial spaces! So much easier for them real folks during an era when the lunch counters were segregated and you could pronounce the names of those claiming and acting upon their right to success.
1
now spend some time in a similar community in the deep north and report back to us.
2
"They have their own distinctive worldview (basically liberal Christianity without Christ)"
This is a statement that I always think of when I read Ross's column except the liberal part. He would be more described as basically conservative Christianity without Jesus. Funny how they both leave out Jesus in there Christianity.
This is one reason I long ago stop being a Christian and now only follow the teachings of Jesus. The Christ part came a lot later than the actual teachings of Jesus.
This is a statement that I always think of when I read Ross's column except the liberal part. He would be more described as basically conservative Christianity without Jesus. Funny how they both leave out Jesus in there Christianity.
This is one reason I long ago stop being a Christian and now only follow the teachings of Jesus. The Christ part came a lot later than the actual teachings of Jesus.
2
Societies, like ideologies, are always myths ultimately flawed & disproved.
However tribalists try to distract themselves with societies that offer some superficial comfort of associations of 'my people', group-allegiances are a desperate & vain attempt to escape the one reality we can be even reasonably certain of:
Humans are individuals, long before they resemble any colonies of microbes or flocks, packs, tribes or nations.
If we were honest, we'd be humble, and embrace the one overarching reality that becomes increasingly evident: The more we learn the less we know. We each face that unfolding mystery individually, independently, and ultimately, alone.
However tribalists try to distract themselves with societies that offer some superficial comfort of associations of 'my people', group-allegiances are a desperate & vain attempt to escape the one reality we can be even reasonably certain of:
Humans are individuals, long before they resemble any colonies of microbes or flocks, packs, tribes or nations.
If we were honest, we'd be humble, and embrace the one overarching reality that becomes increasingly evident: The more we learn the less we know. We each face that unfolding mystery individually, independently, and ultimately, alone.
1
What the substantive message seems to be here is that global meritocracy will not create global happiness, beyond the happiness of the folks of highest "merit"- which means the individuals of highest value to the corporate global economy.
The unhappiness of the less competitively fit is now beginning to spill over into real consequences for even the best and brightest. First in London and the Republican party in the U.S. and who knows where next?
The choice before us is, do we try to create an inclusive economy that rewards not just the best and brightest, or do we run with Darwin. Oh, wait, even in a Democracy excessively influenced by corporate power the less useful amongst us have certain powers- such as a vote.
Maybe pulling together as a group is a necessity here. The highly meritocratic is not an actual tribe any way- even in the "best" of families with access to tutors and every other advantage money can buy there are a progeny who will never fill the bill of excellence.
Every human being deserves access to a fulfilling life.
The unhappiness of the less competitively fit is now beginning to spill over into real consequences for even the best and brightest. First in London and the Republican party in the U.S. and who knows where next?
The choice before us is, do we try to create an inclusive economy that rewards not just the best and brightest, or do we run with Darwin. Oh, wait, even in a Democracy excessively influenced by corporate power the less useful amongst us have certain powers- such as a vote.
Maybe pulling together as a group is a necessity here. The highly meritocratic is not an actual tribe any way- even in the "best" of families with access to tutors and every other advantage money can buy there are a progeny who will never fill the bill of excellence.
Every human being deserves access to a fulfilling life.
2
Ross, there are other examples of self-serving cant you could have offered: American conservatives who go to the bank on the carried interest exception and dole out a few teaspoons of earned income credits to poor people; American conservatives who equate freedom of speech with allowing rich folks to subsidize PACs with millions of dollars while unleashing individuals to give $2700 per election cycle; American conservatives who gut the Voting Rights Act based on fantasies that racial discrimination at the polling place has ended; etc., etc.
5
The only real multicultural openess I see is wealth. Global activity and trade has truly benefitted an elite few in the world while the rest of the world fights for the scraps that "trickle down" from their enterprises. Major cities serve as their headquarters which they protect by making an unmanageable cost of living and thus pricing out the rest of us. If you look at places like London, New York City, San Francisco, and Dubai they have become bubble worlds for the elite who can eat at fancy ethnic restaurants, go to museums, and see an art exhibit but keep all the real authenticity and ethnicity that might threaten their ideas and beliefs outside the city. They can select what they want and then build over what made these cities rich in culture even if it didn't make the city rich in profits. This is globalism.
5
There's much in this column to agree with. Of course, the inchoate, infuriated rebellion that takes the form of Trump and LePen doesn't exactly lead to a solution.
Awful elites and equally-or-slightly-more awful revanchist masses: not a recipe for good times.
Awful elites and equally-or-slightly-more awful revanchist masses: not a recipe for good times.
I get so frustrated with these broad stroke, opinion (no science) opinion pieces.
Yes, thought pieces are important to push new ideas but these are typically appear in the NYT written by privileged white males who opine on the woes of our society without really any true insight into their own "otherness".
Enough.
Yes, thought pieces are important to push new ideas but these are typically appear in the NYT written by privileged white males who opine on the woes of our society without really any true insight into their own "otherness".
Enough.
4
One megatrend that has been underway since at least 1990 has been the breakup of large multi-ethnic 'empires' into smaller national mono-cultures. This was the case with Yugoslavia and the Soviet Union, and was considered by the US government for Iraq (Joseph Biden proposed its partitioning into three states). One can claim that underlies this trend is racism, and this may be correct.
Could it be that this election is all about class and not policy? That so many people despise this arrogant and hypocritical "tribe" that they are willing to vote for Trump out of protest? It may also explain the deep division in the liberal camp.
7
Douthat's argument falls apart when one looks just a little below its surface. The Brexiters voted to leave the EU largely because they didn't want to accept the influx of refugees. Germany and other countries in the EU welcomed these refugees. So, it is in fact the cosmopolitan elites in the EU who, using Douthat's imagery, live near the "immigrant housing projects" and keep their kids in "majority-minority schools." Only that this imagery is not quite correct either. "Housing projects" are not considered successful for integrating immigrants and are not the favored model in the receiving EU countries or in Canada; plus, "majority-minority schools" based on school districts paid for by property taxes is very much a U.S. phenomenon and doesn't apply either. Considering all of the above, the reality is pretty much the opposite of what Douthat tries to argue: Cosmpolitanism is alive, and the people who work to strengthen it and move the world beyond tribalism are to be applauded.
2
Concept of a Cosmopolitan, global human being?
Historically this type of human being has been imagined along artistic and/or scientific lines--Leonardo, Goethe, Shakespeare, Cervantes, Galileo et. al as "European Phenomena". The 20th century to present date has had a very unclear and therefore dangerous concept of such a human being--unclear and dangerous because much is universally considered at stake in creation of such a human being: We say after the great world wars and development of ever more frightening weaponry we must be beyond nation, race, ethnic group, religion, tribalism etc.--all the great divisions between human beings.
What have we achieved? Cosmopolitanism not in an artistic, scientific synthesis sense so much as along economic, business, market lines--increasing capitalistic/socialistic argument. Why is this unclear and dangerous? Because political parties of left and right do not want to admit how culpable they both are for this development and that economics offers no clear vision of a "United World".
Right wings are typically associated with rampaging capitalism, transnational corporations, loyalty to no entity other than oneself , current workplace and income (money). But the left tirelessly breaks down identity after identity such as nation, religion, race, ethnic group etc. in the name of an unclear entity called "socialism" and the universal result appears to be nothing but people grappling over money, loyal really to nothing, "Cosmopolitanism".
Historically this type of human being has been imagined along artistic and/or scientific lines--Leonardo, Goethe, Shakespeare, Cervantes, Galileo et. al as "European Phenomena". The 20th century to present date has had a very unclear and therefore dangerous concept of such a human being--unclear and dangerous because much is universally considered at stake in creation of such a human being: We say after the great world wars and development of ever more frightening weaponry we must be beyond nation, race, ethnic group, religion, tribalism etc.--all the great divisions between human beings.
What have we achieved? Cosmopolitanism not in an artistic, scientific synthesis sense so much as along economic, business, market lines--increasing capitalistic/socialistic argument. Why is this unclear and dangerous? Because political parties of left and right do not want to admit how culpable they both are for this development and that economics offers no clear vision of a "United World".
Right wings are typically associated with rampaging capitalism, transnational corporations, loyalty to no entity other than oneself , current workplace and income (money). But the left tirelessly breaks down identity after identity such as nation, religion, race, ethnic group etc. in the name of an unclear entity called "socialism" and the universal result appears to be nothing but people grappling over money, loyal really to nothing, "Cosmopolitanism".
2
Russ nailed it. I would simply add that this all will end badly. History is our guide that the economic system will not support us all. When that cracks, it is nativism that fills the void. Or worse. When will we ever learn?
1
The economic system AS IT IS NOW will not support us. The truth is we have the technologies and resources to clothe, feed and house every human on the planet- comfortably. The system, however, is obsolete and unsustainable, and this is the reality we have yet to grapple with.
2
Birds of a feather, flock together.
An able to description of the "what" is going on.
Here's the answer why- pull out any blue marble you can find.
Now imagine 7 billion organisms living on it. That is where you and I live.
We are just now discovering after 10000 or so years, how humans behave and evolve in our tiny ecosystem.
We had better figure out how it's done because the survival of mankind depends on it.
From the human side of it, no one on the left or the right, (this writer excepted) has a vision for building a great civilization. One side wants us to look like a no government Somali and the other doesn't understand the direction a country is supposed to take to build a civilization.
Here's the answer why- pull out any blue marble you can find.
Now imagine 7 billion organisms living on it. That is where you and I live.
We are just now discovering after 10000 or so years, how humans behave and evolve in our tiny ecosystem.
We had better figure out how it's done because the survival of mankind depends on it.
From the human side of it, no one on the left or the right, (this writer excepted) has a vision for building a great civilization. One side wants us to look like a no government Somali and the other doesn't understand the direction a country is supposed to take to build a civilization.
What you have here is a failure to communicate. America is fighting its second great civil war, this one between the ultra-wealthy and the have-not-enoughs. And of course the ultra-wealthy have control because they have all the resources to control both mankind and his beliefs. The masses have naught but to hear the faux-christian absent Christ-like values; be instructed by the media bias of the wealthy who are careful to to stream invective with emotion, less there be time to think with perspective. But hate is an accommodating companion when going about one's distractions with nothing but gut feelings. America's post agrarian and post industrial ages have bypassed the uneducated and the poor, as usual. This will take generations to settle.
2
Tribalism is an inherent human trait whereas multiculturalism is a misguided social experiment, probably doomed to failure or at least ongoing irreconcilable friction.
We are not the human race but the human races each unique and each worthy of the utmost respect. However, nature usually shows us the way and although all cats, tigers don't run with lions or leopards. Likewise, although all apes, orang-utans don't play with chimpanzees or baboons.
When asked her view on multiculturalism a pure of heart aboriginal elder mused for a while then replied "aboriginal tribes usually consist of clans which tends to enmity rather than harmony."
And, surely a world with borders and a wonderful diversity of nations, races, cultures, customs, traditions and religions is a far better and more interesting world than a dumbed down globalised McWord.
We are not the human race but the human races each unique and each worthy of the utmost respect. However, nature usually shows us the way and although all cats, tigers don't run with lions or leopards. Likewise, although all apes, orang-utans don't play with chimpanzees or baboons.
When asked her view on multiculturalism a pure of heart aboriginal elder mused for a while then replied "aboriginal tribes usually consist of clans which tends to enmity rather than harmony."
And, surely a world with borders and a wonderful diversity of nations, races, cultures, customs, traditions and religions is a far better and more interesting world than a dumbed down globalised McWord.
1
Let's not be so thoroughly dismissive of Ross's point. In some ways it is as irrefutable as it is unremarkable. "The Wise Men," "The Best and the Brightest," as well as today's globalized "Plutocrats"" have lived in a bubble every bit as ruinous as the most insular among us. We ARE all provincials and the cosmopolitans no less so than the rest of us.
5
Yawn. Global elites have become a tribe. Yawn again.
Geesh, Mr. Douthat, is that all you got?
How about knitting together the tribalism with the control of the world's wealth and economy? Maybe more "Duh!" in my Sunday morning read, but at least one less yawn.
It is back to reading about a far, far, far more interesting observer of the human condition...Bill Cunningham. At least he understood the surfaces.
Geesh, Mr. Douthat, is that all you got?
How about knitting together the tribalism with the control of the world's wealth and economy? Maybe more "Duh!" in my Sunday morning read, but at least one less yawn.
It is back to reading about a far, far, far more interesting observer of the human condition...Bill Cunningham. At least he understood the surfaces.
3
Fascinating how Douthat and Brooks have taken advantage of this Trumpian hiatus (end?) in the life of the Republican Party by cloaking themselves in the mantle of great introspective futurists. They helped contribute to the decline, decay and revolution in their own party. Frankly, I don't have much confidence in their predictions. PS Try as I might, I couldn't get through this self-impressed piece of florid prose.
2
One of the best essays I have ever read. Thank you, Ross.
2
I find the definition of liberals Christians without Christ absolutely right, and your analysis of the exclusion-inclusion dynamics followed by the internationalist dominant culture absolutely illuminating.
4
liberal Christianity is the essence of what Jesus was about. those who fall to see that, merely cling to their fantasized white washed American evangelicalism, most of which saw nothing wrong with slavery.
2
Excellent column. Russ should have mentioned that should things go sideways, these will be the LAST people to try to help anyone.
5
Just face it Mr Douthat-you have more in common with the educated liberal elite than the birthers, the nativists, evangelical prolifers and Islamic terrorists...
1
My father grew up in Central America, and my mother grew up in Hawaii. Each had one parent who could trace his or her American lineage back to the 17th century, and one parent who was an immigrant. I grew up in New England. I had the good fortune when I was in high school to live for a year in a Western European country with a native family. My daughter, newly graduated from college, chose to work for a year as an au pair in France and to then work for 3 years teaching at a school in Jordan.
Now I discover that according to Mr Douthat, my family's behavior is tribal and we are the problem. Good to know.
Now I discover that according to Mr Douthat, my family's behavior is tribal and we are the problem. Good to know.
6
Hereditary castes are cursed with the stress of listening for the sound of guillotines in the distance.
There are still countries in the world that work hard to provide equal opportunity for success for everyone. I cannot bring myself to resent a child who has risen out of poverty to live a good life in a "cosmopolitan tribe", even if this arc rankles the occasional newspaper commentator.
There are still countries in the world that work hard to provide equal opportunity for success for everyone. I cannot bring myself to resent a child who has risen out of poverty to live a good life in a "cosmopolitan tribe", even if this arc rankles the occasional newspaper commentator.
5
Ah, the old false equivalence game. “I know you are, but what am I” endlessly repeated. “Atheism is a religion, too!” “ALL lives matter!” “Higher education embraces diversity, except for conservative voices.” “Global warming is controversial.” I’m reasonably certain that Mr. Douthat is not open to liberal Episcopalian thought, but I’m not at all certain that he doesn’t speak in tongues.
3
How does Ross feel about the organizations that actually do Multiculturalism the best, the Catholic Church and the American Military? Your focus on "Urban elites" is way too easy.
2
Curious that you use the phrases "meritocratic order" and "best and brightest," both of which were initially used in cynical and pejorative ways.
Meritocracy: http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2001/jun/29/comment
Best and Brightest: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/07/opinion/07rich.html
Meritocracy: http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2001/jun/29/comment
Best and Brightest: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/07/opinion/07rich.html
The upper class is supposed to raise the bar by promoting a more educated underclass. Instead, the global wealthy have pursued greater wealth for themselves, and walling off from others. Many of our elites are boorish and anti-intellectual.
Your argument supports asset taxes to force the well to do to join the rest of their country in the task of keeping our country great. Take away inheritance and privileged education and we need to be great everywhere.
Your argument supports asset taxes to force the well to do to join the rest of their country in the task of keeping our country great. Take away inheritance and privileged education and we need to be great everywhere.
7
So he describes limousine liberals, so what's new about that. Ironically, in his descriptions of a cosmopolitan, I couldn't help think of Pope Francis, whom neither the elites nor the underclass seem much to endorse because he preaches a Christ-centered vision for a world sorely broken into the tribes about which Douthat moans.
2
What Ross Douthat is arguing for - he just needs to take a step back from the knee-jerk reaction to call those he disagrees with "intellectual elites" - is the governmental impositions of cultural norms.
He gets tangled up in his argument, and ignores his central tenet - that people have a right to reject the rest of the world, to turn their country into a kid's tree house with a "No Furriners Allowed" sign - because of what seems like a fixation on condemning the education of those who disagree. Why is everyone so worried about "intellectuals?" Might as well travel back to old black and white movies and call them city slickers.
Cultural assimilation has been the nature of this country from the beginning. And globalization is not going to go away. Issues of how to manage the upheaval of climate, war, famine, overcrowding are indeed political issues. And no solutions have been good enough as the refugee situation demonstrates. But closing our minds along with our borders isn't going to work to solve that problem.
The other 6 billion or so people who do not live in northern Europe and America have become used to having a say in the world.
We can get used to that, or our culture will indeed perish.
He gets tangled up in his argument, and ignores his central tenet - that people have a right to reject the rest of the world, to turn their country into a kid's tree house with a "No Furriners Allowed" sign - because of what seems like a fixation on condemning the education of those who disagree. Why is everyone so worried about "intellectuals?" Might as well travel back to old black and white movies and call them city slickers.
Cultural assimilation has been the nature of this country from the beginning. And globalization is not going to go away. Issues of how to manage the upheaval of climate, war, famine, overcrowding are indeed political issues. And no solutions have been good enough as the refugee situation demonstrates. But closing our minds along with our borders isn't going to work to solve that problem.
The other 6 billion or so people who do not live in northern Europe and America have become used to having a say in the world.
We can get used to that, or our culture will indeed perish.
2
Dear Mr. Douthat,
So to be "cosmopolitan" means also, apparently, to be "hypocritical" like decrying poverty and those wallowing in poverty while sipping a martini in one's "McMansion" and checking the latest on one's portfolio performance.
I've never really thought of your party, the GOP/TP/KOCH AFFILIATE, nor your party's perceived candidate, Donald Trump, as "cosmopolitan" but, rather, more akin to the folks Mr. Kipling, Mr. Lawrence and Mr. Burton would cozen up to, "Imperialists". But instead of colonies and armies, these folks wield power through manipulation of money and manipulation of the people who control the branches of any particular government by giving them money to do their bidding.
Painting the 1% elitists as cosmopolitan certainly SOUNDS a little more acceptable but even the best groomed pigs in the sty are still pigs.
And pigs never seem to have enough to eat no matter how much one feeds them but our particular batch of American pigs know now that the rest of us in the animal farm will bail them out if they do become too porcine to move or eat or, in general, exceed even their usual greedy habits.
Occasionally, however, the animal farmers decide it's time to make some bacon, a truly scary proposition for the pigs as evidenced in the latest move by England to walk away from the European animal farm (Don't you hate it when the unwashed masses defy the elites? That's "voting" for you).
Anyhow, endorsing Mr.Trump yet?
So to be "cosmopolitan" means also, apparently, to be "hypocritical" like decrying poverty and those wallowing in poverty while sipping a martini in one's "McMansion" and checking the latest on one's portfolio performance.
I've never really thought of your party, the GOP/TP/KOCH AFFILIATE, nor your party's perceived candidate, Donald Trump, as "cosmopolitan" but, rather, more akin to the folks Mr. Kipling, Mr. Lawrence and Mr. Burton would cozen up to, "Imperialists". But instead of colonies and armies, these folks wield power through manipulation of money and manipulation of the people who control the branches of any particular government by giving them money to do their bidding.
Painting the 1% elitists as cosmopolitan certainly SOUNDS a little more acceptable but even the best groomed pigs in the sty are still pigs.
And pigs never seem to have enough to eat no matter how much one feeds them but our particular batch of American pigs know now that the rest of us in the animal farm will bail them out if they do become too porcine to move or eat or, in general, exceed even their usual greedy habits.
Occasionally, however, the animal farmers decide it's time to make some bacon, a truly scary proposition for the pigs as evidenced in the latest move by England to walk away from the European animal farm (Don't you hate it when the unwashed masses defy the elites? That's "voting" for you).
Anyhow, endorsing Mr.Trump yet?
1
WIERD? Liberal Christianity without Christ? OK. Here is a parable for you.
My brother and I are global citizens. We are cosmopolitan alright. But everything else you say about us is wrong. Both of us are atheists, we grew up in India and attended government schools. We were lucky to get one set of new clothes a year. That's all that my parents could afford. We attended an "elite" college in India which selects all its students through an entrance exam. We graduated with STEM degrees and thanks to the generosity of American universities we both got our PhDs from very good American universities. I am a statistician and my brother is an electrical engineer.
My brother is married to an African American social worker. My wife is an Israeli American who like me did her PhD in the US. We both donate time teaching math to poor high schoolers in DC.
My brother and I know what it means to cling to lower middle class precariously, just a slip away from poverty. That's how lived the first 21 years of life. We believe strongly that the aspirations and hopes of the poor and the working class are genuine and honorable. But their preferred path is not. Most of them are xenophobic, tribal and anti-intellectual. They vote their social resentments, their anger against the other, and support policies that wound them badly.
Yes, we are cosmopolitans and belong to a meritocratic order. And so are millions of immigrants. And no, we are not privileged. Cosmopolites come in all shapes and sizes.
My brother and I are global citizens. We are cosmopolitan alright. But everything else you say about us is wrong. Both of us are atheists, we grew up in India and attended government schools. We were lucky to get one set of new clothes a year. That's all that my parents could afford. We attended an "elite" college in India which selects all its students through an entrance exam. We graduated with STEM degrees and thanks to the generosity of American universities we both got our PhDs from very good American universities. I am a statistician and my brother is an electrical engineer.
My brother is married to an African American social worker. My wife is an Israeli American who like me did her PhD in the US. We both donate time teaching math to poor high schoolers in DC.
My brother and I know what it means to cling to lower middle class precariously, just a slip away from poverty. That's how lived the first 21 years of life. We believe strongly that the aspirations and hopes of the poor and the working class are genuine and honorable. But their preferred path is not. Most of them are xenophobic, tribal and anti-intellectual. They vote their social resentments, their anger against the other, and support policies that wound them badly.
Yes, we are cosmopolitans and belong to a meritocratic order. And so are millions of immigrants. And no, we are not privileged. Cosmopolites come in all shapes and sizes.
5
The problem is that the anti-elite feelings are in fact simply being channelled by members of that elite who see it as a way of gaining power. Politicians are using deeply felt dissatisfaction with the current economic trends to stage coups d'état. Ms. Le Pen has two law degrees, Mr Johnson attended the fanciest private school in England. Mr Trump is a billionaire grown rich exploiting cheap labour and reneging on debts. Such people are no less elite than the targets of their venom. And the potential policy responses that these pseudo-populists propose would hurt the poor and the alienated more than anyone else.
5
Ross's encyclical has confused a neutral cultural dichotomy (multiculturalism and parochialism) with a nasty political dichotomy (fascism and democracy).
He forgets that the homespun goodness of Sheriff Andy's Mayberry has been known to adopt the tactics of Mayberry Uber Alles. That tendency has even on occasion been seen in the very cosmopolitan Vatican.
He forgets that the homespun goodness of Sheriff Andy's Mayberry has been known to adopt the tactics of Mayberry Uber Alles. That tendency has even on occasion been seen in the very cosmopolitan Vatican.
2
I knew that if I read mr. Douthat's columns long enough, he would write something that I could (mostly) agree with.
3
Even the most open minded multi-culture embracing, civil rights defending people have limits to openness. I've been conducting an informal survey of my liberal friends who live in New York, Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles and here on Cape Cod. Like me, these are card carrying ACLU members, donors to Doctors without Boarders and big time Barack Obama fans who travel to remote villages in far flung spots across the globe. I've asked them one simple question:
Would you be cool with hearing the Muslim call to prayer in your neighborhood?
The answer is an unequivocal and universal "no."
So there is a baseline of belief shared by all Americans about what where multicultural open doors are closed.
Would you be cool with hearing the Muslim call to prayer in your neighborhood?
The answer is an unequivocal and universal "no."
So there is a baseline of belief shared by all Americans about what where multicultural open doors are closed.
3
So, perhaps those of us who are labeled "elites" have not done a good enough job of loving those not like us.
It is a bit difficult, though, to know how to treat those who feel they are chosen by God, and anyone not like them is a threat to society and deserving only of eternal torment...
Who torpedo any attempt to make sure all of us (including them) have access to adequate health care because we won't agree with their legalistic belief that a fertilized egg is an actual human life.
Who are we willing to give up their Social Security and Medicare to those who play into their biases.
Who gave up what financial standing they had to those who have more who played to their beliefs.
Who believe that certain types of people or behaviors are an abomination to God and should by law be treated as such regardless of whether or not these behaviors actually harm anyone.
Who want to throw out the entire body of science because it shows that there's a lot more to the world than what could be created in 7 days (except when they get sick and want to receive all the healing benefits of science).
Who, when you tell them about global warming, tell you it is a sign that Jesus is coming back, there's nothing you can do about it, and they can't wait.
It is tough to work with people who would rather believe than see, who say "Our way or no way".
It is a bit difficult, though, to know how to treat those who feel they are chosen by God, and anyone not like them is a threat to society and deserving only of eternal torment...
Who torpedo any attempt to make sure all of us (including them) have access to adequate health care because we won't agree with their legalistic belief that a fertilized egg is an actual human life.
Who are we willing to give up their Social Security and Medicare to those who play into their biases.
Who gave up what financial standing they had to those who have more who played to their beliefs.
Who believe that certain types of people or behaviors are an abomination to God and should by law be treated as such regardless of whether or not these behaviors actually harm anyone.
Who want to throw out the entire body of science because it shows that there's a lot more to the world than what could be created in 7 days (except when they get sick and want to receive all the healing benefits of science).
Who, when you tell them about global warming, tell you it is a sign that Jesus is coming back, there's nothing you can do about it, and they can't wait.
It is tough to work with people who would rather believe than see, who say "Our way or no way".
4
Right on. I recently re-read Brave New World, in which the genetic engineering of separate classes is a near perfect metaphor for the "...nearly hereditary professional caste..." that is not only in London, but that is in every American city. The scariest part is that we (the sub-Alphas of the world) applaud the efforts of super-rich "philanthropists" to dictate what is in our "best interest" - from charter schools to the control of our political system - without realizing that we (i.e. average folk) are being exploited in order that the rich can get richer.
7
Ross, I agree with every word, and I never thought I'd ever write those words about any column you wrote.
6
The High Sparrow speaks. I honestly don't know why we need more than ethics, without religious belief, to guide us
2
Cosmopolitanism is no more (or less) a myth than the "imagined community" of the nation-state. Both models acknowledge the tribalism of our evolutionary heritage, and each seeks to harness it for specific purposes.
Cosmopolitanism invites us to envisage an ever-expanding global "tribe" in which individuals benefit from layered, concentric identities (family, community, state, nation, region, world). Progress in that direction is difficult, clumsy, and uneven but holds promise for more peaceful relations among groups and a healthier planet.
Nationalism, on the other hand, encourages us to "think small" -- to cling to our familial, ethnic, and local identities and to conflate these with the arbitrary national units established, for the most part, within the past couple of centuries. Hence "WE need to take OUR country back!" Translation: "MY tribe owns this turf, and we'll fight (or build a wall) to keep it that way!"
What promise does rigid nationalism hold in the 21st century? I very much fear it's the promise of war.
Cosmopolitanism invites us to envisage an ever-expanding global "tribe" in which individuals benefit from layered, concentric identities (family, community, state, nation, region, world). Progress in that direction is difficult, clumsy, and uneven but holds promise for more peaceful relations among groups and a healthier planet.
Nationalism, on the other hand, encourages us to "think small" -- to cling to our familial, ethnic, and local identities and to conflate these with the arbitrary national units established, for the most part, within the past couple of centuries. Hence "WE need to take OUR country back!" Translation: "MY tribe owns this turf, and we'll fight (or build a wall) to keep it that way!"
What promise does rigid nationalism hold in the 21st century? I very much fear it's the promise of war.
2
unlike the continuing wars we experience now?
1
'Twas often thought, but ne'er so well expressed' Douthat nails it here......'Raise the drawbridge, the peasants are attacking the castle!!!!'
6
The ignorance of the proletariat and the disdain of the cosmopolitan elite are Nature's way of controlling population through recurring warfare. Brexit is the modern equivalent of Henry Cabot Lodge's successful effort to keep the United States out of the League of Nations. That bit of chauvinism led to World War II via the Depression route. Public Education among the superstitious poor is the task of Sisyphus. Only when wealth is democratized and religion subordinated to reason can education overcome centrifugal popular will.
4
The problem, for all developed countries, is what to do with masses of people who are being displaced by market changes. What to do with the steel worker or the miner when the mill or the mine closes. What to do with farmers when machines take over their tasks. In the long run, these people will go as all humans will, and new generations come up schooled in the new economic modes. But, meanwhile, there are millions without economic outlets and what is both surprising and alarming is that no one, not a single government, has found a solution. Cultures are the products of the economic realities in existence at the time. When the model is upended, discontent, hardships, revolts (real or political) ensue.
3
Read this twice to try to understand his point, but I've concluded this dog is made of straw. His point seems to be that our leaders, such as President Obama (cosmopolitans), are unable to discern how Trump supporters (tribalists) see them because they fail to recognize they are actually .... (tribalists) too.. How clever and pointless. At some point we reach a collective..."Ask me if I care" moment with both this column ...and the nativist/tribalist reality show guerilla politik.
1
Ross, what do you propose the "pseudo cosmopolitans elites" do? They have, in fact, adapted successfully to the demands of the new world, but you seem to be punishing them for it. Should they look more colorful sitting in airports? Should they be taxed higher so that more money is spent on the little englanders, etc..? Should they spend their vacation time traveling to Africa and the Middle East, on top of the travel they already have to do for work to win your approval?
Too many generalizations and undefined terms. "Elites"
is vague notion bordering on puerile conspiracy fantasies.
is vague notion bordering on puerile conspiracy fantasies.
2
Though his column is muddled, the reality of a ruling-class of sociopathic thieves is a genuine problem. "Elites" may be a vague term but the problem of too much power in too few hands is obvious.
1
Genuine cosmopolitism : read the swiss Nicolas Bouvier, l'usage du monde, The Way of the World. A change from the "elites" sad mediocrity.
Once again Douthat finds a way to fill his column inches with a way to draw people apart in ways that are smug and meaningless. There is a vast population of people who are not in the Davos class that are highly cosmopolitan and truly believe that the world can become a better place by working together because we share far more in our common humanity than any of the false differences created by religiosity, money worship, and consumerism.
6
Yes, that is an ongoing problem with professional-pundits who struggle to say something relevant. They have no new ideas or solutions for anything, just different ways of saying the same thing over and over again, to the point of reductive-generalism.
Mr. Douthat, Congratulations on your insightful introspection about the Power Elite. As you note, the gulf between the Haves and Have Nots is as old as civilization and as wide as the River of Time. However, your reliance on the quotation from Publius Terentius Afer as descriptive of cosmopolitanism is misplaced. Terentius—born a slave in Carthage – was purchased by a Roman Senator and educated/raised among the then exclusive, homogeneous, and xenophobic power-that-be circa 150 BC. The quotation comes from a play that deals with such human foibles as greed, mendacity, and bigotry. All the character is saying (when properly translated) is that he is familiar with (Roman) human behaviors…good, bad, and indifferent…not that he finds all such behaviors to be equally acceptable or even understandable. Romans divided the world between “Us” and “Barbarians”. Terentius was not comfortable with “differences” (exotic or otherwise) from his own experience and thus does not fit your definition of a cosmopolitan man. He would not have been comfortable living in a Germanic mud hut and was totally unaware of East Asian and New World cultures.
In one word: Brilliant! We must stop lying to each other and face reality. Making hypocrisy the tool of preference will not make a better world.
1
This is a twist on the athiesm-is-just-another-religion argument. It's appealingly simple, but upon examination, has a number of logical problems. Cosmopolitans (to use your terminology) are not like other tribes, because membership is a matter of attitude rather than of geography, ancestry, or other external factors. It is not "a powerful caste" but rather an umbrella term for people who reject tribalism.
102
Oh, I get to enter the Special Space in the Airport by exuding the right attitude, not by some external factor such as money?
3
Actually it seems to be very much about geography, class, location and ancestry. Your parents set you social class, at least at the start. Your class establishes your chances of going to private universities. You location urban, middle class suburban gives you good access to the internet--all of these are 'external factors' that very definitely give one the 'behavioural alpabet' with which to script a cosmopolitan attitude-but, of course, they don't predestine one to being a tribalist or a cosmopolite.
The ideal human community is sized at about 70 families. That is large enough for some diversity and small enough that you actually know everyone very well. Does this constitute a "Tribe?" Perhaps it does, and like all tribal relationships there is distrust of anyone outside the tribe.
How many members of one tribal group have multiple memberships in various tribes is the question that we need to explore. The more multiple memberships the greater the opportunity for the development of empathy and compassion for those outside your immediate tribal relationships.
Are all of us potential or actual hypocrites when viewed from the standpoint of one tribe? Probably, yes. Is the ability to exist easily in multiple tribal groups the definition of "Cosmopolitan?" Perhaps, yes.
No single human is perfect and every human is influenced by, and influences all of the tribal groups they inhabit. Tribal insularity is still a huge problem but not insurmountable unless held to an unrealistic standard.
How many members of one tribal group have multiple memberships in various tribes is the question that we need to explore. The more multiple memberships the greater the opportunity for the development of empathy and compassion for those outside your immediate tribal relationships.
Are all of us potential or actual hypocrites when viewed from the standpoint of one tribe? Probably, yes. Is the ability to exist easily in multiple tribal groups the definition of "Cosmopolitan?" Perhaps, yes.
No single human is perfect and every human is influenced by, and influences all of the tribal groups they inhabit. Tribal insularity is still a huge problem but not insurmountable unless held to an unrealistic standard.
1
It seems to me that Ross, like many Christians these days, is feeling persecuted!
2
Tribal, schmible.
Something needs to change or we will soon be extinct.
Something needs to change or we will soon be extinct.
2
You miss the crucial point in Cosmopolitanism of mutual respect. It does not require us all to meld into one but to be mutually respectful of all, religions, national origins, sexual identity, etc. It does not ask that you live in each other's space. It celebrates the differences. It is being lost today because of the recalcitrance of many groups that refuse to mutually respect one another including Republicans and Democrats.
2
You nailed it. However, you had certain advantages people born into elites do not have. It is those, who, for whatever reason, are aware of, or challenged, by profoundly different perspectives, who can attain a degree of clarity about this situation. I hope someday we can move beyond mere awareness into the building of institutions that actually include, in a meaningful way, the broad masses of humanity. Democracy is tricky; the leadership produced by popular demand may not fully serve popular needs.
26
"In my own case — to speak as an insider for a moment — my cosmopolitanism probably peaked when I was about 11 years old, when I was simultaneously attending tongues-speaking Pentecostalist worship services, playing Little League in a working-class neighborhood, eating alongside aging hippies in macrobiotic restaurants on weekends, all the while attending a liberal Episcopalian parochial school".
Ross, dear, I don't think you are using "cosmopolitan" right.
Ross, dear, I don't think you are using "cosmopolitan" right.
Hasn't Douthat read Forster? In Howards End, Forster argues that "[The imperialist] is a destroyer. He prepares the way for cosmopolitanism, and though his ambitions may be fulfilled, the earth that he inherits will be grey." In other words, Forster anticipated Douthat's argument over a hundred years ago by aligning imperialism and cosmopolitanism [and standardization and tourism], and seeing that what actually opposed all those homogenizing forces was simply love of genuine otherness and diversity, which Forster termed "color", as in Margaret's famous final speech to her sister Helen: "It is only that people are far more different than is pretended. All over the world men and women are worrying because they cannot develop as they are supposed to develop.[…] Don't you see that all this leads to comfort in the end? It is part of the battle against sameness. Differences, eternal differences, planted by God in a single family, so that there may always be colour; sorrow perhaps, but colour in the daily grey." -- Yet I can't shake the feeling that Douthat sounds so very much like Forster only because Douthat is trying to pull a fast one, by making liberal-minded Margaret and Helen out to be the villains rather than the heroines of the piece…..
1
It then plucks their children, their children's children, and so on. And the meritocracy dies and the world elite solidifies. The end.
3
This is why I continue to tell my (all very liberal) friends that Douthat is worth reading, but I've learned it's a waste of time to read through the comments on his pieces. Too many people are reacting to the column they apparently assume he wrote - that or their reading comprehension is just miserable.
6
@D. Conroy
Douthat is so offensive to NYT readers, because he is the smartest commentator writing here; and he up-ends the trite reasoning of the Progressives' multifarious contradictions.
Go, Ross.
Douthat is so offensive to NYT readers, because he is the smartest commentator writing here; and he up-ends the trite reasoning of the Progressives' multifarious contradictions.
Go, Ross.
5
This column is completely worthless. Douthat tries pathetically to pigeonhole people into classifications to prove that the elites are out of touch with the people and that is why Brexit happened and Trump is popular. Total nonsense. Technological advances like the computerization of everything and automation in manufacturing have rendered the worker mostly useless. Thus people are unhappy. Add to that the stress added by the immigration of people from the many failed states and people feel like they are being invaded.
Conservatives continue to feel that they are being discriminated against because their ideas are rejected by the masses. But it is more that their ideas are proven failures, like the denial of global warming, the failures of supply side economics, austerity economics and the less government leads to prosperity mind set. These conservative ideas have been tried over and over again and are proven failures in places like Europe, New Jersey, Kansas and Louisiana. And to say that the anti intellectualism of many on the right is a desirable mind set to be accepted as a valid worldview is absurd. So, let's not put the best and the brightest in positions of power, instead let's choose the ignorant, the unintelligent and the anti intellectuals in charge? No thank you.
Conservatives continue to feel that they are being discriminated against because their ideas are rejected by the masses. But it is more that their ideas are proven failures, like the denial of global warming, the failures of supply side economics, austerity economics and the less government leads to prosperity mind set. These conservative ideas have been tried over and over again and are proven failures in places like Europe, New Jersey, Kansas and Louisiana. And to say that the anti intellectualism of many on the right is a desirable mind set to be accepted as a valid worldview is absurd. So, let's not put the best and the brightest in positions of power, instead let's choose the ignorant, the unintelligent and the anti intellectuals in charge? No thank you.
"American liberals who hail the end of whiteness while doing everything possible to keep their kids out of majority-minority schools."
This segment strongly resonated with me. A few years back, I dated the daughter of a member of congress (I did not know this about her when we first met but found out later).
This politician, a Democrat, has publicly advocated for improving public schools (while doing nothing of substance to actually do so) and is against school vouchers. Yet the daughter told me her parents had done everything in their power to make sure she grew up going to private schools, even mentioning that there were "too many minorities" in the local public schools.
That told me everything I'd always suspected about "liberal" politicians but had never actually encountered firsthand (and it also ended my interest in dating the daughter). These politicians would deny their average constituent the chance to go to the best schools (and decry their "white privilege") yet they'll do everything they can with their own privilege so that their own sons and daughters don't have to deal with public schools (or any other problems the average kid might have to face). They are hypocrites who have their own families' interests in mind - not the average American's.
I'm sure there's a minority of liberal politicians who are decent, principled people. But I suspect they're the rare exception, not the rule.
This segment strongly resonated with me. A few years back, I dated the daughter of a member of congress (I did not know this about her when we first met but found out later).
This politician, a Democrat, has publicly advocated for improving public schools (while doing nothing of substance to actually do so) and is against school vouchers. Yet the daughter told me her parents had done everything in their power to make sure she grew up going to private schools, even mentioning that there were "too many minorities" in the local public schools.
That told me everything I'd always suspected about "liberal" politicians but had never actually encountered firsthand (and it also ended my interest in dating the daughter). These politicians would deny their average constituent the chance to go to the best schools (and decry their "white privilege") yet they'll do everything they can with their own privilege so that their own sons and daughters don't have to deal with public schools (or any other problems the average kid might have to face). They are hypocrites who have their own families' interests in mind - not the average American's.
I'm sure there's a minority of liberal politicians who are decent, principled people. But I suspect they're the rare exception, not the rule.
6
@Broham564
Obama: Sidwell Friends
Clinton: Georgetown Day School
Obama: Sidwell Friends
Clinton: Georgetown Day School
1
And what about all those conservative elite politicians who do the same thing. If you think it is only the liberals who do this you are badly mistaken. Look at Ted Cruz. I bet that his kids go to a private school that is made up of mostly white Christians with a few kids of color thrown in so they can say that they have minority students. And I have no doubt that Ted considers himself a man of the world or a cosmopolitan.
The political divisions in The United States and Britain have little to do with ideology, globalism or nativism.
The divide really seems to be between low-information voters who can be manipulated and convinced by the corporate media that complicated, longstanding domestic and international problems can be solved by quick, simplistic, "get-tough" policies and those who are educated and informed enough to know that catastrophe almost always follows close behind.
The divide really seems to be between low-information voters who can be manipulated and convinced by the corporate media that complicated, longstanding domestic and international problems can be solved by quick, simplistic, "get-tough" policies and those who are educated and informed enough to know that catastrophe almost always follows close behind.
125
@Ceadan
Where do we put the Black vote? Enlightened civic genius?
Everything the "tribe" that Ross describes slaughters what is left of Black hope for progress. But the Left will let them eat cake.
Modern indentured servitude...the Progressive strategy for locking up 10% of the vote known as the Black vote.
Where do we put the Black vote? Enlightened civic genius?
Everything the "tribe" that Ross describes slaughters what is left of Black hope for progress. But the Left will let them eat cake.
Modern indentured servitude...the Progressive strategy for locking up 10% of the vote known as the Black vote.
1
Elitist comment.
Splendid column. I think Ross is exactly right to identify cosmopolitans as a tribe far more narrow-minded and dogmatic than they realize. They have poured out their contempt for those rebelling against globalism this year--supporters of Sanders, Trump, Brexit and other Europeans itchy for a chance to say, "NO. you've gone too far, ignored our pain and thrown platitudes at us, called us ignorant racists when we complain of immigrants taking our jobs and challenging our cultural values, and calling us "isolationists" when we resist trade treaties constructed in small secret rooms by corporate elites." Cultural cosmopolitans may at times chide the One Percent, but when have they really challenged the mechanisms of inequality that destroy jobs and towns and crush labor unions? High immigration levels bring cheap, insecure workers, not just in businesses, but in homes where they provide the child care and housekeeping that permit two-income professional couples to prosper. This year's round of "free trade" treaties are the final insult. They contain vanishingly little trade-freeing (that's already been done); most of the TPP and TTIP aim to increase the profits of financial, pharmaceutical, biotech and intellectual property firms, and allow democratic governments to be sued in corporate "courts" whenever they try to protect their citizens. Hilary Clinton, the paradigmatic cosmopolitan, loves all these policies (and war). Go, rebels. Put your sabots in the gears.
8
Congratulations Mr. Douthat for recognizing the reality that the United States is not and never was a classless society, something the citizens of most countries recognized long ago as a fact of life in their society. Most societies throughout history have in the final analysis have had as their primary purpose to justify why those in power deserved to be in power. The myth that the United States offers a level playing field to all citizens, as appealing as it may be, is a myth that was probably never true. As the old saying goes, history is written by the winners and not the losers. This is the way the world is and probably always will be.
1
Ross, this is perhaps one of the greatest passages I've read about Brexit. Bravo:
"But it’s a problem that our tribe of self-styled cosmopolitans doesn’t see itself clearly as a tribe: because that means our leaders can’t see themselves the way the Brexiteers and Trumpistas and Marine Le Pen voters see them.
They can’t see that what feels diverse on the inside can still seem like an aristocracy to the excluded"
"But it’s a problem that our tribe of self-styled cosmopolitans doesn’t see itself clearly as a tribe: because that means our leaders can’t see themselves the way the Brexiteers and Trumpistas and Marine Le Pen voters see them.
They can’t see that what feels diverse on the inside can still seem like an aristocracy to the excluded"
1
Democracy is impossible unless a polity controls physical territory. How do you identify a territory without the nation state or something functionally similar? Or do we just get rid of democracy?
Is it not we were all afforded the gift of cosmopolitanism? Or, at least the choice thereof? I say 'were' because certain international affairs and events, together with economies here at home, have limited options. Elites do not have this limitation, the world is yours, go experience!
It is not which author you have read, whose work is most impressive and agreeable, it's not hearing what others say and your repeating it with authority that creates the elite within. Elite is to belong to those who experience and speak what they see, not those who speak (in tongues) of that which they hear.
Maybe your 'long story' would interest?
It is not which author you have read, whose work is most impressive and agreeable, it's not hearing what others say and your repeating it with authority that creates the elite within. Elite is to belong to those who experience and speak what they see, not those who speak (in tongues) of that which they hear.
Maybe your 'long story' would interest?
Is usually hard to follow Douthat's labyrinthine arguments,some may say tortuous, but this column was refreshing in its clarity and logic. Global elite is the apt moniker for the people he describes. He did a great job spotlighting those who go on foot across a foreign land vs. those who fly way above it. Kudos for attempting to take back cosmopolitan from those who who are anything but.
Not that far off the mark--but Douthat should throw himself into the cosmopolitan pile, too. He writes for the NYTimes, after all!
There's a lot of truth in that part about liberals talking up the benefits of diversity and multiculturalism without really being immersed in it much. It really comes to down to money and wealth. The demographic described in this article as "cosmopolitans" generally just aren't around working class or poor people on a regular basis because they're not working class or poor. These camps practically live on different planets.
1
Brilliant article. How did Liberalism become an elite club? It is so much against its true character. But the democratic system is a sobering reminder that elites without supporters cannot win elections.
The Brexit is almost a non-violent revolution. What Brexiters around England are really saying is: if you don't count us in, you're out!
onourselvesandothers.com
The Brexit is almost a non-violent revolution. What Brexiters around England are really saying is: if you don't count us in, you're out!
onourselvesandothers.com
3
It is said that what is going on with Brexit and Trumpism is a rise of nationalism, white nationalism particularly, and identity politics. May be there is something like that going on. But I think more importantly, it is about the power, specifically the white losing their power of dominance.
As such the identity politics that we are witnessing is not just about cultures and values. It is still very much about class, and therefore the right (have) and the left (have not). If the "low education old white men" are financially secured with well paid manufacturing jobs of the 50s and 60s, they would not be so angry at the immigrants even if we have many of them. The crucial instigator of hatred toward immigrants is economic, not religious, not cultural.
To believe otherwise is to ignore the harm done by the increase disparity of wealth globally and to let the big money elites get away from hoarding the wealth we generate together.
This intellectual pontification about cosmopolitanism is another typically conservative way of not seeing the elephant in the room. Human behavior is always a mixture of personal and social; but the conservatives like to attribute all to just personal and absolve our political and economic institutions of any responsibility. Well, except when a rich kid is excused from vehicular manslaughter by arguing that he doesn't know better because his state of wealth has spoiled him.
As such the identity politics that we are witnessing is not just about cultures and values. It is still very much about class, and therefore the right (have) and the left (have not). If the "low education old white men" are financially secured with well paid manufacturing jobs of the 50s and 60s, they would not be so angry at the immigrants even if we have many of them. The crucial instigator of hatred toward immigrants is economic, not religious, not cultural.
To believe otherwise is to ignore the harm done by the increase disparity of wealth globally and to let the big money elites get away from hoarding the wealth we generate together.
This intellectual pontification about cosmopolitanism is another typically conservative way of not seeing the elephant in the room. Human behavior is always a mixture of personal and social; but the conservatives like to attribute all to just personal and absolve our political and economic institutions of any responsibility. Well, except when a rich kid is excused from vehicular manslaughter by arguing that he doesn't know better because his state of wealth has spoiled him.
In regard to a "global pov" differing from a "parochial pov:"
Is the issue/phenomenon a true or false dichotomy?
I interpret it's what RD is essentially claiming as a false separation.
I suppose that global sophisticates can not concede that tribalism also affects if not afflicts the so-called liberal, open-minded, and humanistic.
I (apparently) disagree with RD today.
By-the-way: Didn't Stalin persecute cosmopolitans?
Wasn't Trotsky his major cosmopolitan rival?
Am I over my head trying to whittle down RD's thesis?
Is the issue/phenomenon a true or false dichotomy?
I interpret it's what RD is essentially claiming as a false separation.
I suppose that global sophisticates can not concede that tribalism also affects if not afflicts the so-called liberal, open-minded, and humanistic.
I (apparently) disagree with RD today.
By-the-way: Didn't Stalin persecute cosmopolitans?
Wasn't Trotsky his major cosmopolitan rival?
Am I over my head trying to whittle down RD's thesis?
While it is true that the elites are a tribe (and act as one) that explains why the BREXIT, Trump and Le Pen supporters resent the elites and blame them for their woes. However, more is expected of individuals when they live in an open, democratic and prosperous democracies like the UK, USA and France respectively. Globalization is a long-term trend that has been going on since World War II ... and it was incumbent upon these folks to understand the impact and take appropriate actions (re-educate themselves in more relevant crafts, relocate to countries that need their skills, etc.). Mostly, these are people who refused to adapt to changing conditions, and are now blaming the elites. Western Europe, unlike the US, resisted globalization through stricter immigration policies and higher tariffs etc., but the outcome for a certain kind of people (blue collared workers, folks without college education) is exactly the same regardless. Even without labor mobility (immigration), the fate of the British workers would be the same ... they are simply not competitive on the global stage. Maybe we need a nation-wide [program to develop institutes for learning new crafts (e.g. operating complex machinery being used to build modern factories etc.) that require these disgruntled folks to relocate to areas where there are more jobs.
1
This situation is not that different than the changes in society that began to bring down monarchies 200 years ago.
Not that different than than the changes that forced unfettered capitalism to save itself from itself 100 years ago. (and when the king didn't quit and the capitalists didn't humanize their system they got the Russian Revolution)
The USA was at the forefront of both of the century turning movements above. Our constitution favoring democracy and the progressive movement of 200 and 100 years ago respectively attest to that.
Can the USA manage the combination of globalization and automation that destroy so many middle income jobs?
Sure we can, but it will require unconventional thinking. (I like a thirty hour workweek, higher minimum wage and trade restrictions that won't allow the elite to off-shore jobs to get around it)
It's worthwhile to note:
Our democracy wasn't supposed to last according to many of the elite 200 years ago.
and
Public Education, Minimum wage, Worker Safety, Child Labor, Environmental Regulation, and a Social Safety net (Social Security, universal health care unemployment insurance) were considered unnecessary, intrusive, undemocratic and too costly by the elite 100 years ago.
Not that different than than the changes that forced unfettered capitalism to save itself from itself 100 years ago. (and when the king didn't quit and the capitalists didn't humanize their system they got the Russian Revolution)
The USA was at the forefront of both of the century turning movements above. Our constitution favoring democracy and the progressive movement of 200 and 100 years ago respectively attest to that.
Can the USA manage the combination of globalization and automation that destroy so many middle income jobs?
Sure we can, but it will require unconventional thinking. (I like a thirty hour workweek, higher minimum wage and trade restrictions that won't allow the elite to off-shore jobs to get around it)
It's worthwhile to note:
Our democracy wasn't supposed to last according to many of the elite 200 years ago.
and
Public Education, Minimum wage, Worker Safety, Child Labor, Environmental Regulation, and a Social Safety net (Social Security, universal health care unemployment insurance) were considered unnecessary, intrusive, undemocratic and too costly by the elite 100 years ago.
1
And your point is?
2
Like many pundits trying to simultaneously condemn and extract some "told you so" consolation from Trump, Brexit, et al, Mr. Douhat has landed once again on the supposed sin of hypocrisy. The argument boils down to "At least the populists are honest about their prejudices. You liberals are no better even though you think you are." But no. An honest populist would begin with a dispassionate analysis of why the world is changing and how their behavior is complicit. They will not do that because their so-called constituency is steeped in an amber haze of self-pity, toxic pride and hopeless nostalgia spoon fed by manipulative, power-hungry people with no plan but their own celebrity. There is no equivalency of hypocrisy or moral responsibility between those who at least strive towards better for everyone and those who grumpily deny the possibility while demanding protection from the state they claim to abhor.
157
It seems that in your striving towards better for everyone, you exclude populists from your Everyone. Nothing hypocritical about that, of course.
1
Sorry, but this is nonsense. Mr. Douthat is desperately trying to turn the tables - now this whole thing about the Brexit is a result of elitist tribalism. Whereas in reallity Europe is finally starting to get out of the "tribal" (read: national) mindset and truly embrace differences in unity, it was those who are scared of that change who want to revert to the known, which is that tribal mentality.
Not every sense of connection is pure tribalism, and you can't equate those longing for the times past with those who fully embrace change in the present.
Not every sense of connection is pure tribalism, and you can't equate those longing for the times past with those who fully embrace change in the present.
78
Having read many comments here, I think the underlying cause of the fear and anger that fueled the Brexit vote and support for Trump is income inequality. There are too many people working full time who are living in near poverty. That anger will not subside until more wealth is shifted downward from the richest one or two percent to the working poor who make up the bottom fifty percent.
1
Yes, DejanK, Europe's "...plans to get out of the "tribal" (read: national) mindset and truly embrace differences in unity,..." is going to work wonders for them - until their entire culture, society and every belief has been crushed by a marauding horde of opportunistic Turks, Syrians and other Arab disposed mixed in with some degree of Muslim fanaticism. Unfettered immigration will result in nothing more than the West being diminished to nothing after two thousand plus years of Christian and now secular humanism progress.
Many if not most of the readers of the Times and of this editorial are cosmopolitans. They are people who believe in merit, in hard work, in worldliness, in educating their children, in the scientific method, and in logical discourse. Mr. Douthat suggests that they (we) lack authentic openness to new ideas.
Here's some evidence against Mr. Douthat's theory. The readers of the Times are open enough to read Mr. Douthat's editorials. I think I am not alone in checking out Fox News and talk radio once in a while, just to find out what Rush and the rest are saying. Meanwhile, the editors of the Times provide critiques not only of Mr. Trump and Mr. Cruz but also of Ms. Clinton and Mr. Sanders. The "tribe" of well-educated liberal cosmopolitans open themselves to the alternative point of view, even while being critical.
This openness, however, is in marked contrast to the other "tribe(s)." Trump supporters have no access to the research conducted by the cosmopolitan press. They have no idea how Trump has cheated workers, partners, investors, and cities. They are in a closed loop. blocked off from the alternative hypothesis. They think Trump will help them when actually he despises them as losers.
Proof: a recent poll finds that Trump is "honest." Maybe Trump is bold, is bright, is passionate, is successful. Maybe. But to suggest that he is an honest man indicates a blocking out of pertinent data, a blind spot.
Cosmopolitans have their faults. But the mob is blind.
Here's some evidence against Mr. Douthat's theory. The readers of the Times are open enough to read Mr. Douthat's editorials. I think I am not alone in checking out Fox News and talk radio once in a while, just to find out what Rush and the rest are saying. Meanwhile, the editors of the Times provide critiques not only of Mr. Trump and Mr. Cruz but also of Ms. Clinton and Mr. Sanders. The "tribe" of well-educated liberal cosmopolitans open themselves to the alternative point of view, even while being critical.
This openness, however, is in marked contrast to the other "tribe(s)." Trump supporters have no access to the research conducted by the cosmopolitan press. They have no idea how Trump has cheated workers, partners, investors, and cities. They are in a closed loop. blocked off from the alternative hypothesis. They think Trump will help them when actually he despises them as losers.
Proof: a recent poll finds that Trump is "honest." Maybe Trump is bold, is bright, is passionate, is successful. Maybe. But to suggest that he is an honest man indicates a blocking out of pertinent data, a blind spot.
Cosmopolitans have their faults. But the mob is blind.
568
Well said, David N.
1
What on earth is the basis for your claim that "Trump supporters have no access to the research conducted by the cosmopolitan press"? You think they are not connected to the Internet? Don't worry! Everyone, including Republicans, is fully aware of the memes being pushed by the NYT and the rest of the dominant liberal media. (Not a Trump supporter).
1
"The readers of the Times are open enough to read Mr. Douthat's editorials"
My open supposition from years of reading comments on Douthat and Brooks is that NYT readers are mainly looking for another opportunity to vent the same liberal views as they do in comments to the editorials. Rarely is there a cogent rebuttal of points made, merely repetitions of the same liberal mantras.
The second part of your comment continues the libel that Trump supporters are uneducated sheep driven only by propaganda.
As for the "honet" poll, I suggest that its true meaning is that Trump says what he thinks, vs. Clinton who says what polls suggest people want to hear.
My open supposition from years of reading comments on Douthat and Brooks is that NYT readers are mainly looking for another opportunity to vent the same liberal views as they do in comments to the editorials. Rarely is there a cogent rebuttal of points made, merely repetitions of the same liberal mantras.
The second part of your comment continues the libel that Trump supporters are uneducated sheep driven only by propaganda.
As for the "honet" poll, I suggest that its true meaning is that Trump says what he thinks, vs. Clinton who says what polls suggest people want to hear.
2
"From now on the great political battles will be fought between nationalists and internationalists, nativists and globalists." Brought to you by the Prophet Douthat.
Strange, it seems more likely that dumb and dumber are getting lots of votes from even dumber.
Obama, an elitist? Coming from the same folks who like to scare us with "class warfare", "race card" sounds like the GOP is not just disintegrating, it's lost it's mind. Even Hitler knew that the big lie eventually becomes..... a.... big.... lie.
82% of newspaper reports and opinions in England were pro Brexit. Mr. Douthat, it was a giant con. And all the suckers in the UK watch Scotland and Northern Ireland leave the UK for the EU while the English children get politicized and the pirates send all of the money to Dubai and Panama.
" American liberals who hail the end of whiteness while doing everything possible to keep their kids out of majority-minority schools." such potty talk is just not fair. How does this behavior contrast with Conservatives exploiting slaves, immigrants, minorities of every kind. steal the rewards of labor and then turn the white population against them, fomenting wars, and trying to destroy the safety net every time their greed crashes the economy?
Molokai for the rich? Like a leper colony but for people who have more than they could ever need but want more and crush anyone who opposes them... leper colony. Maybe we could get a vaccine....or an infusion of altruism to combat "money paranoia"?
Strange, it seems more likely that dumb and dumber are getting lots of votes from even dumber.
Obama, an elitist? Coming from the same folks who like to scare us with "class warfare", "race card" sounds like the GOP is not just disintegrating, it's lost it's mind. Even Hitler knew that the big lie eventually becomes..... a.... big.... lie.
82% of newspaper reports and opinions in England were pro Brexit. Mr. Douthat, it was a giant con. And all the suckers in the UK watch Scotland and Northern Ireland leave the UK for the EU while the English children get politicized and the pirates send all of the money to Dubai and Panama.
" American liberals who hail the end of whiteness while doing everything possible to keep their kids out of majority-minority schools." such potty talk is just not fair. How does this behavior contrast with Conservatives exploiting slaves, immigrants, minorities of every kind. steal the rewards of labor and then turn the white population against them, fomenting wars, and trying to destroy the safety net every time their greed crashes the economy?
Molokai for the rich? Like a leper colony but for people who have more than they could ever need but want more and crush anyone who opposes them... leper colony. Maybe we could get a vaccine....or an infusion of altruism to combat "money paranoia"?
3
Douthat sets up a strawman argument and knocks it down in one of his more nonsensical pieces.
Quelle surprise.
Quelle surprise.
6
Culture is not static - it is and always has been fluid. It is constantly absorbing things from the outside and rejecting things from the inside. It has nothing to do with caste - it has to do with exposure.
Travel is one way - but movies, books, news, immigrants, music, food...aspects of culture do not move in a great big chunk, they come in bit by bit.
Also, you over-simplify and trivialize. Do white liberal parents put their kids in private school because they don't want them exposed to minorities? Or because they worry about safety or substandard educations doled out by big-city school systems? Just because you're concerned that your kid can read, write, add, subtract and divide doesn't make you a racist. (Plenty of minority parents put their kids in private schools for the same reasons if they can swing it.) It's not my job to absorb culture - it is my job to make sure my kid is prepared for the road ahead.
If you worry about losing your good-paying job to somebody who will come in from outside the country and do it for 1/5 of what you do it for - does that make you against immigrants or pro keeping your job?
This country was built on welcoming and assimilating immigrants (and if you want to be picky, on slavery and genocide). On the whole, letting people in has worked out pretty well for most of us - it's how a lot of us wound up here. But if your job is at risk, who can blame you for being concerned about it?
Travel is one way - but movies, books, news, immigrants, music, food...aspects of culture do not move in a great big chunk, they come in bit by bit.
Also, you over-simplify and trivialize. Do white liberal parents put their kids in private school because they don't want them exposed to minorities? Or because they worry about safety or substandard educations doled out by big-city school systems? Just because you're concerned that your kid can read, write, add, subtract and divide doesn't make you a racist. (Plenty of minority parents put their kids in private schools for the same reasons if they can swing it.) It's not my job to absorb culture - it is my job to make sure my kid is prepared for the road ahead.
If you worry about losing your good-paying job to somebody who will come in from outside the country and do it for 1/5 of what you do it for - does that make you against immigrants or pro keeping your job?
This country was built on welcoming and assimilating immigrants (and if you want to be picky, on slavery and genocide). On the whole, letting people in has worked out pretty well for most of us - it's how a lot of us wound up here. But if your job is at risk, who can blame you for being concerned about it?
135
It's not just your job, per se, but being robbed of a modicum of a financially sound future with no pension, reduced Social Security, rising health care costs, and a deteriorating physical and social infrastructure, courtesy of the "cosomopolitan" 1% who own our political and media systems used to bafflegab appeals to "one nation under god" (the real god being Mammon) and faux banners of "patriotism" and "it's techonolgy's fault" waved by that same "caste" to which Mr. Douthat is merely a servant.
Do you think there is as much available space in the US as there was in the early 20th century? Do you think there are as many available jobs? Are there any unemployed US citizens? Have you heard of the law of supply and demand, and do you understand that it applies to the available work force?
Or, as Upton Sinclair said, “It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends on his not understanding it.”
1
The fundamental problem is this: the disgruntled voters backing Trump, BREXIT and Le Pen, and other similar movements in developed countries, did relatively well in nation states - these were the folks who could get their hands dirty, build roads, work on shop floors ... strong gritty people. This is not valued anymore in the new information age where value is being delivered by people who work with their minds rather than hands. We don't have as many roads to be built as we did in the past. We don't have to fight as many wars (and even the ones we do, we don't need as many people as before because of the nature of modern warfare). These trends have nothing to do with elites. Even when agriculture gave way to industrialization in UK in the 18th century, many farmers would have faced the same set of challenges that blue collared workers are facing today. But there was no referendum those days to take into account their disgruntlement. Some of these farmers moved to the urban centers and got jobs in the factories, or slowly descended into poverty and unhappiness.
79
Not true. What is true is that these needs can be covered with much cheaper labor from third world countries that happen to be "brown," hence the cries for racism from the "multiculturalist" elites to safeguard the source for cheap labor.
1
RR from San Francisco asserts that the problem "has nothing to do with elites" but rather that "in the new information age where value is being delivered by people who work with their minds rather than hands"... "the folks who could get their hands dirty, build roads, work on shop floors ... strong gritty people" are no longer needed. "We don't have as many roads to be built as we did in the past." Really? We have crumbling infrastructure all across the U.S. What has changed is that Wall Street has figured out that it can make more money from stripping companies of their assets rather than growing them, from complicated financial instruments that generate no value, and, in the case of Silicon Valley, from gaining access to the Chinese market by manufacturing there rather than in the U.S.
So many of the strenuous objections to Mr. Douthat's points only serve to further demonstrate their validity.
So many of the strenuous objections to Mr. Douthat's points only serve to further demonstrate their validity.
2
A little irksome, all this talk about work when work will shortly be done by machines.
Let's talk about how important it will be to provide basic needs to everyone, housing, food, education, and a purpose so that those do not work will not inflict terrible suffering on those who cannot work...because there are no jobs. As more jobs are mechanized, where will people work is the question we will confront sooner than we think.
Let's talk about how important it will be to provide basic needs to everyone, housing, food, education, and a purpose so that those do not work will not inflict terrible suffering on those who cannot work...because there are no jobs. As more jobs are mechanized, where will people work is the question we will confront sooner than we think.
2
Exactly, that's the political split, no better defined then with the simple focus of Brexit. This should be no surprise, it's been coming for years now. Those in Middle America got left behind while the major urban centers became the present and the future - the nationalists v the globalists. I understand. I was born and raised in the former and lived my adult life in the latter. I can't see any life less than the one I have now, yet those of where I am from are enraged at everything more.
So I am glad for this piece. So you are right Mr Douthat, sometimes we need to know when to stop and take notice. I know I do.
So I am glad for this piece. So you are right Mr Douthat, sometimes we need to know when to stop and take notice. I know I do.
2
Just watch the new Woody Allen movie to see if these types of people care. (Clue: they don't, they're rich, white and liberal. And they're calling the shots.)
2
Rudyard Kipling was genuinely cosmopolitan? I don't think so. He was curious certainly but personally essentially created a little England around himself wherever he went. After the exploration of Indian life it was back to the club for a chota peg. Douhat's entire cosmopolitan classification is perhaps misdirected. Who he's really talking about here is the Technocrat class as he essentially admits. And it's actually a very large group. And of course technocrats are a tribe or at least a collection of tribes. The automotive engineers are somewhat different than the lawyers. In fact the lawyers in Germany are much more similar to the lawyers in Britain or American than they are to German automotive engineers. And the technocrats do rule the world because they're the only people trained and equipped to drive the train which has become of mind boggling complexity. To take just one example the US economy which gets a lot of attention. It's enormously complex. You cannot put it in a box. Hence we are in the hands of the technocrats.
2
As a psychologist, I am committed to the notion that things don't get to be the way they are for no reason, and we can't change things just because we might want to. At least in the western world, we have always had an international elite with interests and attitudes that gave them more in common with each other than with the ordinary citizens of their countries. What is different about what we are seeing today is that the elite is not based on birth or even wealth, but competence. There is a shrinking percentage of the population who can deal with the cognitive complexities of our systems or the jobs at the high end of our economy. I may be overly pessimistic, but my estimates are that no more than twenty percent of the population will ever be real college graduates--I know more have degrees, but I am talking about the competence traditionally associated with a bachelor's degree--and the top end jobs are increasingly limited to the brightest five percent, some probably two percent. With traditional national economic barriers dropping, we have to expect the phenomena described by Mr. Douthat will become more the rule. Just because our new elite is smarter than the older ones does not mean they will be any better at seeing that their interests may not be those of most people.
3
I am a university faculty living a good life in a vibrant city working with other scientists from all over the world to develop new biomedical technologies. I must be one of the "elites" that the Trump and his supporters hate. I forgot to mention that I am an immigrant and a citizen, so I must be doubly hated. Mr. Douthat tries to explain why I am hated although I do not fully understood. I suppose that we are a "tribe." I suppose that it is hateful that we do have specialized knowledge that many other people do not have. Are experts hateful? Would you ask your neighbor to take out your appendix or to maintain a nuclear power plant? I have a decent salary educating the next generation but I do not get pay nearly the six or seven figures like Mr. Trump and I normally work over 60 hours a week, not too lazy even by Mr. Trump's standard. I have some inheritance but not the billions that Mr. Trump got. I have a respected position but I do not get it through family connection like Mr. Trump. I suppose that these differences make me hateful too. Are we a "tribe" that exclude people with humble backgrounds? I think not. With world peace, economic justice, good education, and racial and cultural equality, most children in our country can have similar fulfilling lives. These policy directions just happen to be what Democrats are advocating all along. The outcomes of xenophobia and tribalism advocated by Mr. Trump should be especially remembered in honor of Mr. Elie Wiesel today.
12
This may be a tangent, but your point about the "bubble" makes me think about a Madisonian as opposed to, say, a Marxist critique of class and economic divisions in the country and its impact on politics. If you think about extending Madison's concept of "faction" to the idea of an elite, homogenous "bubble," then what we're seeing is the sort of political failure Madison feared -- a limited segment of the country governing, more or less innocently, according to its own lights but ignorant and unrepresentative of the needs and issues facing other communities.
In this respect, unlike some other commenters, I am less concerned about the 1% we hear so much about, and more concerned about, say, the 25% who are doing fine under the current system and have become a large enough group to effectively dominate the media, the political class, academia, etc.
I am wondering if there is a sort of tipping point -- perhaps a perverse consequence of an economy with so many potential payoffs for people who can seize them -- where this element in society becomes large enough to prevail in politics without effective challenge, and impose a sort of groupthink that excludes important voices.
Madison's solution to some extent was to create a system that empowered minority voices and forced confrontation and compromise. That does not appear to be working today. So the question may be: what fundamental institutional changes might give more political leverage to the currently excluded?
In this respect, unlike some other commenters, I am less concerned about the 1% we hear so much about, and more concerned about, say, the 25% who are doing fine under the current system and have become a large enough group to effectively dominate the media, the political class, academia, etc.
I am wondering if there is a sort of tipping point -- perhaps a perverse consequence of an economy with so many potential payoffs for people who can seize them -- where this element in society becomes large enough to prevail in politics without effective challenge, and impose a sort of groupthink that excludes important voices.
Madison's solution to some extent was to create a system that empowered minority voices and forced confrontation and compromise. That does not appear to be working today. So the question may be: what fundamental institutional changes might give more political leverage to the currently excluded?
5
Thanks for the link to 'The New Ruling Class' article, Ross - very good read!
As for "elite tribalism", surely there must be a medium between homogenized cities, and wandering Africa on foot? The last time I checked, global citizens were still free to choose how to live.
As for "elite tribalism", surely there must be a medium between homogenized cities, and wandering Africa on foot? The last time I checked, global citizens were still free to choose how to live.
Pretty much right on except for the third-from-last word. The cosmo elite doesn't even aspire to rule the world. And it certainly doesn't actually rule it. What it does do is to administer the world. Not powerless by a long shot -- but rulers? I don't think so.
2
Douthat nails the Progressives and they still don't comprehend how much he has nailed them.
Brilliant.
Brilliant.
8
Give me a break. Blaming what Ross calls a liberal cultural elite for the state we are in! It is the greedy business leaders who have led astray fearful, conservative, close-minded, non-science, non-thinking people. Over the last 30 years they've done a pretty good job brainwashing, demeaning education and the educated, and feeding hate and division. Meanwhile they got what they wanted - money and power and laws to suit their own enrichment. It is time for all of us to wake up and rid ourselves of the pestilence and promote fairness, education and critical thinking.
17
Marlene,
Ross does not blamele4beral culture he blames our culture. the is little differencwe between neoliberal and neoconservative they are but two peas in the same pod.
Back in 1992 philosopher John Ralston Saul published Voltaire's Bastards subtitled The Dictatorship of Reason in the West. Although Ross is writing for a much wider audience he is writing much the same thing in a much smaller format.
We live in world run by technocrats, economists, functionaries and engineers but people are not computers and we are not Homo Sapien Sapien not Homo Reasoned Reasonable.
Ross does not blamele4beral culture he blames our culture. the is little differencwe between neoliberal and neoconservative they are but two peas in the same pod.
Back in 1992 philosopher John Ralston Saul published Voltaire's Bastards subtitled The Dictatorship of Reason in the West. Although Ross is writing for a much wider audience he is writing much the same thing in a much smaller format.
We live in world run by technocrats, economists, functionaries and engineers but people are not computers and we are not Homo Sapien Sapien not Homo Reasoned Reasonable.
@Marlene
What will we ever do with those morons who are fellow citizens?
IQ tests? Literacy scores?
There must be some way to muzzle them and keep them from voting.
What will we ever do with those morons who are fellow citizens?
IQ tests? Literacy scores?
There must be some way to muzzle them and keep them from voting.
1
The difficulty, really, comes down to the fact that we have partial globalization that has brought benefits (more job opportunities, better wages) to a lucky, educated minority. But not for the guy who once worked on a unionized factory floor in the U.S. or Canada or Britain.
Meanwhile, the next stage of globalization is proceeding at a rapid pace, upending even some of the big corporate players.
I can now order custom-made clothing online. I just give them my measurements, my preference of fabric and colour, and the online company will have it made and ship it to me for less than it costs to buy it at a chain retail store.
I can download virtually any movie, show, or piece of music, and big telecoms can do precious little about that.
I can send money via PayPal, to anywhere in the world.
We can communicate and have discussions across borders instantly.
So the economy, the culture, everything, is already upended.
So because of that, Brexit is dead in the water. However the current unbalanced and inequitable globalization is also not sustainable.
Government leaders and corporate leaders need to find a way to ensure that everybody benefits, or else there will be violent upheavals and instability that will threaten the world order.
The solution --- since we can't go back to 1964 --- is to move forward.
It's time to consider global taxation, global taxation on automation with redistribution of wealth, as well as global environmental rules and global labour rules.
Meanwhile, the next stage of globalization is proceeding at a rapid pace, upending even some of the big corporate players.
I can now order custom-made clothing online. I just give them my measurements, my preference of fabric and colour, and the online company will have it made and ship it to me for less than it costs to buy it at a chain retail store.
I can download virtually any movie, show, or piece of music, and big telecoms can do precious little about that.
I can send money via PayPal, to anywhere in the world.
We can communicate and have discussions across borders instantly.
So the economy, the culture, everything, is already upended.
So because of that, Brexit is dead in the water. However the current unbalanced and inequitable globalization is also not sustainable.
Government leaders and corporate leaders need to find a way to ensure that everybody benefits, or else there will be violent upheavals and instability that will threaten the world order.
The solution --- since we can't go back to 1964 --- is to move forward.
It's time to consider global taxation, global taxation on automation with redistribution of wealth, as well as global environmental rules and global labour rules.
5
In 2026 this column will be entitled:
how tribalism caused WW3.
how tribalism caused WW3.
2
Ross paints "cosmopolitans" with such a broad stroke that the term itself dissolves into meaningless. One doesn't necessarily have to be a "WEIRD" to recognize that Trump is an undisciplined and seriously chaotic narcissistic who is unfit to be our President - an exercise in common sense easily gets one there, regardless your race, income, education, social standing and "sophistication".
6
To those not in power, those in power always look like "a powerful caste" with self-serving explanations as to why "it alone deserves to rule the world".
Does cosmopolitanism really take its cue from Terence: Homo sum, humani nihil a me alienum puto? "Humanism" and "cosmopolitanism" are not the same and I am not sure that Terence would sign on to this editorial.
Ironically, although there is much in Terence that is heretical, the high quality of his Latin often served as a standard for instruction in that language in the Catholic School system (as far as I could determine, obviously not based on personal experience).
As for cosmopolitanism and the "meritocratic order", everything is relative and there are many who would consider themselves cosmopolitan, but are hardly "the best and the brightest".
Mr. Douthat seems to construct a "straw cosmopolitanite" only in order to knock it down. Nice exercise, but reality?
Does cosmopolitanism really take its cue from Terence: Homo sum, humani nihil a me alienum puto? "Humanism" and "cosmopolitanism" are not the same and I am not sure that Terence would sign on to this editorial.
Ironically, although there is much in Terence that is heretical, the high quality of his Latin often served as a standard for instruction in that language in the Catholic School system (as far as I could determine, obviously not based on personal experience).
As for cosmopolitanism and the "meritocratic order", everything is relative and there are many who would consider themselves cosmopolitan, but are hardly "the best and the brightest".
Mr. Douthat seems to construct a "straw cosmopolitanite" only in order to knock it down. Nice exercise, but reality?
5
Douthat does not understand the motility of European youth. These are people who choose to learn languages on their month-long vacations, who grew up doing school exchanges in neighboring countries with very different cultures, and whose opportunities to work as young adults are genuinely global in nature, i.e. many opt to move to North America or Asia. This wonderful, dazzling possibility is what the Brexiteers and National-Front adherents are rejecting, in favor of their brand of sentimental insularity, xenophobia, and demagoguery.
I do not have the statistics to put this phenomenon into perspective, but it is not the simplistic class phenomenon that Douthat ironically seems to be attempting to justify - kind of like an inverted, conservative marxism.
No, Brexit is more about the old and under-educated shutting down options for the young - and it enrages me. The result of the referendum came out the day that my daughter graduated from Cambridge University, turning what would have been the celebration of a lifetime into grim anxiety for the future and perhaps worse things to come.
I do not have the statistics to put this phenomenon into perspective, but it is not the simplistic class phenomenon that Douthat ironically seems to be attempting to justify - kind of like an inverted, conservative marxism.
No, Brexit is more about the old and under-educated shutting down options for the young - and it enrages me. The result of the referendum came out the day that my daughter graduated from Cambridge University, turning what would have been the celebration of a lifetime into grim anxiety for the future and perhaps worse things to come.
9
"A powerful caste’s self-serving explanation for why it alone deserves to rule the world."
Jeez, a long winded treatise on what is common knowledge, among the "commoners", as these worldwide inhabitants of the ruling caste, see us.
The "New World Order", referenced by several elitists, and world leaders, in recent times, refers to the corporate takeover of government in developed, and developing nations, led by major banks, insurance groups, major businesses, industries, big oil, and the militaries in several nations.
The masses are slowly becoming aware that they have no say in their existence, and most of the 7 plus billion humans on the planet, are living in poverty and endless want, and slightly higher up the chain, we have the next few million reduced to neverending economic slavery.
The pie is locked securely away from the great unwashed, and the only way to get a substantial piece of it, regrettably, is to take that piece by force.
History proves that the haves always wander willfully, and mindlessly, into the quicksand of unbridled avarice.
Jeez, a long winded treatise on what is common knowledge, among the "commoners", as these worldwide inhabitants of the ruling caste, see us.
The "New World Order", referenced by several elitists, and world leaders, in recent times, refers to the corporate takeover of government in developed, and developing nations, led by major banks, insurance groups, major businesses, industries, big oil, and the militaries in several nations.
The masses are slowly becoming aware that they have no say in their existence, and most of the 7 plus billion humans on the planet, are living in poverty and endless want, and slightly higher up the chain, we have the next few million reduced to neverending economic slavery.
The pie is locked securely away from the great unwashed, and the only way to get a substantial piece of it, regrettably, is to take that piece by force.
History proves that the haves always wander willfully, and mindlessly, into the quicksand of unbridled avarice.
8
"The masses are slowly becoming aware..." This slow recognition of what the world is and always has been disqualifies the masses from government. They can run, they can be elected, but they can't govern. Paul Ryan, Kevin McCarthy, Mitch McConnell, James Inhofe, Trey Gowdy, Louie Gohmert... If the masses elect people who look and sound like themselves we're doomed. That is not to say we know whom to elect. But let's address the immediate wild-fire that threatens us all: Trump is not qualified to govern.
The word cosmoplitan doesn't mean you're a googly-eyed citizen of the world. It doesn't have much at all to do with tribalism, hubris, colonialism, or dining preferences for that matter one way or the other. As it relates to politics, being cosmopolitan implies experience, wisdom, and cultivation... it is best understood not in opposition to tribalism but in opposition to provincialism.
A certain degree of relativism, knowing that not all things are a question of opinion or perspective and not all opinions and perspectives are equally valid under all cicumstances is a pre-requisite to being cosmopolitan. Being comfortable in a central African dung hut or speaking in tongues does not automatically make you cosmpolitan.
Dropping out of the EU will cost Britain 2% of its GDP pretty much in perpetuity at least according to most experts who spent their life studying this issue. This cost alone will greatly outweigh the "cost" associated with imigration, not to mention the potential cost of losing Scottland and northern Ireland. Provinicals were either unaware of or did not understand the implications of their vote and if they did, they are something a good deal worse than provincial.
A certain degree of relativism, knowing that not all things are a question of opinion or perspective and not all opinions and perspectives are equally valid under all cicumstances is a pre-requisite to being cosmopolitan. Being comfortable in a central African dung hut or speaking in tongues does not automatically make you cosmpolitan.
Dropping out of the EU will cost Britain 2% of its GDP pretty much in perpetuity at least according to most experts who spent their life studying this issue. This cost alone will greatly outweigh the "cost" associated with imigration, not to mention the potential cost of losing Scottland and northern Ireland. Provinicals were either unaware of or did not understand the implications of their vote and if they did, they are something a good deal worse than provincial.
1
It's not solely about economics.
No, it's not solely about economics... Clearly brexit had a lot more to do with latent xenophobia mixed with a healthy dose of misinformation.
Being cosmopolitan involves knowing that there is a proper domain of reason that should govern various decisions... and there are appropriate authorites one ought to consult in each domain... while other "authorities" should be discarded out of hand. Brexit is fundamentally an answerable question... are the provinicial white working class who blame their problems on immigrants going to better or worse of in the EU?... Phrased another way... will leaving the EU solve the problems the propoonents claim are at the root of their grievenance... Obviously not. Hence the vote is clearly unwise.
If it relates to personal customes or beliefs relativism rules the cosmopolitan heart... When it relates to knowable facts, reason rules the cosmpolitan heart.
Being cosmopolitan involves knowing that there is a proper domain of reason that should govern various decisions... and there are appropriate authorites one ought to consult in each domain... while other "authorities" should be discarded out of hand. Brexit is fundamentally an answerable question... are the provinicial white working class who blame their problems on immigrants going to better or worse of in the EU?... Phrased another way... will leaving the EU solve the problems the propoonents claim are at the root of their grievenance... Obviously not. Hence the vote is clearly unwise.
If it relates to personal customes or beliefs relativism rules the cosmopolitan heart... When it relates to knowable facts, reason rules the cosmpolitan heart.
The Canadian philosopher, writer, historian lecturer John ralston saul has been saying the same thing for decades. Saul however does not call it it the Myth of Cosmopolitanism he calls it the Cult of Neoliberalism.
Saul however does see a solution outside of Ross' vision he see the solution outside the European or Western culture.
I am indeed surprised to find Ross reading from my hymnal but I was just about Ross' age when I began to see the world through the eyes I have today.
There are many real cosmopolitans out there but finding them requires tearing down one's personal walls and leaving one very vulnerable but the rewards are well worth it. We are indeed lucky living in a place and time where yelling "The Emperor has no clothes" does entail horrific consequences.
Saul however does see a solution outside of Ross' vision he see the solution outside the European or Western culture.
I am indeed surprised to find Ross reading from my hymnal but I was just about Ross' age when I began to see the world through the eyes I have today.
There are many real cosmopolitans out there but finding them requires tearing down one's personal walls and leaving one very vulnerable but the rewards are well worth it. We are indeed lucky living in a place and time where yelling "The Emperor has no clothes" does entail horrific consequences.
2
"Londoners who love Afghan restaurants but would never live near an immigrant housing project." A fair enough point, but how much time do you suppose William Buckley ever spent living in Appalachian coal towns among "real," working-class Americans? "American liberals who hail the end of whiteness while doing everything possible to keep their kids out of majority-minority schools." Another fair point, but do you suppose that George Will enrolled his kids in one-room school houses in a small town in Nebraska? Living in a city with a mix of political opinions, I have met plenty of people, many of them conservative and nationalist, who extol the virtues of places they would never want to live. At least not until they retire and can create their own bubble in such places. I live and work among no shortage of people who talk longingly of the day they leave California for the "real America," be it Ohio or Montana. But that will be after they retire from their union jobs with their union benefits (achieved by the strikes whose picket lines they proudly crossed,) so they can collect their generous California state pensions (that they complained endlessly about) and have enough to buy a big ranch house in Montana or a big, luxurious farmhouse in the midwest. They won't be making a living by ranching or farming, but they'll tell themselves that they are.
8
Who are these cosmopolitans, these elitist leftists who are tribal and exclusionary? Terence was drawing our attention to the fact that all humans are at root the same. Shylock magnificently makes this point when he asks, "If you prick me/do I not bleed? just as any Christian, Muslim, Hindu, white, black, man, woman, poor or rich person would. All humans need the same things and suffer in the same ways. Christ commanded us to feed the stranger, and help people in need regardless of creed or ethnicity. Does this make Christ an elitist cosmopolitan leftist? How does Douthat reconcile the teachings of Christianity with his own narrowly community focused ideology? What is so bad about wanting to make it possible for all to live decent lives?
2
@ Arm
One man's decent is another man's ...?
One man's decent is another man's ...?
It seems that "cosmopolitain" has come to mean something more superficial than, say, multi-cultural; to me, the cosmopolitain ideal has always resembled turn of the century "flaneur", men (and women) about town (now, globe) who are cultured, idolized, who see variously and are bound up in little. Maybe this is because the true cosmopolitain is a myth; after all, who can truly, deeply inhabit any number of places? And who would be comfortable with such ambiguity of identity? Instead, we see a distinct cultural group forming among the globe-trotting class. Yes, but doesn't this symbolize some kind of revolution-- that a common culture and ideology can exist across an ocean?
Come on. Has David Brooks been masquerading as Ross Douthat all along? This is right out of the Brooks' playbook of cultural taxonomies.
2
When you're talking about reality, you don't have to coordinate your stories to make them sound the same.
Characterizing other people with whom you disagree as hypocrites is an old rightwing meme. "Limousine liberals", "gas guzzling" environmentalists, et. al. It's fine as far as it goes, but it nearly always turns out to be a way of trying to divert us from the issues that animate those supposed 'hypocrites' in the first place.
5
It's probably true that affluent people who've had the opportunity to scramble up the social ladder, live in nice neighbourhoods, travel, sample foods from different cultures with friends from abroad that they went to college with, lose touch with the less affluent in their various societies. The working people have less leisure for these cosmopolitan pursuits, to be sure, as they struggle to put food on the table and to survive with the austerity imposed on them by the Lord Muck's above who advocate austerity without having to suffer its consequences.
But Douthat would have us all believe that these "elites" are the hypocritical liberals he so reviles. And as always, he sneers at any aspirations the liberals proclaim to reduce the inequality that conservatives claim is merely a result of the lower orders' laziness and stupidity.
Their's he argues, isn't real cosmopolitanism, only living as they do makes you genuine and not phoney. So if you're a liberal and you happen to be successful, you must be a hypocrite.
It's a well-worn and fatuous argument. It would be better if he just admitted that the Trumps, Boris Johnsons, Le Pens like to fan the flames of bigotry to discredit the notion that cultural divisions aren't as insurmountable as they seem. They forget to mention the real issue - neo-liberal, trickle-down cant and a culture of hopelessness.
But Douthat would have us all believe that these "elites" are the hypocritical liberals he so reviles. And as always, he sneers at any aspirations the liberals proclaim to reduce the inequality that conservatives claim is merely a result of the lower orders' laziness and stupidity.
Their's he argues, isn't real cosmopolitanism, only living as they do makes you genuine and not phoney. So if you're a liberal and you happen to be successful, you must be a hypocrite.
It's a well-worn and fatuous argument. It would be better if he just admitted that the Trumps, Boris Johnsons, Le Pens like to fan the flames of bigotry to discredit the notion that cultural divisions aren't as insurmountable as they seem. They forget to mention the real issue - neo-liberal, trickle-down cant and a culture of hopelessness.
266
Well-written and "on point" -at least until the last paragraph. The purveyors of the new bigotry and racism on the Left should get "honorable mention," at least. Those who see a racist of homophobe behind every objection to their agenda.
1
You were correct in your first paragraph. After that, yes, most successful politicians exploit negative tendencies in the electorate. But it is dishonest to argue that because of that, valid working class grievances should be ignored, as usual. And that's what NY Times and most of the Dem party want to do.
1
Very very well-stated point, covering what the real Douthat and those of his ilk are about--preserving privilege and sowing internal disorder among those who disagree with them, but as a life-long liberal, we liberals appear to be very much in the country club to what with political correctness stomping all who dare disagree (even WITHIN the group--I can NEVER speak lest I be trampled by my friends or often ex-friends who find me suspect literally for being two percent different in my views of anything). This is where the two sides really do not seem so different. I too see liberals decrying racial problems and practicing segregation in the schools with their little Harvard grads to be all attending private schools or all-white schools. It cuts both ways and liberals are looking silly and elitist and well, condescending.
1
Nationalist, nativist, tribal humans versus internationalists, globalists, the multicultural, cosmopolitan?
The trials, wars of the 20th century, not to mention advances in weaponry which place us on a doomsday clock, have led to a call for humans to progress beyond nation, tribe, religion, racial and ethnic distinction--dangerously separative categories. But the method by which we are all supposed to become one human race, globalized, cosmopolitan beings is largely the method of economics, market, business, merchant values symbolized by the suit and tie. There are other unifying methods, such as art and science, but business and economics and of course the capitalism/socialism argument reigns over all other views in our time.
The problem is this: Capitalism seems to dissolve all forms of allegiance except to money and we seem unable to jump to a socialistic society without first capitalism (witness tragic record of socialistic societies) and even if socialistic societies are possible, we would have people unified by a material possession outlook more than any other so it becomes difficult to speak of future society or community or the like which is a clear progression or even entity over all the familiar and presently declared negative unifying forces over human history.
The best I can imagine of future humans is that people will identify strongly with jobs, vocations, but even this seems questionable in a world so driven by money and changeability in work environment.
The trials, wars of the 20th century, not to mention advances in weaponry which place us on a doomsday clock, have led to a call for humans to progress beyond nation, tribe, religion, racial and ethnic distinction--dangerously separative categories. But the method by which we are all supposed to become one human race, globalized, cosmopolitan beings is largely the method of economics, market, business, merchant values symbolized by the suit and tie. There are other unifying methods, such as art and science, but business and economics and of course the capitalism/socialism argument reigns over all other views in our time.
The problem is this: Capitalism seems to dissolve all forms of allegiance except to money and we seem unable to jump to a socialistic society without first capitalism (witness tragic record of socialistic societies) and even if socialistic societies are possible, we would have people unified by a material possession outlook more than any other so it becomes difficult to speak of future society or community or the like which is a clear progression or even entity over all the familiar and presently declared negative unifying forces over human history.
The best I can imagine of future humans is that people will identify strongly with jobs, vocations, but even this seems questionable in a world so driven by money and changeability in work environment.
1
Maybe it's just my internal bias meddling. Usually Cosmopolitanism titled essays adumbrate into transparent anti-Semitic ranting. Though incoherent, essay didn't mention or reference Jew.
1
When I hear the word "elite" in public discourse it makes me uncomfortable. It has the same sorts of definitional problems as "constitutional," i.e. the word meaning depends on who is using it and who is listening.
Is this just an economic elite? If so, who belongs to the tribe--the upper 1% of wage earners, the upper 10%? Is this defined by wealth stats in the USA? What about net worth, liquid assets? What about the educational elite? Just who are they? Is this all of the population with a graduate degree? Are you elite because you write for the NYTs? Are you more like one of the not-so-elite because you report for Fox News? Do Trump and Sanders get to define the crowd?
The word almost rings hollow, defining some vague and diffuse group of people to be despised by anyone who feels downtrodden. This is not to minimize the problems of income inequality in the USA and elsewhere.
Is this just an economic elite? If so, who belongs to the tribe--the upper 1% of wage earners, the upper 10%? Is this defined by wealth stats in the USA? What about net worth, liquid assets? What about the educational elite? Just who are they? Is this all of the population with a graduate degree? Are you elite because you write for the NYTs? Are you more like one of the not-so-elite because you report for Fox News? Do Trump and Sanders get to define the crowd?
The word almost rings hollow, defining some vague and diffuse group of people to be despised by anyone who feels downtrodden. This is not to minimize the problems of income inequality in the USA and elsewhere.
2
"American liberals who hail the end of whiteness while doing everything possible to keep their kids out of majority-minority schools."
I guess Ross prefers his prejudice the old-fashioned way: out in the open. Why else does he single out "liberals" (always presented in vague, hypothetical terms) rather than his fellow conservatives who are still actively purging minorities from voter rolls, passing bathroom and religious "freedom" legislation, promising to deport immigrants, denying women's reproductive rights, etc.
Yet another massive evasion of reality and responsibility from Mr. Douthat. Yet somehow the NYT keeps paying his salary. I guess because suckers like me (and you) keep clicking on his columns to read his latest inanity.
I guess Ross prefers his prejudice the old-fashioned way: out in the open. Why else does he single out "liberals" (always presented in vague, hypothetical terms) rather than his fellow conservatives who are still actively purging minorities from voter rolls, passing bathroom and religious "freedom" legislation, promising to deport immigrants, denying women's reproductive rights, etc.
Yet another massive evasion of reality and responsibility from Mr. Douthat. Yet somehow the NYT keeps paying his salary. I guess because suckers like me (and you) keep clicking on his columns to read his latest inanity.
5
Class trumps national origin, ethnia, race, gender or any moder human attribute.
4
For those who don't understand this column, here's my attempt at translation:
The old divisions of left and right, etc, may be being replaced by nationalists vs internationalists.
This may be so. But the elite who do most of the describing get too much credit for being cosmopolitan.
True cosmopolitans are comfortable with ways of life vastly different from their own.
The elite who consider themselves cosmopolitan are more alike than different.
There is some racial diversity and an eagerness to try some parts of other cultures.
But this group shares a worldview, education, values, and assumptions. They like what is comfortable and familiar in our “global cities.”
Technology encourages the tribalism of the elite. In the age of the empire, distance and separation actually encouraged immersion—if chauvinistic--in other cultures.
It is still possible to disappear into another culture, but the people who do so are exceptional and eccentric—not those who seek power as international insiders.
Douthat grew up exposed to different local “cultures.” The differences he sees as an adult among the global citizens are far more shallow.
Problems arise when the global citizenry fail to recognize that they are a tribe.
They can’t see that from the outside, they appear to a self-perpetuating group who display a hypocritical sense of superiority. Or that this looks like the creation of caste system why it deserves to rule the world.
The old divisions of left and right, etc, may be being replaced by nationalists vs internationalists.
This may be so. But the elite who do most of the describing get too much credit for being cosmopolitan.
True cosmopolitans are comfortable with ways of life vastly different from their own.
The elite who consider themselves cosmopolitan are more alike than different.
There is some racial diversity and an eagerness to try some parts of other cultures.
But this group shares a worldview, education, values, and assumptions. They like what is comfortable and familiar in our “global cities.”
Technology encourages the tribalism of the elite. In the age of the empire, distance and separation actually encouraged immersion—if chauvinistic--in other cultures.
It is still possible to disappear into another culture, but the people who do so are exceptional and eccentric—not those who seek power as international insiders.
Douthat grew up exposed to different local “cultures.” The differences he sees as an adult among the global citizens are far more shallow.
Problems arise when the global citizenry fail to recognize that they are a tribe.
They can’t see that from the outside, they appear to a self-perpetuating group who display a hypocritical sense of superiority. Or that this looks like the creation of caste system why it deserves to rule the world.
14
a wonderful translation for the layperson. (one who is a a writer with graduate degrees) The use of too many words overwhelms me!!
Nicely done. Especially that last paragragh. That to me is the beauty of the article, the discovery of hypocritical traits that exists in this emergent powerful tribe. Some of these traits, I may shamefully see in myself.
Basically, Douthat is Fox News with a thesaurus.
Hey, a Douthat column I agree with for once! He's right about the superficiality of a globalized elite that thinks it's wiser and more diverse than it actually is. This unconscious bias is really apparent in tech companies in the Bay Area, where I live.
33
Great points by. His last point about white Iiberals keeping their kids out of minority schools reminds me of a recent Times article on noble white liberals in Brooklyn doing their best to prevent the integration of their elite local public school. White liberal arrogance has always been nauseatingly predictable. Hipsters move to Williamsburg for "diversity", and then turn it into Greenwich with cooler clothes and restaurants, but with even a greater sense of entitlement and arrogance.
16
The author attempts to mint a new other, but fumbles early in the description of the meritocratic, himself a product of the rarefied airs.
So how is it we're left with a gambit by a cypher?
Just lucky, I guess.
So how is it we're left with a gambit by a cypher?
Just lucky, I guess.
1
I get it. I live in the world of highly paid professionals but I feel fortunate to have been loved by a poor and illiterate imigrant grandmother. I joke that I am a man of the people but I do not feel comfortable with them. If I were them I would Probably not trust my group to run their world.
9
I also get it. I myself raised by escapees of Jim Crow south. I identify with the plight of the urban poor in most ways, but haven learned to thrive I'd a world of globalist, I find myself struggling with a lack of belonging in the company of my own people. In many ways, I have assimilated with globalist tribe. I am lucky to have a wife to reign me in when my globalist sense of Christian compassion prevents me from truly seeing through the struggles of my peoples.
Mr. Douthat, once again, hides behind the short-form "opinion essay" to simply a complex problem while pretending at a sophisticated argument. He makes some pertinent observations here, but his conclusion is the stuff of conspiracy theorists. Unfortunately, even a political event as significant at the Brexit vote won't make it true that the world is divided into two kinds of people, as Douthat implies, but can't really argue outright -- because it's not true.
6
Sir, the very nicest thing I can say is cosmopolitanism means very different things to you and myself. Probably very similar to the way we both look at the word "liberal".
While I'm probably not very liberal or very cosmopolitan, but I aspire to some of the positive traits I see belong to both. And I don't really worry too much about someone else who may be a bit hypocritical with their definitions.
As I read your words, it still seems you are far more sympathetic to the Brexiters, the Trumpistas and Ms. Le Pen supporters. I'm very sorry but I honestly believe that is far more of a problem and much more antithetical to any real solution we may be able create for America's real issues.
If the world is about to burn down but you believe as long as the hose in your backyard works you can keep your house safe....
While I'm probably not very liberal or very cosmopolitan, but I aspire to some of the positive traits I see belong to both. And I don't really worry too much about someone else who may be a bit hypocritical with their definitions.
As I read your words, it still seems you are far more sympathetic to the Brexiters, the Trumpistas and Ms. Le Pen supporters. I'm very sorry but I honestly believe that is far more of a problem and much more antithetical to any real solution we may be able create for America's real issues.
If the world is about to burn down but you believe as long as the hose in your backyard works you can keep your house safe....
6
Brief summary:
How dare people go acting educated and cultured at me!
How dare people go acting educated and cultured at me!
6
well, if acting educated and cultured only means Ivy League or Oxbridge and London School of Economics .... then you shouldn't wonder at the resentment. (are the only people qualified to sit on the Supreme Court graduates of Harvard and a maybe couple of other Ivy League law schools? ... President Obama must think so: strange isn't it?)
If one equates cosmopolitanism with globalization and multiculturalism, one must further differentiate political from socioeconomic endorsers. One could also add that globalization and multiculturalism has been embraced by both said people for ignoble reasons.
While I deem myself a center/left voter, I'm often troubled by how some liberals espouse multiculturalism as a medium by which they express smugness and self satisfaction. Worse is how many of them don't ascertain that this patronizing attitude offends the minorities whom they claim to befriend.
As for business leaders who moralistically decry the complaints of blue collar workers who have lost employment due to globalization, I'm even further appalled by the disingenuous and hypocritical nature of this reply. Is illegal immigration an issue in America? The answer is affirmative, but this begs another inquiry: Why can't the American economy at present function without them? The reticence of aforementioned business leaders and many in the GOP establishment largely explains the populist appeal of Donald Trump.
While I deem myself a center/left voter, I'm often troubled by how some liberals espouse multiculturalism as a medium by which they express smugness and self satisfaction. Worse is how many of them don't ascertain that this patronizing attitude offends the minorities whom they claim to befriend.
As for business leaders who moralistically decry the complaints of blue collar workers who have lost employment due to globalization, I'm even further appalled by the disingenuous and hypocritical nature of this reply. Is illegal immigration an issue in America? The answer is affirmative, but this begs another inquiry: Why can't the American economy at present function without them? The reticence of aforementioned business leaders and many in the GOP establishment largely explains the populist appeal of Donald Trump.
8
It puzzled me for years that one brief held against Jews that was shared by both the Nazis and the Russian Communists was that Jews were Cosmopolitan.
Indeed, if Jews did not invent the notion of the EU, they certainly supported it on the observation that every time there was a national war in Europe, Jews got it from all sides.
You don't have to be perfectly Cosmopolitan to be correct in the belief that blatant Nativism is a very bad thing, indeed.
Indeed, if Jews did not invent the notion of the EU, they certainly supported it on the observation that every time there was a national war in Europe, Jews got it from all sides.
You don't have to be perfectly Cosmopolitan to be correct in the belief that blatant Nativism is a very bad thing, indeed.
6
The most common division I've been seeing is one of class. It consists of 'the elite" and "the people", which is reminiscent of the bourgeoisie and the proletariat of Marx. By this division the now neoMarxist (translation: right wing conservative) is seen to encourage "revolution", a bringing down of established government, in which "the people" (e.g. Tea Party) rise up to supplant "the elite" (establishment). Of course, Marx imagined -- unrealistically -- the eventual demise of government and a society without classes; instead he got Stalin. The neoMarxist, while still at odds with "the elite", has more modest aims. He settles for "small" government lead by a class characterized by mostly lightish pigmentation; he's trying to get Trump.
3
You miss a big point by not pointing out that the Remain vote was largely supported by young people, Ross. They have grown up in a different environment than the older, more tribal Leave voters. Their technology, alone, makes them more sophisticated and less frightened by change then the more rural and more traditional Leavers. Old people embrace the past because they have more it than the young and the young embrace the future for the very same reason. It's not cosmopolitanism that they have in common, it's the future.
285
I must disagree, The young voted in favour because they knew nothing else, and have been told nothing else since birth. Nothing sophisticated about it !
The older voters remember another choice was possible, the world would not end. Also the young were so inspired only 30 odd precent even bothered to vote! inspiring of the future indeed. The the average turnout was over 70%
The older voters remember another choice was possible, the world would not end. Also the young were so inspired only 30 odd precent even bothered to vote! inspiring of the future indeed. The the average turnout was over 70%
2
The point you are missing, Mr. Gage, is that the 'leavers' fear they are becoming the waste that cosmopolitan globalization leaves behind. It is not so much their embrace of the past that characterizes them as it is the feeling that protection against suffering has been ripped away from them. This can make them almost hysterically protective of the 'old forms' and appear to be simply suffering from 'culture shocks' and fear of new, but underlying these fears is a genuine economic and existential anguish, anguish at the truth that they are being plowed under. That you believe possession of technology, alone, makes the young sophisticated and unfrightened, is a frightening in and of itself. More often its unmitigated effect is to render its possessor facile and uncomprehending of the human suffering globalization is leaving in its wake. Oh, hum. It's just the cost of progress where disrupting technology and its acolytes are the rightful winners. Technology has gone to the world's head and, as the poet, Marie Howe once said, "It's a long journey from the head to the heart."
2
For some reason journalists love to categorize the Leavers as "Tribal", not as upwardly mobile, less "sophisticated". Having grown up blue collar but having several advanced degrees from Ivy League schools I can sympathize with the "tribal" more than the cosmopolitan. Maybe, just maybe, the issue is not fear of the unknown from the "tribals". Maybe they just want to be with their own people who share their own cultural identity. Period. No bigotry. No racism. Just comfort. And they don't owe anyone an explanation as to why.
2
Ross, you wrote clearly the reason you and your compatriots struggle with a changing, global world, why they stay chained to their tribalism: "They don't see..."
They don't see because they don't want to see.
They don't see because they don't want to see.
6
Elitism is an easy stone to throw, but there are many elites. Society isn’t monolithic, but more like the double helix of DNA. There’s money, there’s power, there’s family, and there’s culture. America’s problem is that we have a hierarchy based first on money, (think Koch), which buys power., (think Koch). We have families, (Bush, Kennedy Rockefeller), but we often neglect culture.
Our society skews heavily toward’s wealth, because money is fungible. One Billionaire is very like another.
Europe values culture differently than we do. The National Endowment for the Arts’ annual budget would barely buy Larry Ellison a new yacht.
France’s best known architect was Swiss, Many of its best known artists and singers were Belgian, or Spanish. France welcomed Paul Robeson, James Baldwin, and many others sincerely. Europe understands diversity. But it must be integrated organically, not grafted on by quotas.
That's where culture merges with community. It’s a lot more complicated than opening a bank account.
Our society skews heavily toward’s wealth, because money is fungible. One Billionaire is very like another.
Europe values culture differently than we do. The National Endowment for the Arts’ annual budget would barely buy Larry Ellison a new yacht.
France’s best known architect was Swiss, Many of its best known artists and singers were Belgian, or Spanish. France welcomed Paul Robeson, James Baldwin, and many others sincerely. Europe understands diversity. But it must be integrated organically, not grafted on by quotas.
That's where culture merges with community. It’s a lot more complicated than opening a bank account.
5
",,,our global citizens think and act as members of a tribe."
Ah yes, the WaDavos tribe.
Ah yes, the WaDavos tribe.
2
So Dothan's cosmopolitans are "global citizens" who form a "tribe" that plucks the best and brightest from everywhere, is racially diverse, espouses what's essentially liberal Christianity without Christ, and values education and democracy. Compared to most of the other "tribes" out there, that doesn't seem all that bad...
9
"Meritocratic order"?
Gimme a break.
Wealth, privilege and assortative mating have destroyed meritocracy.
Consider George W. Bush:
Graduated lower half of his High School class.
Admitted to Yale.
Got" 'C's at Yale.
Admitted to Harvard Business School.
Would never have become President without family and these credentials.
No wonder there is a reaction against rule by an inbred aristocracy. If there really was a meritocracy, there would not be this discussion.
Dan Kravitz
Gimme a break.
Wealth, privilege and assortative mating have destroyed meritocracy.
Consider George W. Bush:
Graduated lower half of his High School class.
Admitted to Yale.
Got" 'C's at Yale.
Admitted to Harvard Business School.
Would never have become President without family and these credentials.
No wonder there is a reaction against rule by an inbred aristocracy. If there really was a meritocracy, there would not be this discussion.
Dan Kravitz
23
I know that the usual suspects will bad-mouth Douhat, but for this resident of fly-over country, and one of the elite in my small place, I think he's right on point with this. We humans are tribal and we puff our our chests when our tribe to be ascendant and we get angry, even warlike, when our tribe is not. Left or right, liberal or conservative, how far we want to go with our tribal hypocrisies largely determines how many people we kill in the process.
10
This might be more effective if it were written in a straightforward way rather than some stream of consciousness with a lot of pretension.
9
Thank you for a nice description of the evolution of our political world. But what about our economic world? Blaming the other group (cosmopolitans, evangelicals) is good politics. All the while the real enemy to conservatives and liberals alike, to society as a whole, is unchecked greed and corruption. It's the advantages going to the well-connected and those willing to bend the rules.
Why isn't this the central theme of our political debate? Because those with the gold make the rules, and they prefer the focus be on on envy and tribalism.
Why isn't this the central theme of our political debate? Because those with the gold make the rules, and they prefer the focus be on on envy and tribalism.
8
Agree. Since civilization and the class system began with farming and the resulting excess population, the elephant in the room has been--a few have too much and most have too little. It is perpetuated by the most wanting to emulate the few.
"or American liberals who hail the end of whiteness while doing everything possible to keep their kids out of majority-minority schools"
Douthat is describing the liberal American very accurately and very few comments will acknowledge the hypocrisy he points out.
All for globalism but protect my neighborhood and schools at all costs. This applies to Waltham, Palo Alto, Chappaqua or Scarsdale. Very few African-Americans in their neighborhoods or public schools but they can hammer on Ferguson MO or folks living near the US-Mexico border who experienced the children's surge first-hand.
Douthat is describing the liberal American very accurately and very few comments will acknowledge the hypocrisy he points out.
All for globalism but protect my neighborhood and schools at all costs. This applies to Waltham, Palo Alto, Chappaqua or Scarsdale. Very few African-Americans in their neighborhoods or public schools but they can hammer on Ferguson MO or folks living near the US-Mexico border who experienced the children's surge first-hand.
12
Waltham is a working class small city. It's residents are not likely to be "cosmopolitans".
And a couple of generations ago, "cosmopolitan" was a dog whistle for "Jew". One doubts that Douthatbus too young to be aware.
And a couple of generations ago, "cosmopolitan" was a dog whistle for "Jew". One doubts that Douthatbus too young to be aware.
So now we are treated to another theory about why the peasants aren't behaving as the "elites" think they should. It's fear! No wait, it's stupidity! No wait, it's racism! Now it's the "cosmopolitanism" of the elites.
As has been famously said: "It's the economy, stupid."
See Socrates' comment. He hit the nail on the head.
As has been famously said: "It's the economy, stupid."
See Socrates' comment. He hit the nail on the head.
2
Well, the heartland types are flocking to fakes. These fakes, like Boris Johnson and Donald Trump, are just Pied Pipers pandering to and leading confused and poorly informed citizens over a cliff. They are self serving and egotistical, exploiting a very serious problem in our world: there are too many people while at the same time food can be grown and products made with fewer and fewer workers; too many people with too few jobs. This leaves to progressively increasing personal borrowing, to joblessness, to deteriorating self respect great bitterness and anger. There are some winners (the cosmopolitans) and lots of losers. And, that is the way I look at it - not cosmopolitans and insular types, but, really, the current winners and losers all over the world.
1
This is really good! Ross has trumped David Brooks. This is not an inclusive elite but a totally exclusive one.
2
When when I was a child of nine, I spent the winter months, one year, in Miami with my family, who had fled the Arctic temps of Minnesota. One day I went with my grandmother to the ladies room, and outside was a drinking fountain with a sign that read "whites only". I had never seen such a thing, and asked what it meant. My grandmother explained, and I knew, to my core, that this was wrong. I had never met a black person, no one had ever discussed this with me, but there are things every one of us knows are not acceptable. The hate dribbling from the lips of Trump is unacceptable. The lies, the accusations, the fear mongering is not acceptable. The same in Britain and France is not acceptable. We humans have the ability to reason, and one must wonder what has happened to our world that these people have turned our very humanity on its head, and made the unacceptable acceptable.
17
Sigh. Douthat again ascribes the current situation as a product of the failure of the "elites" to follow a proper path of righteousness. Perhaps it is so, but maybe it is high time to properly define "righteous" in the context of 21st Century Planet Earth.
Should our exemplar be Iron Age mythology, with a dollop of First Century Essenic Neo-Platonism, sprinkled with late Roman Empire reaction? Rather, should we identify a creed which is a bit more rational, with a nod to the human need for void reassurance? How about Seventh Century desert cave revelation?
This is the essential debate, never mind the trappings, both horrific and banal. Pick a side, friends, and may we hope that the best win out...
Should our exemplar be Iron Age mythology, with a dollop of First Century Essenic Neo-Platonism, sprinkled with late Roman Empire reaction? Rather, should we identify a creed which is a bit more rational, with a nod to the human need for void reassurance? How about Seventh Century desert cave revelation?
This is the essential debate, never mind the trappings, both horrific and banal. Pick a side, friends, and may we hope that the best win out...
4
Mr. Douthat takes a stereotype of "our tribe of self-styled cosmopolitans" and uses this to accuse it – as a group – of giving "self-serving explanation for why it alone deserves to rule the world."
Speak for yourself, Ross.
Speak for yourself, Ross.
5
Cosmopolitanism is not such an absolute. It is a continuum. Individuals can be more pluralistic or less pluralistic. They can be more capable of integrating and respecting cultural differences or less capable. The ability and willingness to adapt to the shifts in the globalization of the economy can be large or small. Individuals, communities, and states are complex functions of these and similar dimensions. Being more cosmopolitan is certainly more a journey and less a destination. The challenge of the journey is to make sure that we acknowledge the reality of our continuously changing environments and that we address these changes in a way that supports a thriving and global community.
1
Great article. The limo liberals reading this will probably erupt in a frenzied rage because their denial and discomfort with the cutting truth of your words disturbs them on a subconscious level. Many (not all) liberal elites use poor whites as a sort of emotional punching bag to project all their own hidden prejudices. It makes them feel better to assume that they're 100% moral and "rednecks" are malicious bigots. But, at the end of the day, we know the truth, and deep down, they do as well. If Stockholm's liberal elite spent a month in Malmo, or if the EU's liberal elite spent some real time in Molenbeek, they'd no longer be liberals. It's rather easy to be a sanctimonious globalist when you're child attends a $50,000 boarding school, your wealth grows in hedge fund assets, and you live in neighborhoods that only let in minorities for blue-collar labor like cleaning and landscaping.
18
An end run around this column might suggest that working people everywhere would be better served by their governments if they could earn a decent living wage, educate their kids, not worry about healthcare, travel a bit, save a bit, enjoy a well-maintained modern infrastructure, and retire with some economic security. Discussions of cosmopolitanism, tribalism, and elites would be less necessary because more people could simply enjoy life better. Mr. Douthat speaks for a political ideology that rattles on about the dissolution of family values but that has accomplished none of these most basic needs for social cohesion. The northern European nations, including the UK, have done a much better job. And, personally, I cannot think of a better thing for the world than generations of young people who are able to move freely among as many countries as possible, create global networks, and collaborate in their work and cultural lives. There is nothing superficial about this. In fact we need it desperately.
11
People complain about the new that some companies and individuals have moved to more profitable tax jurisdictions but from the perspective of the Global Elite national boundaries are immaterial. A person or company should organize it's affairs to minimize taxes. The Global Elite is more concerned about the 100 best restaurants in the world than with the success of the middle class in any one country. They purchase multimillion dollar homes in a half dozen world cities without regard to homelessness. Governments can worry about the poor and middle class, but the Global Elite have created a world by me for themselves.
In the US, the Global Elite have capture both political parties. The Brexit vote was the extremely rare occurrence where they didn't get their way. The stock market recovery is an indication that the Global Elite has figured out how to frustrate British voters through non democratic means.
In the US, the Global Elite have capture both political parties. The Brexit vote was the extremely rare occurrence where they didn't get their way. The stock market recovery is an indication that the Global Elite has figured out how to frustrate British voters through non democratic means.
7
" Liberals who hail the end of whiteness while doing everything possible to keep their children out of majority-minority schools" Ross is mouthing the usual distorted Republican dogma, infused with the intellectual shallowness and lack of self awareness that is endemic to Conservative Republicans. Ross, liberals don't reject the majority- minority aspect of schools, they reject the deplorable educational conditions, created by Republican legislatures, that engage in the serial cutting of public educational spending in state after state, instead of giving school districts and kids the funding they need for quality education.( 71% of state legislators are republican) The Irony is that it's Republican educational policy that creates the egregious conditions that repel parents both black and white. Ross when you infer that Liberals are rejecting schools because of race and not educational conditions, you are implicitly revealing your own Conservative Republican racial mindset, that leads to the racist rhetoric of Donald Trump.
8
You have given us a very good rationalization for segregation. It's not the racial complexion of the school it's the quality of the school. It's not the racial composition of the neighborhood, it's a "bad neighborhood".
Stay comfortable in your rationalization. Why do the hard work of entering that school and bringing to it your expertise and privilege to improve it?
Stay comfortable in your rationalization. Why do the hard work of entering that school and bringing to it your expertise and privilege to improve it?
Before Brexit, a UK journalist wrote that British PMs and their cabinets were just a bunch of school chums "looking for a bit of weekend fun". British Prime Ministers tend to be educated at Britain's tuition-paying "public schools" (many at Eton), while cabinet members attended Oxford, Cambridge, or St. Andrews. I don't know if that conclusion is accurate, but I do know that it's not much different here. Every time the current U.S. Supreme Court sits in conference or hears argument, it just as well might substitute as a Harvard Law School alumni seminar in judicial decision making, or that most of those advising Dick Cheney and George W. Bush to ignore the evidence and invade Iraq anyway, the "experts", seemed to be Ivy League graduates. The last things those experts, all living together in Washington enjoying privileged status, understand is what we, the people, actually have to cope with in our lives. They may be "cosmopolitan". They surely are not diverse economically or geographically.
So long as our national leaders are selected from the very narrow confines of those who enjoy substantial advantages and preferences in life, they truly won't understand what motivates, concerns, troubles, or besets the rest of us. They'll make up a solution to fit a problem but it won't work because it hasn't been born of experience. That's likely why our presidential candidates although benefiting from fabulous educations and privilege experiences, aren't trusted to get it right.
So long as our national leaders are selected from the very narrow confines of those who enjoy substantial advantages and preferences in life, they truly won't understand what motivates, concerns, troubles, or besets the rest of us. They'll make up a solution to fit a problem but it won't work because it hasn't been born of experience. That's likely why our presidential candidates although benefiting from fabulous educations and privilege experiences, aren't trusted to get it right.
8
What a dim-witted article. Cosmopolitanism has been the global trend for centuries. (Even nationalism can be considered a stage in this process, uniting and integrating formerly fragmented states like Italy and Germany into larger wholes.) A de-globalizing reaction or counter-trend at this point is natural and predictable and in no way reverses the onward cosmopolitanism course of global history.
4
It is simply history repeating itself. There was the Greatest Generation. Next was the Peace and Love Generation. Then you have the Whatever Generation, The X Generation, and now the XYZ Generation. The 4th generation always pushes the envelope too far so that there's a split in the 5th generation. The 5th always divides to those who want to return to the 1st and those who want the future. If the larger half is those who want to recreate the 1st there will be a war in which many will die. If the the larger half is those who want the future then a devastating war will be delayed by one generation.
One step forward, a little dance, and then the music's beat changes. A bit of war and poor are just happy to have lived through it. And it begins again.
One step forward, a little dance, and then the music's beat changes. A bit of war and poor are just happy to have lived through it. And it begins again.
95
The only historical parallel I can think of to the influence of the new WEIRD Global Tribe is the ancient Roman elite who established their own version of law and order and administrative efficiency over what was then "the known world" while allowing local authority and customs to remain largely intact. The result was Pax Romana, centuries of relative peace, political stability, vast economic growth and cultural enrichment via a broad exchange of ideas. If that's Global Tribalism, count me in.
You are are right but this cycle must be broken if human race is to survive.
John Ralston Saul the myth back 2500 years.
Um....what? I don't think I'm cosmopolitan enough to understand this essay. My first thought, for whatever reason, was to think about my ex's parents. They inherited family money, my father-in-law quit his job and they started traveling. They went all over - China, South America, Asia. But they always stayed at a Hilton and they always ate American food. So it's not just the millenials who are making their cosmoplitan 'hubs' where everything is alike and to their liking. The old folks did it, too.
4
In short: we all belong either to a tribe, or to the tribe of those who think that they are not in a tribe. Within the tribes of those who think that they do not belong to a tribe (better said, a chiefdom?), there are tribes that think that they belong to most selected of the non-tribal tribes, and those that have no idea that they belong to the tribe of those who do not belong to a tribe.
2
I only did a cursory one time read, but I have to say, for once I pretty much agree with him.
2
We note Ross's reference to "the cosmopolitanism of today's West" and understand that medieval cosmopolitanism – that of the One True Church – was superior.
1
Ross, I think you are defining cosmopolitanism upwards. You don't have to be living in Java for years, learning the native language and mores to be cosmopolitan in outlook. On the other hand, it helps to be proficient in one or two languages besides English. Although most Americans of European descent know only one language, Americans have been bound together, not by blood lines or ethnicity but by adherence to the American creed-- a belief in liberty, self-government, respect for the rights of minorities, the rule of law, and a free press.
As I've noted before, the nation-state is becoming anachronistic--too large for the ordinary citizen to have any meaningful impact on government policies and too small to be effective in dealing with global-scale problems, such a climate change and terrorism. Both encourage tribalism and Trumpism.
As I've noted before, the nation-state is becoming anachronistic--too large for the ordinary citizen to have any meaningful impact on government policies and too small to be effective in dealing with global-scale problems, such a climate change and terrorism. Both encourage tribalism and Trumpism.
2
A second thought: The state of California, under its current political leadership, with an effective and moderate governor and legislature, is passing important regulations on climate change and gun control that the U.S. nation-state cannot.
Well done.
5
For once, I agree with Douthat. But I wish he would name the self serving elite. Their leaders are the neoliberals, who make pawns of the Afghans, while loving their food in a restaurant. They are the big world banks, the war profiteers (Douthat's pope is right about this), and the energy companies, both private and national, that drive the conflicts that are really the world's biggest industry, war. The human misery the globalists have inflicted through powerful trade treaties, only benefitting them, and not the peoples of the world, must be recognized for what it is. And it is being recognized. This is why we have Brexit, thousands in the streets all over the world, from France, Occupy Wall Street to the Arab Spring. The power of this cartel of big business, has over reached. People in the world are pushing back. It takes many forms.
16
"WEIRD"
"...really the world's biggest industry, war."
Indeed! It is called "defense" but that is public relations.
Indeed! It is called "defense" but that is public relations.
Carolyn, like you for once I agree with the Ross ('the' intentional - heh). However I disagree with your comment that the leaders of said tribe are (somehow exclusively) liberals. I would argue that the likes of the Koch brothers are a member of that same elite, global, tribe..
It comes to this. The tribe Ross describes is like any other; self-serving and arrogant in its view of things; and it suffers the same peculiar myopia in that it does not, cannot, see itself, that way. It allows for no dissension, and expects fealty from the servile classes who support it. It is a world, a group, that runs in parallel to, runs along side but never truly is a part of, the very thing I, you, Ross seem to favor; and that is the underlying merits of a truly Cosmopolitan humanity. It's the endless battle isn't it? The struggle of parochialism and provincialism (both regionally and/or ideologically expressed) against the ideals of a truly heterogeneous, global, humanity all living together in the one "ant-hill" we call the Earth.
Just thoughts....
John~
American Net'Zen
It comes to this. The tribe Ross describes is like any other; self-serving and arrogant in its view of things; and it suffers the same peculiar myopia in that it does not, cannot, see itself, that way. It allows for no dissension, and expects fealty from the servile classes who support it. It is a world, a group, that runs in parallel to, runs along side but never truly is a part of, the very thing I, you, Ross seem to favor; and that is the underlying merits of a truly Cosmopolitan humanity. It's the endless battle isn't it? The struggle of parochialism and provincialism (both regionally and/or ideologically expressed) against the ideals of a truly heterogeneous, global, humanity all living together in the one "ant-hill" we call the Earth.
Just thoughts....
John~
American Net'Zen
Ross nails it and slowly more and more commenters and commentators are starting to get the picture. There is a homogeneous group of elites who have been failing the rest of us. These elites think they are cosmopolitan but when they fly to Paris or Sydney they really just hang out with other people like themselves. The people that these elites do not bother to get to know or to understand are the very people who they live right next to. Those dreaded white working class or Evangelical or poor immigrants. The revolt has only just begun. Trump, Brexit, Le Pen, and others are winning majorities in their elections. They will win more because the majority of regular people are tired of getting shafted.
32
I have master's degree in Library and Information Science. I took my undergraduate degree in English Literature. I can read. But, Mr. Douthat, I don't know what you wrote. I read, without understanding, this column. Twice. I guess it's just me.
26
Not just you. Douthat just make up his sweeping pronouncements on the basis of his own narrow experience and little else.
That's because you are the people Douthat is wisely chastising. Amazing how we can't see ourselves when we are under attack.
1
He is saying that Occupy Wall Street was too provincial. They were thinking too narrowly - it should have been named Occupy the the Global Elite.
Finally, someone nails the fearful, bigoted elites who demand that we all see them as our betters when they are more zealous haters than the people they demand we shy away from. THIS is why we need an independent media.
24
We have an independent media, all different types. The fantasy that we don't is pure lazy thinking and paranoia.
"perhaps we should speak no more of left and right, liberals and conservatives." Yes, let's have 21st century terms for 21st century politics. Time to retire 19th century terminology (even if Americans did not start using these terms until the 20th century).
5
To some extent, the idea behind the EU is not as new as it might appear. If you look at “old” Europe, you see that most of the royal families were closely related by blood or marriage. The same held true for the European nobles and aristocracy of the time. Although theoretically nationalistic, in practice they had much more in common with one another than with their fellow countrymen in the states to which they were nominally attached. While I understand the desire to quell the out-of-control nationalism that produced two disastrous world wars, you can see how the rank and file of many European countries might regard the replacement of popular local democracy with governance by a continent-spanning elite as something not all that new to them.
15
Ross is absolutely right. A chairman of a multi-national company once remarked that when he visited the far flung corners of the company, he found that the employees looked different but they all thought the same company way. By the way, the cleavage here is not between the much maligned 1% and the rest 99%, it is between the 20 % and the rest. Marx said a long time back that when push comes to shove the petite bourgeoisie i.e. the 20% would always side with the haute bourgeoisie
22
absolutely right on the money, Surajit.
1
This reads like a waspish sting of David Brooks's last column. I always hate to see such pettiness from Ross Douthat, who at his best has an expansive mind and a complicated heart.
Step into any Admiral's Club at any airport and you will be surrounded by global citizens. And you know what? They all look miserable, frowning and typing on their laptops. Try finding a smile in a room like that. Not going back - prefer to be among the hoi polloi. If there is such a thing in an airport . . . . More blandness: Do you know how hard it is to prevent auto spellcheck from writing hoi polo?
15
Oh Douthat, you come not to praise the cosmos but to bury it, to show it disintegrated into walled factions of introversion with merely superficial notes of acknowledgement between them. You explain that those who rise above these walls are deluded and live within a wall themselves.
No
The urge and intellect to look beyond a tribal boundary arises in all cultures. Those who embrace it enrich their own rather than give rise to a new. Some fear the loss of individuality, but only by respecting and learning from diversity can each refine their own definition and so remain distinct without the walls.
America is about individualism not festering enclaves of isolation.
No
The urge and intellect to look beyond a tribal boundary arises in all cultures. Those who embrace it enrich their own rather than give rise to a new. Some fear the loss of individuality, but only by respecting and learning from diversity can each refine their own definition and so remain distinct without the walls.
America is about individualism not festering enclaves of isolation.
3
Agree..but you miss that the superstructure of neoliberalism is globalism. It is a cartel of enormous political and economic power.
7
If this article in any way relates to the oops! Brexit vote by the UK, I'll submit that attempts to close a society for comfortable familiar insularity tend to reduce vitality and strength - viz Japan before 1870, and China before 1985 or so.
Entrepreneurs (who 'carry between') bringing ideas from other places have always brought vitality - viz Marco Polo (noodles from China to spaghetti in Italy), Mughals to India (viz the Taj Mahal), silk, tea, spices from the East, all the way back to the origins of man (tracing genetics Out of Africa, through Turkey, India, China, the Americas - why American Indians can look like Chinese), etc., etc.
Entrepreneurs (who 'carry between') bringing ideas from other places have always brought vitality - viz Marco Polo (noodles from China to spaghetti in Italy), Mughals to India (viz the Taj Mahal), silk, tea, spices from the East, all the way back to the origins of man (tracing genetics Out of Africa, through Turkey, India, China, the Americas - why American Indians can look like Chinese), etc., etc.
1
I agree that people who "carry between" have been able to bring new ideas and ways. However, that's the problem of this new "globalization" approach. Rather than really reaching into these different locales and peoples to learn from them, the new "cosmopolitans" seek "familiar insularity." They are like the wealthy tourists of the Victorian era who, if they left the comforts of home, went into new places only as voyeurs seeing the sites and remarking on the quaint inadequacies of anyone other than themselves.
1
The poor will always be with us, and so will the rich. What's new is that social media now allow the poor to coalesce into like-minded communities the way the rich always have.
8
The poor have always felt this way. But the rich has always sought ways to control organization by the masses. The trick is for the elite class to share well being. It has always behooved them for their safety to either do this or go to more and more extreme methods of control. Control ultimately doesn't work. Norway does a good job of distributing well being. The world community of elites is now being called upon to do the same, on a world wide basis or suffer rebellion on a massive scale. That's what better communication has done for the poor. They are better able to organize now.
14
But better communication for the poor is globalism, no? The brexit vote was a reaction against the poor - Poles and Romanians and the threat of Syrian refugees, no?
Steve, yes, you make a good point. But it is about the larger picture too of the manipulation of treaties and wars to benefit the largest corporations. They are the ones seeking and actually to a great extent, controlling the EU. As a consequence of those wars, millions have been displaced.
2
How sad to have such a narrow world view. There are many truly cosmopolitan places and somehow it has rubbed off. I grew up in an exclusive boy's school and at my mother's office across from the City Union Mission, riding the bus through every imaginable neighborhood. My friends in college (in the '70s) were gay and straight, Christian, Jewish, Buddhist, atheist and every other religion imaginable. As a journalist, I've spent long hours enjoying the company at Black church potlucks and genuine redneck squirrel stew cookouts.And I've come away richer--and usually with at least one new lifelong friend--from each experience. And there are lots of us out there. Our little Oklahoma town has a vibrant Hmong community, a growing black population, and a state championship debate program whose group pictures could easily pass for a portrait at a UN children's
16
Of course the "global meritocracy" is the fundamental myth of our rulers. They have the right to rule over us because they have completed obscure training in the skills required for itnra-elite combat and then won a series of obscure tournaments. Wasn't the same argument made in the Middle Ages?
As to multicultural versus nationalist, well numerous attacks have been made on global elite policies from a multicultural left point of view from Syriza to Podemos to Sanders. It is currently convenient for elites to suppress these and paint all opposition to their benevolent rule as backward nationalism but this is simply not the case.
As to multicultural versus nationalist, well numerous attacks have been made on global elite policies from a multicultural left point of view from Syriza to Podemos to Sanders. It is currently convenient for elites to suppress these and paint all opposition to their benevolent rule as backward nationalism but this is simply not the case.
11
Mr. Douthat,
Britain has had decades of legal immigration, so much so, that tikka masala finds a honorable place on the menu, right next to fish and chips.
But this recent surge of nationalism can be traced to Tony Blair's Iraq war. The resulting uninvited refugees pouring into Europe was more than the British could stomach.
Britain has had decades of legal immigration, so much so, that tikka masala finds a honorable place on the menu, right next to fish and chips.
But this recent surge of nationalism can be traced to Tony Blair's Iraq war. The resulting uninvited refugees pouring into Europe was more than the British could stomach.
9
Which is odd, considering the British have hardly taken in any refugees from the Middle East. And who says the refugees weren't invited?
As Charles Murray would say, they live in a bubble of their own. Simply put the so called global elite doesn't have a clue how most of their fellow countryman live.
20
Mr. Douthat, it's natural for folks to socialize with other folks who share their tastes in literature, movies, sports, music and all sorts of other things. As a person who lives in a liberal enclave of NYC, political outlook is really quite far down the list of things that are important for me to have in common with another person. I have a particular passion for the music created in the South for instance which for the most part has very few residents that share my politics. Please stop accusing people like me of looking down on our fellow Americans. Rather we are absolutely terrified by what one of major parties has presented as a potential President of the United States. By many measures, Mr. Trump is one of us-a relatively wealthy resident of New York. I'm sure he sees himself as a member of the cosmopolitan elite in most respects. Are you trying to find another way to try to justify the way the Republican Party has embraced kooks and bigots in order to get themselves elected? Most Republicans have very good reasons to justify their membership in the party. But now it seems the inmates have taken over the asylum.
11
Don't mistake Ross's criticism of a global elite as an attack on the 1% oligarchy that rules the world. Ross is after those who support Hillary and Bernie against Trump, Cruz, Rubio, et al and their supporters or in England those who voted against Brexit and against Johnson, Glve and Farage.
He manages to fold in a mandatory attack on people who aren't suitably religious, attributing to them Christianity without Christ when the truth is that their for Christ without religious ideology.
Ross is in a manner celebrating as "Steinbeckian" those who have had enough of the world's attempt to embrace the world's huddled masses. He rmay not like Donald Trump, but he's relishing the rebellion of his supporters, as he is those for Brexit, against those who are attempting integration, the elevation of women's rights, the freedom of choice, or a celebration of one's right to a lifestyle other than one defined by his Conservative heterodox.
This column is a not cleverly disguised Conservative tantrum against being dragged into a world attempting to change Ross's old world order, because Ross doesn't approve.
He manages to fold in a mandatory attack on people who aren't suitably religious, attributing to them Christianity without Christ when the truth is that their for Christ without religious ideology.
Ross is in a manner celebrating as "Steinbeckian" those who have had enough of the world's attempt to embrace the world's huddled masses. He rmay not like Donald Trump, but he's relishing the rebellion of his supporters, as he is those for Brexit, against those who are attempting integration, the elevation of women's rights, the freedom of choice, or a celebration of one's right to a lifestyle other than one defined by his Conservative heterodox.
This column is a not cleverly disguised Conservative tantrum against being dragged into a world attempting to change Ross's old world order, because Ross doesn't approve.
41
Interesting..after reading what you wrote, I wonder how I got fooled by Douthat. I didn't see what you saw in his column..but then, maybe I saw what I was hoping for…some recognition that the global elite have over stepped and the masses are pushing back.
5
I would accept as genuine the globalist's sense of cosmopolitanism when they enroll their kids in a 50%+ Black/Hispanic/migrant public school so that they can actually experience the profound cultural changes that their globalism actually brings.
21
There is a form of cosmopolitan life that is "real". I work largely outside of the US for well over half the year. Six months at a time in one place. A few engineers to work with that know some English, but mostly I have to learn the language to communicate with everyone on the team.
Until you know the language, you can't understand the country. Not all words or meanings translate. My advantage is that engineering is a "universal language" so I'm half way there to assimilating.
It's a process. Long hours working together. Eating lunch together: whatever the local spot is. Gradually people start to open up. They will talk politics and what they think about the US. You get to understand the rhythm of their lives.
What I've learned in my 30 years of working around the world is there is something about people; something I would call "universal".
People love where they live. Wherever humans live they make it a more hospitable place, and I wouldn't call it "cosmopolitanism", but something more basic, a kind of pride of place that makes them want to share it will foreigners.
Until you know the language, you can't understand the country. Not all words or meanings translate. My advantage is that engineering is a "universal language" so I'm half way there to assimilating.
It's a process. Long hours working together. Eating lunch together: whatever the local spot is. Gradually people start to open up. They will talk politics and what they think about the US. You get to understand the rhythm of their lives.
What I've learned in my 30 years of working around the world is there is something about people; something I would call "universal".
People love where they live. Wherever humans live they make it a more hospitable place, and I wouldn't call it "cosmopolitanism", but something more basic, a kind of pride of place that makes them want to share it will foreigners.
46
>>>>
"These gradually furnished the great proprietors with something for which they could exchange the whole surplus produce of their lands, and which they could consume themselves without sharing it either with tenants or retainers. All for ourselves and nothing for other people, seems, in every age of the world, to have been the vile maxim of the masters of mankind. As soon, therefore, as they could find a method of consuming the whole value of their rents themselves, they had no disposition to share them with any other persons."
Adam Smith
"These gradually furnished the great proprietors with something for which they could exchange the whole surplus produce of their lands, and which they could consume themselves without sharing it either with tenants or retainers. All for ourselves and nothing for other people, seems, in every age of the world, to have been the vile maxim of the masters of mankind. As soon, therefore, as they could find a method of consuming the whole value of their rents themselves, they had no disposition to share them with any other persons."
Adam Smith
23
What a situation has befallen the U.S. today. In this election the "little people" are confronted with the major pseudo-choice: Whom do you prefer--the neoliberal "globalist" or the plutocratic, self-serving "populist"?
Many claim that Ms. Clinton is not to be trusted. Au contraire, she is highly trustworthy and can be trusted to do her best to maintain the neoliberal globalist status quo.
Many others flock to Mr. Trump because "he tells it like it is" and "he is an outsider who will really shake things up in D.C."
Are the "little people" so hopelessly self-deluded as to actually believe that Mr. Trump, a once voraciously predatory leopard, has now changed his plutocratic spots?
What sane "little person" can possibly believe that an egocentric, narcissistic plutocrat like Mr. Trump is going to shake things up in D.C. so that, when the dice are cast, the number will come up in favor of the "little people"? Has no one paid attention to the scorn Mr. Trump has always directed at society's "losers"?
Mr. Trump wishes to be elected Oligarch in Chief. If, by outrageous voter malfeasance, his wish were to come true, then, once in office, the Chief Oligarch would prove to be completely trustworthy. His fellow oligarchs would all be given huge slices of the political pie.
For the peasants? Crumbs!
Pop quiz: Name all of the presidential candidates who, during the 2015-2016 primaries, were NOT either multi-millionaires or billionaires?
Isn't American democracy just grand?
Many claim that Ms. Clinton is not to be trusted. Au contraire, she is highly trustworthy and can be trusted to do her best to maintain the neoliberal globalist status quo.
Many others flock to Mr. Trump because "he tells it like it is" and "he is an outsider who will really shake things up in D.C."
Are the "little people" so hopelessly self-deluded as to actually believe that Mr. Trump, a once voraciously predatory leopard, has now changed his plutocratic spots?
What sane "little person" can possibly believe that an egocentric, narcissistic plutocrat like Mr. Trump is going to shake things up in D.C. so that, when the dice are cast, the number will come up in favor of the "little people"? Has no one paid attention to the scorn Mr. Trump has always directed at society's "losers"?
Mr. Trump wishes to be elected Oligarch in Chief. If, by outrageous voter malfeasance, his wish were to come true, then, once in office, the Chief Oligarch would prove to be completely trustworthy. His fellow oligarchs would all be given huge slices of the political pie.
For the peasants? Crumbs!
Pop quiz: Name all of the presidential candidates who, during the 2015-2016 primaries, were NOT either multi-millionaires or billionaires?
Isn't American democracy just grand?
39
this election is about con vs. con.
Dem willingly allow themselves to be conned by their leader, repubs the same.
Ross hit a nerve here.
Dem willingly allow themselves to be conned by their leader, repubs the same.
Ross hit a nerve here.
2
"Genuine cosmopolitanism is a rare thing. It requires comfort with real difference, with forms of life that are truly exotic relative to one’s own..." Ross, you do realize that you have encapsulated President Obama as that rare bird who has that deep, internalized cosmopolitanism? A man whose childhood took him to Indonesia and Hawaii? A man whose parents were from Kenya and Kansas? He is indeed that unique individual who understands the complexities of cultures and people, treating others with inherent dignity, not as peculiarities. And how has your party treated President Obama for the richness of his upbringing? There was Trump with the relentless birther nonsense. There was Newt Gingrich with the Kenyan anti-colonial nonsense, There is the ubiquitous 'secret Muslim' nonsense. Resistance to this true global cosmopolitanism has nothing to do with liberals.
186
Yes, we are all tribal. But not all tribes are equal. Those with wide-ranging education and experience, and who think in terms of the greater and longer and more inclusive good, are more likely to make wise political decisions than those who cannot see, or are not interested in, the world beyond their own income or village or lifetime
16
Isn't that the basic argument of hereditary monarchs everywhere? Mr. Douthat called this in his last paragraph. Some of us prefer one person one vote, including peasants. If you want the peasants to make wise political decisions, give them a decent education.
The sad state of public education in the UK beyond London has been a topic in the Brexit post-mortem.
The sad state of public education in the UK beyond London has been a topic in the Brexit post-mortem.
1
Perhaps . But, unfortunately, the most important part of these well educated and priviligied members of this tribe are not, when making political decisions, really wise : look Cameron ... Moreover, they often don't think in terms of the greater and longer and more inclusive good as you can see considering the financial recent history. Therefore, it is difficult to legitimate your Orwellian view. Democracy is a way to regulate these ploutocratic, or these oligarchic excess, in order to give even to the more humble and stupid human beeing the right of beeing, as we give them the duty of working, consuming and giving their life in wars. This is the challenge we can't give up : education, and ubris control.
2
those who seek a more inclusive good by romanticizing the most backward tribes over the less backward ones, will bring society backward most quickly of all.
1
Thanks, Ross! And let's add to that the appropriation of the word "educated." When the self-proclaimed "elite" cite the sources of popular delusion they often begin by lamenting the fact that Brexiters and Trumpistas alike are "poorly educated." Translation: These poor folks never fell asleep in a Stanford classroom, never got a wildly inflated, underserved grade, and will never wear a cool sweatshirt to a craft microbrew beer party in Palo Alto before the Big Game.
23
So if the word "educated" shouldn't be used of those who graduated from college who should it be used of?
3
Ross, you attended tongues-speaking Pentacostal services, played Little League with working class kids, ate with old hippies and attended a liberal Episcopalian prep school?
No wonder you became Catholic; it was the only thing left!
No wonder you became Catholic; it was the only thing left!
5
I can think of a few more choices, if I put on my Cosmopolitan thinking cap!
How convenient that a right/conservative pundit no longer wants to speak of left and right, liberals and conservatives.
The problem is that there is one pie and that pie is divided among all of us. It turns out that 1% own 99% of that pie.
That makes people mad. The solution among the right/conservatives, is to cut taxes further for the 1%. Republicans/conservatives have been saying this for 30 years.
It doesn't work.
We have two great examples of experiments going on right now in this country. Kansas is a Republican experiment with a Republican governor. Kansas has cut taxes again and again, and is a disaster.
California is a Democratic experiment with a Democrat for governor. When Governor Brown came into office, California had a deficit of $27 billion. California now has a rainy day surplus of $11 billion. California did this by raising taxes on the wealthy.
Go ahead and try to divert us, Mr. Douthat. Come visit us in California where we have multicultural openness, the 6th largest economy in the world, and no Republicans in power to obstruct or cut taxes for the rich.
The problem is that there is one pie and that pie is divided among all of us. It turns out that 1% own 99% of that pie.
That makes people mad. The solution among the right/conservatives, is to cut taxes further for the 1%. Republicans/conservatives have been saying this for 30 years.
It doesn't work.
We have two great examples of experiments going on right now in this country. Kansas is a Republican experiment with a Republican governor. Kansas has cut taxes again and again, and is a disaster.
California is a Democratic experiment with a Democrat for governor. When Governor Brown came into office, California had a deficit of $27 billion. California now has a rainy day surplus of $11 billion. California did this by raising taxes on the wealthy.
Go ahead and try to divert us, Mr. Douthat. Come visit us in California where we have multicultural openness, the 6th largest economy in the world, and no Republicans in power to obstruct or cut taxes for the rich.
387
But you have your primaries rigged by the neoliberal.
5
Mr. Douthat, please don't bother visiting California if you are looking for multicultural openness. It may be multicultural inasmuch as a lot of different people move there, but calling it open is a stretch.
Go there to compare the racial segregation and inequalities between say Tiburon and Oakland, Pacific Heights and the Bay View, by all means. This is without even leaving the "progressive" heart of the state and venturing into the Central Valley or the Sierras.
Go there to compare the racial segregation and inequalities between say Tiburon and Oakland, Pacific Heights and the Bay View, by all means. This is without even leaving the "progressive" heart of the state and venturing into the Central Valley or the Sierras.
2
Well, we also raised the sales tax, which everyone pays. This was a brilliant stroke on ole Jer's part, he got folks to vote to raise their own taxes while raising them more on those who can well afford it.
Brown is a great advertisement for electing folks with lots of experience. He did pretty well back in his younger days but was a little too cynical about politics. Now he's matured into an absolutely brilliant leader.
Brown is a great advertisement for electing folks with lots of experience. He did pretty well back in his younger days but was a little too cynical about politics. Now he's matured into an absolutely brilliant leader.
In the American version of cosmopolitanism the point is to make the entire world like the U.S. This is not the only possible way. Another version allows and even encourages other countries to be different, and a cosmopolitan is one who accepts and readily adapts to different cultures.
8
It's perhaps not correct to equate the existing globalising elite and its self-centric worldview with a broader inclusive spirit of cosmopolitanism or internationalism which could inspire even an ordinary being with enough sense of humility and compassion. There's thus no justification for promoting crass nativistm and parochialism practised by the xenophobic racist politicians like Trump, Le Pen, or other far right demagogues at the cost of cosmopolitanism which might be a feeble instinct today but not extinct, and bound to remain a worthaspiring value for the humans looking for a new dawn on the horizon.
17
Republicans destroyed unions without having anything to put in their place. That is my theory of why we see this "elephant? what elephant?" politics going on. When Trump says he will make America great again, I always think of the dentist I went to see in the 80's who said he couldn't understand why teamsters were making more than he was. That was in NY City, by the way. Globalism pulled the rug out from under the unions as the capitalist class began moving manufacturing abroad.
One the one hand we can't afford unions, on the other hand we cant afford an economy without a "manufacturing" base for want of a better word. However, the word is not a bad one in the sense that it refers to immobile capital, factories that can't move around like financial assets, name brands (like Trump), software engineering - you get the picture.
During the whole Greek debacle, it was amusing to see the evasion going on that consisted of not explaining to the public that the reason there was no investment in Greece was that their local laws would eat any business alive were it to establish itself in Greece (unless it was "mobile", like shipping, for example).
Dems cant fix things because their interest group is "labor" but Republicans could. Maybe that's why liberal Krugman says vaguely that "change will come from the right".
We could outlaw collective bargaining and strikes. What are you willing to cede in its place, Ross?
One the one hand we can't afford unions, on the other hand we cant afford an economy without a "manufacturing" base for want of a better word. However, the word is not a bad one in the sense that it refers to immobile capital, factories that can't move around like financial assets, name brands (like Trump), software engineering - you get the picture.
During the whole Greek debacle, it was amusing to see the evasion going on that consisted of not explaining to the public that the reason there was no investment in Greece was that their local laws would eat any business alive were it to establish itself in Greece (unless it was "mobile", like shipping, for example).
Dems cant fix things because their interest group is "labor" but Republicans could. Maybe that's why liberal Krugman says vaguely that "change will come from the right".
We could outlaw collective bargaining and strikes. What are you willing to cede in its place, Ross?
7
"Where you stand on the issues depends upon where you sit." - Murphy's law on Politics.
...and where you sit depends upon where you draw your income.
The policy establishment is a privileged elite but since Reagan they increasingly serve their masters in the economic elite.
There is & always has been only 1 issue across the long arc of history: to what extent do we allow wealth to concentrate. The GOP has mastered how to get people to vote against their interest.
Since 1972 the median wage has remained flat despite 150% increase in GNP. All of that increase has flowed to the 1%. The 1% use that money to buy politicians & exercise control over policy so they can further the concentration of wealth.
Globalization was the stick by which BigMoney used to destroy America's social contract & middle class. That experiment began in the mid1960s where the model was perfected & proven with Singapore & spread from there. https://goo.gl/06w4dv We exported 50,000 factories in the last 15 years alone.
The inflection point has to be the Reagan/thatcher revolution & within that the PATCO strike that took a hatchet to the bargaining power of working people. After that there was little break on the flow of wealth.
In the current age money knows no boundaries. The concentration of wealth then has become a global phenomena. The proof is deflation/lowflation & low growth since 1998. We see no policies to ease unemployment in Europe or America. Stunning for would be democracies.
...and where you sit depends upon where you draw your income.
The policy establishment is a privileged elite but since Reagan they increasingly serve their masters in the economic elite.
There is & always has been only 1 issue across the long arc of history: to what extent do we allow wealth to concentrate. The GOP has mastered how to get people to vote against their interest.
Since 1972 the median wage has remained flat despite 150% increase in GNP. All of that increase has flowed to the 1%. The 1% use that money to buy politicians & exercise control over policy so they can further the concentration of wealth.
Globalization was the stick by which BigMoney used to destroy America's social contract & middle class. That experiment began in the mid1960s where the model was perfected & proven with Singapore & spread from there. https://goo.gl/06w4dv We exported 50,000 factories in the last 15 years alone.
The inflection point has to be the Reagan/thatcher revolution & within that the PATCO strike that took a hatchet to the bargaining power of working people. After that there was little break on the flow of wealth.
In the current age money knows no boundaries. The concentration of wealth then has become a global phenomena. The proof is deflation/lowflation & low growth since 1998. We see no policies to ease unemployment in Europe or America. Stunning for would be democracies.
162
As you stated the wealth of the middle class started stagnating in the early 1970's.
The inflection point doesn't have to be Reagan/Thatcher. And PATCO received their just deserts.
The manufacturing sector drove the middle class wealth. The decay started with the growth in imports. It is certainly the right of Americans to purchase imports. But let's not kid ourselves that some other major force has killed the manufacturing jobs machine other than the choices of the US consumers.
In terms of globalization, well the Democratic party is the party of globalization and free trade. Amazing transformation.
The inflection point doesn't have to be Reagan/Thatcher. And PATCO received their just deserts.
The manufacturing sector drove the middle class wealth. The decay started with the growth in imports. It is certainly the right of Americans to purchase imports. But let's not kid ourselves that some other major force has killed the manufacturing jobs machine other than the choices of the US consumers.
In terms of globalization, well the Democratic party is the party of globalization and free trade. Amazing transformation.
2
Globalization is a result of technological revolution that bring people closer than ever. People from around the world can either cooperative and live in peace TOGETHER or there will be a conflict that none of us will live through. This is why America is so important it is a beacon showing the rest of the world how everyone with different backgrounds can live together. Globalization doesn't have to mean economic inequality. It is the GOP policies of lowering of top tax rate and capital gain tax and the proposed elimination of estate tax that gradually concentrate wealth in the top few percent. This economic inequality can be reversed without damaging important international institutions like EU and NATO that have ensure relative global peace for decades. Yes. Trade deals should be structured not just to maximize growth but must make sure that the benefit is equally shared in the society. Globalization is not evil but must be managed. Mr. Douthat, like many of the right wing pundits, like to reduce complex issues to black and white but fails to see the gradations. This adherence to extreme orthodoxy, for example, the all powerful invisible hand of capitalism, is what lead us to today's high inequality.
80
Thank you for noting the watershed event of the PATCO strike (millennials may have to Google that one). I was practicing labor law at that time and following that strike there was a genuine and noticeable shift in employer attitudes towards unions and workers in general. Employers became harder, more demanding, and more unyielding with regard to employee rights and benefits. I became a busy man what with strikes, lock-outs and appearances before the NLRB but at least I understood what the titanic societal shift I was witnessing.
9
I wonder if some commentators actually read this. Douhat clearly includes himself he the tribe so he can't be talking about a "liberal' cosmopolitan elite.
The real problem here is that he has missed the central problem of the elites discussion, it is the mistaken belief in that the debates over abstract concepts that are so important to defining both their tribe and their position in it are what drive politics.
In truth the problem with the global elite is that they have seized control of most of the world's resources to be used for their own benefit. It is a recognition of that, not some abstract concern about globalization, that is driving populist revolts from a truly diverse group of people. From Trump supporters to pro-Brexit Britains to Sanders' supporters to ISIS terrorists, the unifying thread is the recognition that their own interests are being lost. That their world is getting worse as they define it. That objective reality is what is driving the populist revolt, not some abstract debate over globalization and nationalism. They certainly don't care whether their elite enemies are truly cosmopolitan or not.
The real problem here is that he has missed the central problem of the elites discussion, it is the mistaken belief in that the debates over abstract concepts that are so important to defining both their tribe and their position in it are what drive politics.
In truth the problem with the global elite is that they have seized control of most of the world's resources to be used for their own benefit. It is a recognition of that, not some abstract concern about globalization, that is driving populist revolts from a truly diverse group of people. From Trump supporters to pro-Brexit Britains to Sanders' supporters to ISIS terrorists, the unifying thread is the recognition that their own interests are being lost. That their world is getting worse as they define it. That objective reality is what is driving the populist revolt, not some abstract debate over globalization and nationalism. They certainly don't care whether their elite enemies are truly cosmopolitan or not.
92
He "kind of" includes himself, but not "clearly", because he still wants to use the conservative trope of "elite" to describe liberals who're getting all high and mighty about their "cosmopolitanism". Sure he includes himself, but he is the realist, who knows that the downtrodden plebs will not, cannot, don't want to integrate - that is what spoilt liberals who drink latte and eat sushi and kebabs do - even though they'd rather not live near people who cook those foods - well maybe sushi, because apart from the Emperor, the Japanese aren't doing anything to ruffle anyone at the moment.
The kebab guys? Well that's another story. Food's tasty, but we shouldn't really be allowing any more of them in. When they're not tending skewers, they may be beheading people. You get Mr Douthat's drift? Well maybe not if you're one of the "elite". Or if you do, you won't admit it. Gotta stay PC, even if you're secretly not on board.
The kebab guys? Well that's another story. Food's tasty, but we shouldn't really be allowing any more of them in. When they're not tending skewers, they may be beheading people. You get Mr Douthat's drift? Well maybe not if you're one of the "elite". Or if you do, you won't admit it. Gotta stay PC, even if you're secretly not on board.
1
Oh, what nonsense! It's not the left-wing "cosmopolitans" who are looking to rule the world. It's the billionaire CEOs like the Kochs, the Forbses and that faux-populist named Trump who are attempting to con the "great unwashed" into believing that those darned elites are trying to crush their dreams and their livelihoods. These are the same folks who take advantage of benighted Tea Party members, feed them angry lies through paid mouthpieces like Limbaugh and Hannity and buy the politicians who'll gift them with favorable tax rates. "Cosmopolitans," some of whom travel through the undeveloped world and learn to prize those "exotic" cultures for their differences (as opposed to the similarities Mr. Douthat takes note of) and who, furthermore, learn something about humility from the indigent but spiritually-oriented and eminently hospitable people they encounter in their travels, are not the oppressors of the working-class- with whom we feel a great deal of empathy. When a man like Trump begins to manufacture his wearing apparel in the United States and begins to credit his employees (let alone his late father) with the lion's share of his business success, he can credibly claim to represent the interests of the proles who can't afford to dine at his casinos or swing away at one of his golf courses.
391
""Cosmopolitans," some of whom travel through the undeveloped world and learn to prize those "exotic" cultures for their differences (as opposed to the similarities Mr. Douthat takes note of) and who, furthermore, learn something about humility from the indigent but spiritually-oriented and eminently hospitable people they encounter in their travels, are not the oppressors of the working-class- with whom we feel a great deal of empathy."
"we feel a great deal of empathy"? Really? One request though, no Model Cities - Part II , ok?
"we feel a great deal of empathy"? Really? One request though, no Model Cities - Part II , ok?
@stu
The Kochs have far less influence than your crowd.
The evidence of such created the Kochs.
The Kochs have far less influence than your crowd.
The evidence of such created the Kochs.
1
"Internationalist" does not mean launching or expanding multiple wars. It implies expansion of international harmony and cooperation, not wars. Hitler was not an internationalist because he conquered all those European nations.
"Nationalist" does not mean isolationist. It has often enough meant to launch wars. Fortress America was not the norm for nationalism. The irridentist ambitions of France and Serbia before WW1 and Mussolini's Mare Nostrum and Japan's East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere were more common meanings for nationalism.
Internationalism vs Nationalist does not capture the divide. It cannot be said that either Hillary or The Donald are internationalist in the real sense. Both are nationalists. Hillary is more aggressive than The Donald, much more aggressive.
Likewise, cosmopolitan means enjoying differences, not regime change to force others to adopt American concepts of democracy, including "election" only of people and programs we approve.
Tribalism is judgmental and imposes on other tribes. Hillary seeks to go forth to impose conformity with her wishes. The Donald wants to expell and impose conformity on whoever remains.
Therefore, cosmopolitan vs tribal does not capture the divide.
Both candidates are much smaller than this divide, bickering only over which nationalist ambitions to advance and which factional tribal rights to favor.
"Nationalist" does not mean isolationist. It has often enough meant to launch wars. Fortress America was not the norm for nationalism. The irridentist ambitions of France and Serbia before WW1 and Mussolini's Mare Nostrum and Japan's East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere were more common meanings for nationalism.
Internationalism vs Nationalist does not capture the divide. It cannot be said that either Hillary or The Donald are internationalist in the real sense. Both are nationalists. Hillary is more aggressive than The Donald, much more aggressive.
Likewise, cosmopolitan means enjoying differences, not regime change to force others to adopt American concepts of democracy, including "election" only of people and programs we approve.
Tribalism is judgmental and imposes on other tribes. Hillary seeks to go forth to impose conformity with her wishes. The Donald wants to expell and impose conformity on whoever remains.
Therefore, cosmopolitan vs tribal does not capture the divide.
Both candidates are much smaller than this divide, bickering only over which nationalist ambitions to advance and which factional tribal rights to favor.
27
" "Internationalist" does not mean launching or expanding multiple wars. "
I have relatives in Eastern Europe who've seen a different implementation of Internationalism. Harmony and cooperation? You have to be kidding.
I have relatives in Eastern Europe who've seen a different implementation of Internationalism. Harmony and cooperation? You have to be kidding.
Markets are fused. The free flow of capital and labor to where it can be most productively employed increases wealth; and that has, until recently, continued apace. The United States has birthed this mise-en-scène. What harmony exists today is hardly spontaneous. Its genesis lies largely in the multiplication of representative capitalism. Security and stability are necessary for investment. America has bred far more stability than its opposite. Almost no one wants to run about militarily ousting any and all governments that diverge from our preference.
Framing every intervention debate as a battle between neocons and realists, or between neocons and X, too often skews the essence of the debate. The left doesn't like the expansion of America's system of government because it doesn't like that system. It's a short leap from Sanders to Chomsky. Building a world and making allies is not easy. Today's world came about after the end of WWII and the Cold War. It is prosperous; it's (relatively) peaceful; and we should continue to maintain it, aid its expansion, defend it from its enemies.
Democracy is a quaint American notion? You speak of the world as if we reside in the premodern era. Look at the GDP of the world today. Is this prosperity and the rise of America to global dominance coincidental? Read the letter Sec. Clinton wrote to Viktor Orbán in 2011. That's exactly the kind of meddling you and Mr. Trump don't like. But that's an example of what we stand for. I'm glad for it.
Framing every intervention debate as a battle between neocons and realists, or between neocons and X, too often skews the essence of the debate. The left doesn't like the expansion of America's system of government because it doesn't like that system. It's a short leap from Sanders to Chomsky. Building a world and making allies is not easy. Today's world came about after the end of WWII and the Cold War. It is prosperous; it's (relatively) peaceful; and we should continue to maintain it, aid its expansion, defend it from its enemies.
Democracy is a quaint American notion? You speak of the world as if we reside in the premodern era. Look at the GDP of the world today. Is this prosperity and the rise of America to global dominance coincidental? Read the letter Sec. Clinton wrote to Viktor Orbán in 2011. That's exactly the kind of meddling you and Mr. Trump don't like. But that's an example of what we stand for. I'm glad for it.
Truly bizarre view of Hillary as a complement to Trump. This obsession with Hillary as neo-liberal is affecting rational thought and creating a monster version with a very remote connection to reality. One can reach that conclusion only by dismissing everything she has been saying during the campaign as window dressing, hiding sinister intentions that only people like Mark Thomason are wise enough to see. Why not take her at her word? What evidence is there that she said something before she was in a position to act and then proceeded to do the exact opposite? True, she has more hawkish instincts than Obama, but she is not known for recklessness. Her vote on Iraq was admittedly a mistake, but a mistake that most Senators (Democrats and Republicans) made. The Libya mess is put at her feet, forgetting that Qhaddafy was already in the process of doing to the Libyans what Assad is doing to the Syrians. For all the chaos in Libya, a chaos that is due to the Libyans inability to reach any consensus, the carnage there does not begin to approach the carnage in Syria. There is nothing that tells us Libya would be better off if Qhaddafy was still in power. How about giving Hillary the benefit of the doubt? With Trump there is no doubt, he is supremely unqualified to be President.
Ross Douthat channeling David Brooks. It’s as if Ross walked across a tarmac to have an innocent 30-minute conversation with David … uh, no, that’s been done, hasn’t it?
I don’t think I’ve ever read anything from Ross so dripping in funk. It seems that everywhere he turns, there are no options. Needless to say, he sees few redeeming features to an Administrative State that emphasizes unsustainable progressive economic values that Hillary personifies and that Brits just rejected – soon to be followed by the French and Italians, apparently; and maybe even us, as well. But perhaps for the first time in his young life, he sees no acceptable options when he turns right, either. There lies Trump, and that’s … just too icky to imagine.
What Ross hankers for isn’t an end to tribalism, even the tribalism of the cosmopolitan. He wants a tribe to call his own. Yet what we learn as our big toes turn inward and spots start appearing on our faces that we can’t seem to do anything about, is that for some of us there IS no tribe we can call our own. Some of us reject society as a consequence and bid on the Unabomber’s Montana A-frame, and some of us decide to post prolifically in the NY Times of all places for over nine years, despite the fact that maybe ten people sympathize out of many thousands in this commentariat.
Buck up, guy. Grab what laughs you can from this absurdity we call life. Because when the laughs stop, it’s time to die.
I don’t think I’ve ever read anything from Ross so dripping in funk. It seems that everywhere he turns, there are no options. Needless to say, he sees few redeeming features to an Administrative State that emphasizes unsustainable progressive economic values that Hillary personifies and that Brits just rejected – soon to be followed by the French and Italians, apparently; and maybe even us, as well. But perhaps for the first time in his young life, he sees no acceptable options when he turns right, either. There lies Trump, and that’s … just too icky to imagine.
What Ross hankers for isn’t an end to tribalism, even the tribalism of the cosmopolitan. He wants a tribe to call his own. Yet what we learn as our big toes turn inward and spots start appearing on our faces that we can’t seem to do anything about, is that for some of us there IS no tribe we can call our own. Some of us reject society as a consequence and bid on the Unabomber’s Montana A-frame, and some of us decide to post prolifically in the NY Times of all places for over nine years, despite the fact that maybe ten people sympathize out of many thousands in this commentariat.
Buck up, guy. Grab what laughs you can from this absurdity we call life. Because when the laughs stop, it’s time to die.
66
I still think it's a good pc. Mr. Douthat should be allowed to be dour and cynical if he wishes. This used to be a major personality subtype, embodied by many writers I enjoy (along with Nixon and J Edgar Hoover). Mr. Douthat is criticizing cookie cutter cosmopolitanism that is largely surface and withoutt risk (well, most of the time..) and I think that is a valid criticism. I myself am very critical of people who claim to be freewheeling and adventurous, but who really just rock-hop from one representation of what they think "culture" should look like to another.
1
You are entitled to your own values, not to your own facts. Sympathy breaks down there.
2
"Ten", Richard? Seriously?
1
And Ross, the truly scary thing is that such attitudes are getting knowingly/unknowingly embedded in algorithms that will make million of decisions over decades, pushing forward the homogenization and prejudice, guarding the gates of ' meritocracy '.
40
IIs Douthat in favor of Brexiteersm Trumpists and Le Penists? If yes, he should say so explicilty and explain why we should be ready to embrace them. Or is he saying that those who do not agree with them are just as insular in their attitudes? I though that the very definition of cosmopolitan is tolerance for others but that tolerance does not extend to those that exhibit rabid intolerance.
He takes a truism, that we all tend to mix with people who share our values and culture, and turns it into a sign that we cannot understand other people's values and culture. To condemn racism, denigration of other people and other cultures is not smugness, it is the very essence of tolerance. History's arc may not bend inexorably away from tribe and nation-state but it must bend away from the kind of tribalism and nationalism that feeds violent conflicts and trade wars. That requires accepting that human beings who are not part of our tribe are just as human as we are and that acceptance must be reciprocated. It is naive to expect conflicts to disappear by wishing them away but the very least we should expect from leaders is that they will not create new ones and understand that one of the main roles of a leader is to find ways deflate them. That is the opposite of what the leaders of the Brexiteers, Trumpkins or LePenists have been doing.
He takes a truism, that we all tend to mix with people who share our values and culture, and turns it into a sign that we cannot understand other people's values and culture. To condemn racism, denigration of other people and other cultures is not smugness, it is the very essence of tolerance. History's arc may not bend inexorably away from tribe and nation-state but it must bend away from the kind of tribalism and nationalism that feeds violent conflicts and trade wars. That requires accepting that human beings who are not part of our tribe are just as human as we are and that acceptance must be reciprocated. It is naive to expect conflicts to disappear by wishing them away but the very least we should expect from leaders is that they will not create new ones and understand that one of the main roles of a leader is to find ways deflate them. That is the opposite of what the leaders of the Brexiteers, Trumpkins or LePenists have been doing.
113
"To condemn racism, denigration of other people and other cultures is not smugness, it is the very essence of tolerance. "
It's not the condemnation of racism that is the problem. It's the "you owe me" that follows.
It's not the condemnation of racism that is the problem. It's the "you owe me" that follows.
"To condemn racism, denigration of other people and other cultures is not smugness, it is the very essence of tolerance. "
But when your children attend public schools with few or no African-Americans your condemnation of racism means nothing.
But when your children attend public schools with few or no African-Americans your condemnation of racism means nothing.
1
That's pure nonsense.
"global citizens", cosmopolitanism", "elite tribalism" why are we bombarded with more silly superficial labels ? Today's society is confronted with many complex issues. There is no substitute for deep reflection and an honest attempt to address inequities head on. This column is just filled with an array of contemporary buzz words. It doesn't for once matter that Douthat stands as the NYT's perennial GOP apologist. What matters more is that there is no there, there. Move on please, nothing here to see.
188
Here's something worth contemplating:
"or American liberals who hail the end of whiteness while doing everything possible to keep their kids out of majority-minority schools".
We move to a white suburb, it's racist white flight. A liberal moves the Chappaqua and well, that's just the way it should be and the motives are pure.
"or American liberals who hail the end of whiteness while doing everything possible to keep their kids out of majority-minority schools".
We move to a white suburb, it's racist white flight. A liberal moves the Chappaqua and well, that's just the way it should be and the motives are pure.
4
Here's something worth contemplating: conservatives should get that chip off of their shoulder regarding race.
Everyone wants their kids to go to good schools. The problem is how we allocate our resources. Every school should be a great school and every child should have access to a great education. Liberals get this. Many conservatives would rather spend money on shiny objects that go boom.
Everyone wants their kids to go to good schools. The problem is how we allocate our resources. Every school should be a great school and every child should have access to a great education. Liberals get this. Many conservatives would rather spend money on shiny objects that go boom.
4
Thank you for eloquently describing the hypocrisy of the left. The left should try some diversity and globalism before singing its praises to everyone else.
46
Are you saying that Trump and his GOP base of supporters are in favor of diversity and globalism? LOL
6
I like the part where you've bought into the GOP's ideas and as a result blame someone else for your problems. I have no hope for your type.
2
The racial diversity may be limited (not that Ross really minds. He is certainly part of 'the elite.') but it beats the heck out of the days when one had to be a white male to run in the circles he describes. That, I think, is what he is lamenting in this mishmash.
52
Again, I need to have somebody translate this for me, because not only was it hard to read, but I didn't understand the point.
There were a lot of words--big words, at that--but if the main premise is that people who feel at home in the world no matter where they are, or are simply well traveled are actually cultish, forming a new citizenry of globalists, well, what's wrong with that?
This reminds me of my sociology textbook in my freshman year that made a big deal out of defining "peer groups." I raced upstairs to tell my new dorm friends all about this exciting discovery, only to realize from their looks and my own growing realization that the concept was really pretty simple.
So if I read this right (which I clearly may not be doing), is that Ross feels that the entire theory of what makes up a cosmopolitan crowd is actually pretty mundane and conformist. Just like a peer group: birds of a feather, and all that nonsense. In another sense, members of a tribe, if even a somewhat exalted one.
There were a lot of words--big words, at that--but if the main premise is that people who feel at home in the world no matter where they are, or are simply well traveled are actually cultish, forming a new citizenry of globalists, well, what's wrong with that?
This reminds me of my sociology textbook in my freshman year that made a big deal out of defining "peer groups." I raced upstairs to tell my new dorm friends all about this exciting discovery, only to realize from their looks and my own growing realization that the concept was really pretty simple.
So if I read this right (which I clearly may not be doing), is that Ross feels that the entire theory of what makes up a cosmopolitan crowd is actually pretty mundane and conformist. Just like a peer group: birds of a feather, and all that nonsense. In another sense, members of a tribe, if even a somewhat exalted one.
87
There was no point to understand.
4
The strict delimitation imposed on the breadth of your education by professors and text writers served you quite poorly. The elites who jet about as if they were ''smarter than your average bear'' are as equally closed-minded as the Tea Partiers and Trump fans you have been relentlessly drilled to fear, hate, and look down your nose at.
As an American, I celebrate my freedoms while being aware of all the over-reaching my country might do, here or overseas. But I look foolish sticking my lip out and gloating at the tribesman in Bangladesh just because he walks everywhere.
The foolish gloating aspect is what RD shines his light on today. The rest of us see this in our global elites like shoe polish on the windows of a Mercedes. The giggley part is when they stand around and just insist that we see things their/your way, CM.
As an American, I celebrate my freedoms while being aware of all the over-reaching my country might do, here or overseas. But I look foolish sticking my lip out and gloating at the tribesman in Bangladesh just because he walks everywhere.
The foolish gloating aspect is what RD shines his light on today. The rest of us see this in our global elites like shoe polish on the windows of a Mercedes. The giggley part is when they stand around and just insist that we see things their/your way, CM.
6
He struck a nerve with:
" or American liberals who hail the end of whiteness while doing everything possible to keep their kids out of majority-minority schools"
didn't he.
4.4% African-American population and 82% white. You should feel safe enough.
" or American liberals who hail the end of whiteness while doing everything possible to keep their kids out of majority-minority schools"
didn't he.
4.4% African-American population and 82% white. You should feel safe enough.
3
Father Douhat, as usual, you make a lovely effort to divert attention from reality toward the red herring of multiculturalism and cosmopolitanism.
But the real problem is not nativism vs. globalism, it's economic parasitism of the highest royal order and Robber Baronism Gone Wild on steroidal greed that has produced an ocean of economic desperation that feeds political extremism with poor, uneducated angry masses who can't quite see who's really stepping on their throats for profit.
The 62 richest billionaires own as much wealth as the poorer half of the world’s population (3.6 billion).
Perhaps that might be causing some social problems, some demographic unrest and some economic desperation.
Maybe the fact that the 1% own more wealth than the other 99% combined has created a Grand Old Pyramid scheme that offends every notion of basic humanitarianism.
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/jan/18/richest-62-billionaires...
As a solution to the 0.1% economic parasitism, "Oxfam said a three-pronged approach was needed: a crackdown on tax dodging; higher investment in public services; and higher wages for the low paid."
Oxfam said priority should be given to closing down tax havens (reported to harbor $21 trillion or more in 0.1% greed and graft) used by uber-rich individuals and companies to avoid paying tax and which has deprived governments of the resources needed to tackle poverty and inequality.
0.1% greed destroys everything.
But the real problem is not nativism vs. globalism, it's economic parasitism of the highest royal order and Robber Baronism Gone Wild on steroidal greed that has produced an ocean of economic desperation that feeds political extremism with poor, uneducated angry masses who can't quite see who's really stepping on their throats for profit.
The 62 richest billionaires own as much wealth as the poorer half of the world’s population (3.6 billion).
Perhaps that might be causing some social problems, some demographic unrest and some economic desperation.
Maybe the fact that the 1% own more wealth than the other 99% combined has created a Grand Old Pyramid scheme that offends every notion of basic humanitarianism.
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/jan/18/richest-62-billionaires...
As a solution to the 0.1% economic parasitism, "Oxfam said a three-pronged approach was needed: a crackdown on tax dodging; higher investment in public services; and higher wages for the low paid."
Oxfam said priority should be given to closing down tax havens (reported to harbor $21 trillion or more in 0.1% greed and graft) used by uber-rich individuals and companies to avoid paying tax and which has deprived governments of the resources needed to tackle poverty and inequality.
0.1% greed destroys everything.
764
Nativism, is simply the identity politics.
Identity politics occur during periods of (artificial) austerity.
Its like a game of musical chairs: nobody wants to be the outsider when the music stops. We fall back upon our identities, tribalism in most cases, to ensure that we won't be the person who is squeezed out into the loser class.
This was especially the case of Germany in the 1930s. The reason the Germans were hated during WWII was because occupied Europe had to ship its food surplus to Germany - the policy was no German would starve until the rest of Europe had first. When the zone of occupation shrank after August of 1944, the poor Dutch, the entirety of Holland, almost all starved.
But in the current era (and during the Great Depression) the austerity was artificial. Wealth concentration peaked in 1929 and that undermined demand. (Free) Market based economies are based upon demand. It's insane to promote supply over demand, but once again we are doing it. And once again we see the emergence of identity politics.
This pattern has repeated itself enough throughout history to seem to be obvious to even those remedial in their knowledge of civics.
I would say that Douthat is not quite remedial in civics. However, he's far enough up the establishment silo so as to concentrate his efforts on trying to distract people from the truth, the simple truth of the cause of the malaise of our times.
All of it totally unnecessary.
All of it cruel and short sighted.
Identity politics occur during periods of (artificial) austerity.
Its like a game of musical chairs: nobody wants to be the outsider when the music stops. We fall back upon our identities, tribalism in most cases, to ensure that we won't be the person who is squeezed out into the loser class.
This was especially the case of Germany in the 1930s. The reason the Germans were hated during WWII was because occupied Europe had to ship its food surplus to Germany - the policy was no German would starve until the rest of Europe had first. When the zone of occupation shrank after August of 1944, the poor Dutch, the entirety of Holland, almost all starved.
But in the current era (and during the Great Depression) the austerity was artificial. Wealth concentration peaked in 1929 and that undermined demand. (Free) Market based economies are based upon demand. It's insane to promote supply over demand, but once again we are doing it. And once again we see the emergence of identity politics.
This pattern has repeated itself enough throughout history to seem to be obvious to even those remedial in their knowledge of civics.
I would say that Douthat is not quite remedial in civics. However, he's far enough up the establishment silo so as to concentrate his efforts on trying to distract people from the truth, the simple truth of the cause of the malaise of our times.
All of it totally unnecessary.
All of it cruel and short sighted.
24
You cheat the poor worker when you act to destroy capitalism out of boiling hatred. NO other system BUT capitalism allows the worker to provide things for his family.
The Soviets, Venezuela, Red China and North Korea all did it your way. Please share with us how that ever eorked for anyone but the very top dog. Of course, you may fancy that YOU would be picked to be that very top dog.
The Soviets, Venezuela, Red China and North Korea all did it your way. Please share with us how that ever eorked for anyone but the very top dog. Of course, you may fancy that YOU would be picked to be that very top dog.
3
Oxfam?
I lived in a working class neighborhood in Detroit.
"In all Oxfam's actions, the ultimate goal is to enable people to exercise their rights and manage their own lives. "
The great man LBJ was bound and determined to force everyone to live as he saw fit. It wasn't until 1980 that Washington's interventionism was beginning to be shutdown. Now you expect globalism to enable anything close to managing one's own life?
I lived in a working class neighborhood in Detroit.
"In all Oxfam's actions, the ultimate goal is to enable people to exercise their rights and manage their own lives. "
The great man LBJ was bound and determined to force everyone to live as he saw fit. It wasn't until 1980 that Washington's interventionism was beginning to be shutdown. Now you expect globalism to enable anything close to managing one's own life?
Religious apologetics is bad enough, but it’s nothing compared to conservative apologetics. In his latest screed, Mr. Douthat finds a new way to diss the liberal cosmopolitan elite by saying they’re not genuinely cosmopolitan. Scratch the surface, he says, and you’ll find some toffee-nosed pretender who pays lip service to cultural diversity, or who welcomes the wretched refuse of some teeming shore only from the safety of a gated community.
Even Mr. Obama has been roundly criticized by the nattering nabobs of conservative purity as being elitist. That’s just a way of saying that he’s educated, smart, measured and poised. In short, he’s the antithesis of the conservative ideologue who tends to be a science-denying fundamentalist scold who defends his homophobia and misogyny on religious grounds. It’s a way of making hate holy.
There’s no denying that people are tribal, and that we’re more comfortable in the communities and cultures of our upbringing. But the so-called liberal elites at least make the effort to ignore race, color and creed, while conservatives are forever finding ways to justify their prejudices. They make their religion the national religion, propose laws to refuse service to gays, and try to prevent women from seeking lawful abortions. Watching the Republican Convention requires sunglasses to shield oneself from the Caucasian glare.
So Republicans now march under the banner of Donald Trump, I'll bet most of them would kill for a little elitism.
Even Mr. Obama has been roundly criticized by the nattering nabobs of conservative purity as being elitist. That’s just a way of saying that he’s educated, smart, measured and poised. In short, he’s the antithesis of the conservative ideologue who tends to be a science-denying fundamentalist scold who defends his homophobia and misogyny on religious grounds. It’s a way of making hate holy.
There’s no denying that people are tribal, and that we’re more comfortable in the communities and cultures of our upbringing. But the so-called liberal elites at least make the effort to ignore race, color and creed, while conservatives are forever finding ways to justify their prejudices. They make their religion the national religion, propose laws to refuse service to gays, and try to prevent women from seeking lawful abortions. Watching the Republican Convention requires sunglasses to shield oneself from the Caucasian glare.
So Republicans now march under the banner of Donald Trump, I'll bet most of them would kill for a little elitism.
640
Well said!
2
@gemli: Ross Douthat is envious of cosmopolitan liberals. This comment illustrates why. And it's not just because gemli is a better writer than Douthat can ever hope to be.
10
Yep, Ross is pretty much offended by what I hold near and dear.
2
Cartels have always been diverse in that each continent, once the West colonized them all, had a few. In the last few decades, we've seen the rise of drug and business cartels and, more recently, political cartels. We have Wall Street, the Koch Alliance, Trump and his band of billionaires, and a few loose billionaires with diverse interests. Russia has its cartels, with business interests and influence that span the globe.
So, the faces and some of the names may have have changed, but the cartels still exist and, in a way, they are cosmopolitan. The struggle, today, is perhaps the most intense it's ever been.
Will it be Trump and his band of raiders who want to "grab, grab, grab" or the queen who will tell Wall Street to "quit it?" Who will the angry masses place their trust in? http://wp.me/p2KJ3H-2hl
It's really not the castes' explanations that matter here, but those who enable them over and over again, with the expectation of a different end-result.
---
The Election From Hell: http://wp.me/p2KJ3H-2kr
So, the faces and some of the names may have have changed, but the cartels still exist and, in a way, they are cosmopolitan. The struggle, today, is perhaps the most intense it's ever been.
Will it be Trump and his band of raiders who want to "grab, grab, grab" or the queen who will tell Wall Street to "quit it?" Who will the angry masses place their trust in? http://wp.me/p2KJ3H-2hl
It's really not the castes' explanations that matter here, but those who enable them over and over again, with the expectation of a different end-result.
---
The Election From Hell: http://wp.me/p2KJ3H-2kr
37
"It's really not the castes' explanations that matter here, but those who enable them over and over again, with the expectation of a different end-result."
That's because the castes' don't realize they are in a caste system. Bring up the word cartel and they think you're crazy. In any event, I appreciate David Harvey's constructive criticism - that have fluctuated somewhat - that share common concerns beyond party lines.
https://whomakescentspodcast.com/2016/07/01/episode-23-david-harvey-on-a...?
That's because the castes' don't realize they are in a caste system. Bring up the word cartel and they think you're crazy. In any event, I appreciate David Harvey's constructive criticism - that have fluctuated somewhat - that share common concerns beyond party lines.
https://whomakescentspodcast.com/2016/07/01/episode-23-david-harvey-on-a...?
2
Isn't it way past time to put-aside nationalism?
Yesterday was the 100th anniversary of The Battle of the Somme.
Tens-of-thousand of young men from the U.K died in the first day of the battle, many from the elite.
The idea of the nation-state should be thrown into the garbage pail of history, for it has brought the world nothing but death, destruction and misery.
As an aside, today is the 153rd anniversary of the second day of the Battle of Gettysburg. At this very moment, my avatar, a college professor from Maine, a member of the "elite", led his regiment to an historic victory, and a Congressional Medal of Honor.
The Civil War was fought to preserve our young nation, and our experiment in republican democracy. Others sought to create their own nation, where human beings could own other human beings.
The human race can and must do better if we are to survive; however, as William Faulkner once said: "The past is never dead. It's not even past".
Yesterday was the 100th anniversary of The Battle of the Somme.
Tens-of-thousand of young men from the U.K died in the first day of the battle, many from the elite.
The idea of the nation-state should be thrown into the garbage pail of history, for it has brought the world nothing but death, destruction and misery.
As an aside, today is the 153rd anniversary of the second day of the Battle of Gettysburg. At this very moment, my avatar, a college professor from Maine, a member of the "elite", led his regiment to an historic victory, and a Congressional Medal of Honor.
The Civil War was fought to preserve our young nation, and our experiment in republican democracy. Others sought to create their own nation, where human beings could own other human beings.
The human race can and must do better if we are to survive; however, as William Faulkner once said: "The past is never dead. It's not even past".
216
I think every citizen in a republic ought to feel as though the government was their own. The U.S. used to pull it off through the separation of powers at various levels of government, but now it tends to operate more like a nation-state, the distinguishing mark of which being the exclusion of power everywhere but at the center.
This is what the 'nationalist' movements everywhere are about. People want to feel powerful again.
It's amusing that you quote Faulkner, who once declared that he would side with Mississippi in a conflict with Washington.
This is what the 'nationalist' movements everywhere are about. People want to feel powerful again.
It's amusing that you quote Faulkner, who once declared that he would side with Mississippi in a conflict with Washington.
2
You wrote: "The idea of the nation-state should be thrown into the garbage pail of history, for it has brought the world nothing but death, destruction and misery."
Several problems with this thinking:
1) Nation-states (those that are self-governed within a well-functioning democratic system) are the only way to prevent the excesses of capitalism - which also makes well-run and well-working welfare states possible;
2) Nation-states ensure that various unique human cultures can survive. To many people their identity and preserving their national/ethnic culture in perpetuity is more important than preserving individual lives.
3) People who view wars only as evil forget that wars, like death, are a natural part of life. Since humans are unable to prevent overpopulation (just look up the Population Clock), the resulting pressures on resources and environment will lead to wars whether we have nation-states or not.
Wars, tragic and painful as they are, are like a forest fire that allows for rejuvenation - it puts an end to darkness and strangulation by overgrowth. Pacifism is a nice idea that does not pass the test of reality.
It's easy to be anti-war, but it is a very self-centered way of viewing life on this planet. For the environment and many critically endangered species, it would be better if there were fewer humans. If the existence of nation-states can preserve the diversity of human cultures, and at the same time reduce overpopulation, I am all for it.
Several problems with this thinking:
1) Nation-states (those that are self-governed within a well-functioning democratic system) are the only way to prevent the excesses of capitalism - which also makes well-run and well-working welfare states possible;
2) Nation-states ensure that various unique human cultures can survive. To many people their identity and preserving their national/ethnic culture in perpetuity is more important than preserving individual lives.
3) People who view wars only as evil forget that wars, like death, are a natural part of life. Since humans are unable to prevent overpopulation (just look up the Population Clock), the resulting pressures on resources and environment will lead to wars whether we have nation-states or not.
Wars, tragic and painful as they are, are like a forest fire that allows for rejuvenation - it puts an end to darkness and strangulation by overgrowth. Pacifism is a nice idea that does not pass the test of reality.
It's easy to be anti-war, but it is a very self-centered way of viewing life on this planet. For the environment and many critically endangered species, it would be better if there were fewer humans. If the existence of nation-states can preserve the diversity of human cultures, and at the same time reduce overpopulation, I am all for it.
4
Eva: Please tell us your military record. It's been over 235 years since Boston was involved in a war on its soil. I don't think you would be so sanguine about war if a) you were fighting in one, or b) you were a civilian victim in one.
3
Wow! This is a fabulous description of how the wealthiest see the world, "A powerful caste’s self-serving explanation for why it alone deserves to rule the world." Fortunately for humanity 99% of us do not agree and will put them back in their rightful place in the next few years. The days of kings and peons and dictators and peons is over. Time for a new, more equitable world order.
261
Donald Trump: rich angry white guy, born and raised in NYC, but claims to speak for the down-trodden little people all over the US. How does that work?
9
Given your strong support for Clinton, I don't think you understood the article.
5
Will there be a new more equitable world order if Americans continue to nominate and elect people from the 1% to be their presidents, senators and Congresspeople? Where I live, it's the norm that my member of Congress is a business person who spends their time focused on real estate development by the richest people in my district. The member before him did the same thing, going back into the late 70s. It's been over 35 years since I've had a member of Congress who had any concerns at all for the vast majority of his constituents - this is true of my Democratic Congressman and the Republican he replaced. Forget both my senators, uber-wealthy businessmen.
Money determines almost everything in our politics.
Money determines almost everything in our politics.
4
George W. was the ordinary guy even though he is third generation multi-millionaire and undergraduate at Yale and MBA from Harvard.
I grew up working class, started working in high school and worked my way through college and graduate school in high-tech.
I lived abroad, read literature, economics, history, learned a second language, etc.
At first I was shocked to learn I was the elite but after talking to conservatives who see George W. as a regular guy, it kind of makes sense.