[BaronSamedi]

The point that struck me was the assertion that American elites have become dysfunctional. And, that wokeness is more of a symptom rather than cause of that dysfunction. That is a very interesting idea and worthy of consideration. Historically, crises among elites are dangerous. Elites losing the confidence of the people, for example, is destabilizing. Severe conflict among elite factions (sometimes during a loss of confidence period, sometimes not) can also produce instability or worse.

[photojosh]

Perhaps you'd be interested in Peter Turchin's theory of "overpopulation of elites" being a root cause of societal dysfunction.

http://peterturchin.com/cliodynamica/intra-elite-competition...

[BaronSamedi]

Thank you for posting the link. I have read this. What do you think about Turchin's theory? I'm unsure whether I agree with it or not.

[photojosh]

I find it plausible, because of my understanding of how revolutions happen. At the least, it's one view of things.

People who are really scraping to get by don't have the mental bandwidth to put time into revolution. You need people with spare time to organise to kick things off, and only then once you've started a movement you can get the masses on your side because you're offering an alternative.