Thank you exactly, as well as the McCain’s, Obama’s, Clintons, Kennedy’s, etc…

I’m pretty sure he’s talking about people like Thomas Friedman, or Bill Kristol, or the Kennedy’s, not folks like you.

Don

I have little to add to Stormcrow’s comments, but I would advise him to take Fabius Maximus’ guilt trips with several grains of salt.

This excerpt pretty much sums it up.

The new elites are at home only in transit, en route to a high-level conference, to the grand opening of a new franchise, to an international film festival, or to an undiscovered resort. Theirs is essentially a tourist’s view of the world — not a perspective likely to encourage a passionate devotion to democracy.

Was Lasch describing intellectual elites? Or ruling elites?

You sure as hell don’t see many working intellectuals flitting off to some undiscovered resort or international film festival or franchise opening. I ought to know, because I’m one of them.

I’m a mathematician by training, with 10 years of teaching experience. I’ve been an information security professional for the last decade. Right now, I’m out of work, because the bank I used to work for tried really hard to commit seppuku by way of the subprime mortgage market.

I’ll consider myself lucky if I manage to save my own house.

I accepted a long time ago that I’d never be able to retire. Because the price of my Ph.D. was half a dozen years of slave labor, and another six before my career dead-ended.

You’ll find quite a few folks like me out there.

When I read this sort of thing, I just think to myself: “here come the anti-intellectuals again”. It’s scapegoat time here in America. Again. Things are coming apart, people’s backs are to the wall, and so they’re looking for somebody to blame.

Please have the courtesy not to dun me for somebody else’s bill? OK?

Guess it may be better that he posts under his pseudonym for the time being.