Genuine challenge for elite pols: Keep us from ‘coming apart’
It appears that, come November, Americans will elect as president either a wealthy member of a narrow elite or … another wealthy member of that narrow elite.
Of course, I mean the prospect of Barack “Anybody gone into Whole Foods lately and seen what they charge for arugula?” Obama facing Mitt “[My wife] drives a couple of Cadillacs, actually” Romney, in a contest to seem more in tune with Americans who gravitate toward iceberg lettuce and Fords.
This would be true even if Charles Murray hadn’t just published “Coming Apart: The State of White America, 1960-2010.” And while Murray does not discuss presidential politics in his treatise on the growing gap between the New Upper Class and the New Lower Class, his book’s arrival is timely — and ought to inform the 2012 debate.
“Coming Apart” has been one of the most talked-about books in the commentariat in the past couple of months. But in case you have not come across any reviews of it yet: Murray focuses on “white America” to control for divisions rooted in America’s cruel history of race. “Don’t kid yourself,” he warns, “that we are looking at stresses that can be remedied by attacking the legacy of racism or by restricting immigration.”
That admonition alone would improve our political dialogue. But the trends Murray describes go much further.
He argues that, while our nation has always had disparities of wealth, for almost 200 years Americans shared common cultural experiences. In part, this was because the rich, the middle and the poor interacted. They were not isolated by religious practices or educational attainment; they consumed similar culture in terms of music, television and cinema; they had similar tastes in food and bought different models from the same auto makers.
Over the past 50 years, he says, this has changed. A critical mass formed of highly educated, well-to-do people with jobs of great cultural and/or political influence. There were enough of them, and they were sufficiently mobile and connected, for businesses to cater to their tastes. Think craft beer, espresso, sushi (and arugula).
By and large this New Upper Class is, Murray notes, politically liberal. Yet, in their private lives they behave more traditionally. For example, they marry before having children, and most of them stay married, even as out-of-wedlock births and divorce have risen among all white Americans. Perhaps surprisingly, they are more likely than members of the New Lower Class to attend religious worship services regularly.
Religion and marriage aren’t the only social institutions weakening among the New Lower Class. Its members are less likely to participate in sports clubs, the Elks Lodge, scout troops, elections.
Murray devotes little of “Coming Apart” to identifying the causes of this stratification. But he suggests one reason is the crowding out of social roles by government programs. Another is the New Upper Class does not preach what it practices. Lest they seem judgmental, our elites stay mum about behaviors they deem essential in their own lives. Murray calls them the “founding virtues”: marriage, industriousness, honesty, religiosity.
The reference to the founders is instructive. The people who practice these virtues — increasingly, the elites but not the lower class — are more likely to say they are happy. That is, they are succeeding in “the pursuit of happiness.”
A presidential election that explores this malign neglect of virtue would be worthwhile. Certainly moreso than a contest to see whose theme songs make them most “authentic.”
– By Kyle Wingfield
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292 comments Add your comment
redweather
March 10th, 2012
12:48 pm
If anyone wants to know what went wrong with the Republicans, today’s blog would be a great place to start reading. The good news is that you don’t have to remain in denial. The bad news is that this is no doubt what Republicans will do right up until the election, guaranteeing Obama, or Obozo, or whatever you choose to call him, another four years.
getalife
March 10th, 2012
1:01 pm
“guaranteeing Obama, or Obozo, or whatever you choose to call him, another four years.”
Yes and his name is President Obama.
It is time to show him some respect cons.
Lil' Barry Bailout (Revised Downward)
March 10th, 2012
1:18 pm
Liberals are the disease weakening us from within. Traditional American values are the cure. Treatment begins the first Tuesday in November.
@@
March 10th, 2012
1:27 pm
As actors go, I’ve always liked this guy.
Michael Madsen, Kill Bill Star, Arrested for Child Cruelty
He was arrested Friday afternoon at his Malibu home by deputies responding to a family disturbance call. Detectives from the Special Victims Bureau were following up on allegations the actor was intoxicated and fighting with his son, who didn’t require medical attention, according to the Sheriff’s Department.
Madsen’s attorney Perry Wander tells TMZ, which first reported the arrest, that Madsen “found his son smoking pot and they got in an argument when he tried to take it away.
So Dad’s drunk and the kid’s smoking pot in pursuit of what…happiness?
hmmmmm
redweather
March 10th, 2012
2:29 pm
@getalife, I normally refer to him as President Obama, but I’m in enemy territory here so I thought I’d better humor the real bozos.
rightwing troll
March 10th, 2012
2:46 pm
“Traditional American values are the cure.”
Yeah, like multiple divorces and cheating on one’s spouse, and doctor shopping for oxycontin…
Lil' Barry Bailout (Revised Downward)
March 10th, 2012
2:55 pm
That’s part of the problem with libtards…they think divorce, drug use, illegitimacy, and other weaknesses are “American values”.
Dusty
March 10th, 2012
3:31 pm
Doncha just love this country? Here we are cussin’ & discussin’ about our country like a couple of tomcats in the moonlight. Just think!. The worst “punishment” we get is somebody fussing at us. Nobody being dragged to prison. Nobody being shot on sight. No mass graves. We’ve got it made!
You know why? We CARE about our country and fight each other over it (if nobody else is available). Our “military” fight in the Middle East and we fight toothlessly at home. What a country!
But let’s not get too rude, crude & unattractive as the ol’ saying goes. There are some good ideas here, starting with Kyle. I really don’t know anybody “coming apart”. In fact, I just read about a lot of people helping others recover from storm damage.
Forget ‘coming apart”. We, as always, are just “getting it together”.
Say your prayers. Set your clock back an hour . Get up and go somewhere and be thankful. You really shoud be. You’re an American!
(I feel good today. It’s almost spring!)
rightwing troll
March 10th, 2012
3:36 pm
“That’s part of the problem with libtards…they think divorce, drug use, illegitimacy, and other weaknesses are “American values”.”
As witnessed by our spokesperson and one of the top 3 candidates in our primaries… Oh wait… that’s the nut sax primary… not the Libs… nevermind…
getalife
March 10th, 2012
3:36 pm
sanitarium wins Kansas.
The newt is ruining it for you cons.
I Report (-: You Whine )-: mmm, mmmm, mmmmm! Just sayin...
March 10th, 2012
3:37 pm
What’s the Matter with Kansas? How Conservatives Won the Heart of America (2004) is a book by American journalist and historian Thomas Frank, which explores the rise of populist anti-elitist Conservatism in the United States, centering on the experience of Kansas, Frank’s native state. In the late 19th century, Kansas was known as a hotbed of the left-wing Populist movement, but in recent decades, it has become overwhelmingly conservative.
Ain’t nothing wrong with Kansas.
Kansas 40 delegates (69%)
Candidates Votes Percent
Santorum 8,605 53.2
Romney 2,744 17.0
Squishies don’t win in the heart of America.
tiberius your lightning rod of hate!
March 10th, 2012
3:51 pm
Thanks for living down to my expectations everybody (both on the left and the right).
You people would be lost in a single deep thought.
Dusty
March 10th, 2012
4:07 pm
OH hush, getalife,
Newt is resolute, very astute and does not hang out at Martha’s Vineyard. That alone makes him look GOOD!
We Do Not Know What We Want And Yet We Are Responsible For Who We Are
March 10th, 2012
4:17 pm
@Lil’ Barry Bailout (Revised Downward)
March 10th, 2012
5:58 am
Michelle Obama Wears $540 Sneakers To Food Bank
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/04/29/michelle-obama-wears-silv_n_193138.html
****************************************************************
YOUR POINT IS?
Would it make YOU HAPPY if she went BAREFOOT?
For all you know that might be the only pair of sneakers she will buy this year.
SHE IS THE FIRST LADY.
NOT A BAG LADY.
Dusty
March 10th, 2012
4:18 pm
Oh come on, Tiberius,
Do you really read blogs for deep thought? Prize fights for “culture”? Soapbox derby for thrills! Disney land for mind enrichment?
There’s entertainment here for the bored. Haven’t you noticed?
We Do Not Know What We Want And Yet We Are Responsible For Who We Are
March 10th, 2012
4:19 pm
@MiltonMan
March 10th, 2012
6:49 am
Shhh Kyle! The clueless democrats that constantly hark that the repbs are the “evil rich” might be interested in reading the book. I find it hilarious that the dems are so clueless (and so broke here in Georgia) that they turn on their own (Evil rich, Roman Catholics) like wild animals eating their young.
Libs go to church more frequently than the rest of us? Are they sleeping through service/mass???
**********************************************************************************
OBVIOUSLY, you have SLEPT THROUGH a few services/mass.
YOU SOUND LIKE A HEATHEN.
We Do Not Know What We Want And Yet We Are Responsible For Who We Are
March 10th, 2012
4:24 pm
@Lil’ Barry Bailout (Revised Downward)
March 10th, 2012
9:03 am
Obamas Take Separate Planes So First Lady Can Get A Few More Hours of Vacation in Martha’s Vineyard
Michelle Obama and her daughters arrived around 2 pm Thursday on a U.S. government jet while President Obama is scheduled to leave a few hours later on Air Force One.
——————–
Don’t all families take multiple private jets to vacay on Martha’s Vineyard
*******************************************************************************************
ARE YOU ENVIOUS?
Don Abernethy
March 10th, 2012
4:29 pm
No one running for President ,Republican or Democrat, can identify with the average American. They are all filthy rich. They are not effected personally by the bad economy or high gas prices. In order to run for office you have to be a millionaire.This is equally true to those in congress. And the truth is they don’t care about the average American. All they care about is themselves ,how much money they can make, and how to stay in office.
MarkV
March 10th, 2012
4:42 pm
Don Abernethy @4:29 pm
Your generalization has as much value as all sweeping generalizations have – zero. Do you personally know not only every candidate, but even every Representative and Senator?
carlosgvv
March 10th, 2012
4:43 pm
With Hispanics still coming to America in droves and black women grinding out a seemingly endless number of illegtimate children, “becoming a minority” might be a better way to describe white America.
Moon Mullins
March 10th, 2012
4:53 pm
Regardless of the article, the interpretation is the same. Tax policy alone has made it possible for the wealthy to multiply their wealth during a decade where middle and lower class income decreased — but that point doesn’t factor into the preconceived notions that are reiterated in the majority of these posts.
“There is nothing worse than aggressive stupidity.” ~ von Goethe
marko
March 10th, 2012
5:11 pm
I had to read that twice to make sure Kyle had actually written it. It’s true liberals are affluent well educated, and pretty boring when you look into how they really live. I guess they’re just not tough enough to get married as often as Newt and Rush. I know facts don’t count for much, but only one American president has ever been divorced. That would be Saint Reagan.
Lil' Barry Bailout (Revised Downward)
March 10th, 2012
5:12 pm
Tax policy doesn’t “multiply wealth”. Wise investing and working for a living do. Tax policy merely determines how much of one’s earnings will be wasted by government.
Carl H.
March 10th, 2012
6:36 pm
…he suggests one reason is the crowding out of social roles by government programs.
This turns critical race theory on its head. No longer can it be about racial divides. OUR leaders would do better to see us as one race — the human race.
Power belongs to the people, not government.
I Report (-: You Whine )-: mmm, mmmm, mmmmm! Just sayin...
March 10th, 2012
6:53 pm
Government Power is barakkk obozo’s middle name.
@@
March 10th, 2012
6:56 pm
jay’s on vacation? Okey dokey.
RC, I don’t know many cool cats or kitties that didn’t like getting funked up.
Some folks are stuck in a time warp.
“kitties”???? I’d rather be called a slut.
schnirt
@@
March 10th, 2012
7:05 pm
Oops! Wrong blog.
killerj
March 10th, 2012
7:10 pm
Rich Or Poor I Judge A Person By Their Character,No Matter What You Eat It Comes Out All The Same Right?
@@
March 10th, 2012
7:30 pm
What’s a supermarket, looking to keep the price of ground beef competitive, to do? Use the cheapest possible kind of ground beef: the much-reviled “pink slime.”
According to a recent “ABC World News” report from Jim Avila, 70% of ground beef sold in supermarkets contains the ammonia-treated sludge, which is the the product of a method for salvaging meat scraps from otherwise unusable parts of a carcass.
ew
Note to self…start using the meat grinder on my KitchenAid.
@@
March 10th, 2012
7:32 pm
I’m curious…exactly what parts do they consider unusable? My imagination runs wild.
Tiberius - Your lightning rod of hate!
March 10th, 2012
7:35 pm
Dusty, I was just hoping, based on one of the more interesting topics Kyle has written about, that there might have been a smidgen of change from the usual 5th grade attacks and bumper-sticker comments.
It’s not often one of Kyle’s posts is as thought-provoking as this particular one was to me.
Hillbilly D
March 10th, 2012
7:36 pm
what parts do they consider unusable?
When it comes to hogs, I know people that used everything but the squeal. Pretty much the same on cows; you can’t eat the horns (if it isn’t polled) but that’s about it..
ragnar danneskjold
March 10th, 2012
7:46 pm
If you are really bored, here is an article that is funnier for its mere existence than for its content.
english.pravda.ru/opinion/columnists/07-03-2012/120708-arizona_sheriff_obama-0/
Pravda – former house organ of the Russia Commies – has a quasi-legal argument that President Obama is ineligible to serve as President of the US because of his heritage. I do not know why they would publish something like that, suppose they had to fill space. No, I am not a birther, just the idea of Pravda publishing that argument amuses me. They take it seriously. (The quality of the argument would not survive a motion for summary judgment, so don’t get too excited if you are a birther.)
Dusty
March 10th, 2012
7:57 pm
tiberius,
Maybe you are having a bad day in general. Sorry about that. Lotsa people were probably out in the nice sunshine today.
Don’t let comments here get you down. That is what some of them want so I try to ignore most of those. Sometimes it aint easy!!
Dusty
March 10th, 2012
8:07 pm
ragnar
Pravda is writing about President Obama’s birth place? Must not be much going on in Russia. I wonder where Putin was born? I bet nobody is asking him. Not if they value their life.
———————–
HillBilly D
Between you and @@ I won’t be hungry for beef anytime soon. Pink slime? Burp!!
I admit I have eaten souse (and pickled pig feet) which looked to me like they had thrown EVERYTHING in it but the horns. Or whiskers or whatever. But I was innocent when I ate it and did not know any better…
@@
March 10th, 2012
8:11 pm
I do not know why they would publish something like that, suppose they had to fill space.
Putin’s peregruzka?
schnirt
Hillbilly:
Gee thanks. So where would I find the sludge on a bovine?
(ISH)
Hillbilly D
March 10th, 2012
8:19 pm
So where would I find the sludge on a bovine?
I’ve never really heard of sludge on a beef but if I were looking, I’d start on the ground towards the tail section. (IW&SH)
@@
March 10th, 2012
8:42 pm
Tiberius:
Thanks for living down to my expectations everybody (both on the left and the right).
You people would be lost in a single deep thought.
Feel free to begin the discussion of your terms. I saw your initial response and wholeheartedly agree. What do we do about the dem’s love affair with identity politics? It really is the only way they can hold onto power. It’s their divide and conquer ALL strategy.
Try to convince your average democrat that government cannot secure THEIR future well-being, cannot be the pursuer of THEIR dreams, cannot PROVIDE what they need. Try to convince them that government places their own needs above those of the people.
It’s taken democrats decades to cultivate their crop. They’re looking forward to the harvest.
@@
March 10th, 2012
8:52 pm
Oops again.
Try to convince them that government DOESN’T place their own needs above those of the people.
Dusty
March 10th, 2012
8:56 pm
Well, I just reread Kyle’s piece and I might disagree somewhat on some things. For instance, when a political scientist like Charles Murray starts writing about “the state of White America”, he loses me right there. There is no “White America”. He’s just throwing out a bone to get some snarling. We are a “melting pot” and color is neutral.
From Google I read a comment from the NY Times which says the book “depicts members of white elites as hypocrits living in a bubble”. Oh, bubble bubble toil & trouble, Rich people used to live in castles. They don’t live in a bubble now. Rich just means you made or received more money and whatever comes with it is theirs. Not ours but theirs. They can live in a tipi is they so desire. I don’t care.
That has been true forever in case this political scientists doesn’t know it but he does. He also knows to publish a race & rich book when political fires are at full heat.
The rich are not our problem The fact that our country is short on riches, better know as money, is the problem. And we don’t send people to Washington to manage the US money when they have never managed much of their own. We TRY to send the brightest and the experienced to Washington and that is usually someone who could manage their finances.
Kyle has to read such books to keep “current”. I don’t have to be bothered. I’ll just bungle along without a political scientist to tell me what shade of Americans is doing what.
Linda
March 10th, 2012
9:06 pm
I knew when I read Kyle’s article Fri. night that liberals would have NO IDEA what it was about. I will comment on it tomorrow, but in the meantime, here’s a list of 160 definitions of liberals for those of you who are interested.
http://www.broowaha.com/articles/7348/how-liberal-are-you-just-a-progressive-or-even-a-communist
As a social conservative, I’m not inclined to speak badly about anyone, but liberals are worse than terrorists.
Linda
March 10th, 2012
9:17 pm
Ron White says we can’t fix stupid. Liberals, I agree.
Dusty
March 10th, 2012
9:29 pm
Ron White is a comedian, isn’t he?
@@
March 10th, 2012
9:29 pm
Hillbilly:
Thanks for the visual. I just removed a pork shoulder that’s been marinating for 20 hours and braising in the oven for 3 hours. The recipe called for a butt….I just couldn’t bring myself to braise a butt. The recipe is for Conchinita Pibil…a South American butt? There’s also a Boston butt, BUT I’ll not be speaking ill of the late Teddy Kennedy.
Hillbilly D
March 10th, 2012
9:42 pm
@@
If it’s pork, just fry it, you can’t go wrong no matter what part of the hog it is.
http://www.askthemeatman.com/hog_cuts_interactive_chart.htm
@@
March 10th, 2012
9:50 pm
O-:MG, Hillbilly!
I checked out that picture of a hog…pig…whatever. His butt is on his shoulders!!??!! So I did braise his butt (shoulder) today.
Turns out I’ve been eating the butt (rear end) whenever I eat ham.
Geez! The things I don’t know…
Hillbilly D
March 10th, 2012
9:54 pm
@@
If it’s big enough to kill it’s a hog. It’s safer to be a pig. (IW&SH)
Lil' Barry Bailout (Revised Downward)
March 10th, 2012
9:56 pm
No one should be getting their panties in a wad about Murray’s book focusing on whites. Hid didn’t focus on whites because they’re “coming apart” any more or less than any other racial group. He focused on whites to avoid any of the effects he was studying being due to racial differences.
If you don’t believe me, just look up the unemployment rates for blacks and whites.
Lil' Barry Bailout (Revised Downward)
March 10th, 2012
9:59 pm
Obozo: “I’m going to keep doing everything I can to help you save money on gas, both right now and in the future.”
—————————-
Well that’s just a flat out lie.
Obozo: Liar.
Michael H. Smith
March 10th, 2012
10:40 pm
The poor master of hate missed a very deep thought yours truly expressed previously in response to another comment made in regards to the politically liberal new upper class elite’s virtues of religiosity while ranting in the abyss. If only his malign of other’s intelligence could ever rise to equal his ego, perhaps then he wouldn’t feel their tin-ear had slighted his own eyes so dreadfully.
Churches in the traditional past were the community gathering places for white and black America, rich, middle and poor alike. Much of this “Coming Apart” as it is called can be traced to a departure from this tradition of community Church(the foundational bedrock) which maintained virtues: “marriage, industriousness, honesty and many others”.
Unfortunately, as Theologians would readily identify, this is the Church Age of Laodicea. Which is noted for being lukewarm, as it was cited for being neither hot or cold. Hence the earlier attributing of today’s churches to status of Country Clubs and Social Networks, no longer places where rich and poor worship one God, in one place, on the same level plain in a central commonality that reinforces transcending shared values and virtues.
Ron Paul made mention of a time in this country, while in one of the debates, when there was no Medicaid, Medicare including very little widespread company sponsored healthcare but nobody went without needed treatment.
Hard to believe?
Then again, how many today realize the close connection Catholics, Protestants and Baptists (the three major denominations in this country) have with schools, hospitals and clinics in this country?
Try telling people of this entitlement America now dependent on government, in many case for their daily bread that once upon a time, not much more than a half century ago, your local community church was the “Safety Net” in this country, which kept people from falling through the cracks so to speak. Yes, it was the churches who took care of the sick, the homeless, the widows and orphans. The community church was there when a new life entered this world and it was there when a life departed – A different kind of universal womb to tomb coverage than most would understand and even fewer appreciate.
People are readily quick to protest and rightly so to condemn any religious intrusions of churches into the role of our government. However, not so much as a mummer seems to have been heard while government invaded hallowed grounds beyond its’ Constitutional boundaries, into the role of Church.