Thread by @4GWDOTDOTDOT

Opinion | The U.S. is facing many old European anxieties washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-u… Needless to say George Will & all the scholars he quotes get it wrong. Marty Lipset postulated that a stable government/society depended upon a government's effectiveness and legitimacy. Effective-

2/ is delivering the goods. And on this issue, America's elites have failed miserably. Economically, the only people who have significantly benefited are the rich, the top 1% or even the top 0.1%. Economic inequality has grown since the 1980s, even as productivity increased. Life

3/ has gotten harder and the prospects for social mobility have dimmed. Economic inequality has led to increased political inequality, as the rich dominate government policies and narratives. And on foreign policy, since 2001, it has been one strategic failure after another. We

4/ now celebrate generals for winning battles. Not one general has won a war. We blew up Libya. That what was a great job by Obama. They really thought that one through. That helped create the surge of refugees to Europe which empowered the far right's European parties. Populism

5/ is a reaction to elite failures--failures that anybody can see. The idea that elites should pooh-pooh populism as the stock market booms and Texans wait in lines 5 hours for food at food banks tells you all you need to know.