Thomas Sowell's "The Vision of the Anointed" was one of the most prescient books of our time.
(2) Basically, the idea of the book is that the combination of population clustering - IIRC, the OG was an early reader of the Putnam essays that became "The Big Sort" - and targeted radical takeover of specific fields is creating a dangerously out-of-touch and often wrong elite.
(3) A NATIONAL cadre that shares certain characteristics - sheltered, urban, coastal/Great Lakes, low-upper class, liberal or Con-Inc, Ivy (maaaaybe Big 10) - sees itself as having unique and novel knowledge that qualifies members to lead and radically change the country.
But..
But..
(4) There are problems in practice. The Anointed elite spurns powerful localized elites -the SEC elite in the South, the religious elite on the right- to a remarkable degree, and is simply ignored in much of the country.
Florida under COVID provides a solid example of this.
Florida under COVID provides a solid example of this.
(5) A bigger issue, given that this group does control many fields and cities, is that so many Anointed ideas are WRONG. Trendy new theories from ranked universities ("po-mo," "restorative justice") may be high-IQ and pleasant sounding...but ARE new and often fail in practice.
(6) The book is full of examples of this failure, explained using a quantifiable 4-step model that proceeds from "crisis made up" to "defeat of new praxis blamed on scape-goat."
Criminal justice reform, later-wave feminism, welfare policy, migration policy...on and on it went.
Criminal justice reform, later-wave feminism, welfare policy, migration policy...on and on it went.
(7) A theme underlying these last points is Sowell's idea that NO small cadre ever has more knowledge than ALL the other smart people in society combined...farmers and dentists and master butchers and Colonels in the Guard.
This is why top-down governance fails, in fact.
This is why top-down governance fails, in fact.
(8) We saw this, also, under COVID. The secondary state for a Dem administration tried for national guidance using smart but untried "best practices."
But, regular nurses pointed out respirators don't work ("Just turn 'em over"), whiskey distillers made 1/2 our hand-san, etc.
But, regular nurses pointed out respirators don't work ("Just turn 'em over"), whiskey distillers made 1/2 our hand-san, etc.
(9) TLDR: a smart but out of touch elite believes it can/should re-make the country based on "unique knowledge." But, ignorance of local/dispersed knowledge, rival elites, and alternative theories dooms many such attempts to be costly national failures or localized burdens.
(10) Even shorter: when you seem someone jogging outdoors in 1-2 masks because "That's the law everywhere in Oregon," remember that the OG explained why it is.
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