The elites are indeed rising up against the masses: in the UK, they’re trying to find ways to reverse the Brexit vote and overrule the will of the people, while in the US, the Republican establishment is trying desperately to overrule the will of its own voters and deny the nomination, or the presidency, to Donald Trump. In Europe, Merkel and other leaders are doing everything they can to stifle and stigmatize dissent to their suicidal policies regarding Muslim immigration.
Yet James Traub is right: the political schism of our time is indeed between the elites and the masses. And his piece in Foreign Policy epitomizes how out of touch the elites really are, and why they need to be swept out. The masses who voted for Brexit in the UK and support Trump in the US are neither “ignorant” nor “mindlessly angry.” It is neither ignorant nor mindlessly angry to be concerned about the ramifications of massive Muslim immigration and the certainty that jihad terrorists will be among the peaceful refugees. It is neither ignorant nor mindlessly angry to consider Obama’s refusal to name the enemy, and the US government’s prohibition on studying or discussing the phenomenon of Islamic jihad, to be a disastrous misstep that hamstrings our ability to formulate effective strategies against that enemy.
What is ignorant and mindlessly angry is James Traub’s dismissal of the discontent of the masses as ignorance and mindless anger. He (and Foreign Policy in general) epitomizes the arrogance and ignorance of the political and media elites who are so richly deserving of being swept out en masse.
“It’s Time for the Elites to Rise Up Against the Ignorant Masses,” by James Traub, Foreign Policy, June 28, 2016:
The Brexit has laid bare the political schism of our time. It’s not about the left vs. the right; it’s about the sane vs. the mindlessly angry….