The problem for Democrats is that the party is increasingly ruled by the “new oligarchs.” In his review of The New Class Conflict, by Joel Kotkin, a lifelong Democrat, George Will explains that there is a: growing alliance between the ultra-wealthy and the instruments of state power. In 2012, Barack Obama carried eight of Americas 10 wealthiest counties. Unfortunately for party harmony, the oligarchs are basically anti-job creation and anti-economic growth – which they see both as a threat to the environment and a threat to their life style. This puts them squarely at odds with the working class voters who used to be the backbone of the Democratic Party. As I explained in “How Liberals Live,” once the plutocrats settle in a community like Boulder, Colorado or Portland, Oregon, they become fiercely anti-development and doggedly determined to shape their community in ways that price the middle class out of the housing market. As a result, wherever wealthy liberals tend to congregate, housing is more expensive and there is more inequality. Again from Will: In New York, an incubator of progressivism, Kotkin reports, the wealthiest one percent earn a third of the entire citys personal income -- almost twice the proportion for the rest of the country. California, a one-party laboratory for progressivism, is home to 111 billionaires and the nations highest poverty rate (adjusted for the cost of living)…. California is no longer a destination for what Kotkin calls aspirational families: In 2013, he says, Houston had more housing starts than all of California. We have already seen how powerful the oligarchs can be in the case of the vote on the Keystone Pipeline. Senate Democrats were so kowtowed by one billionaire environmentalist that they gave up a senate seat and voted against the labor unions – their traditional core constituency. Not to be out done, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has banned fracking in his state – another blow to blue collar workers Democrats ordinarily rely on when elections are held. The Wall Street Journal adds: “And this fellow fancies himself a potential President.” What Democrats now need is a new type of liberalism. One that apologizes for and defends the new Democratic Party reality. That’s a tall order.
Posted on: Sat, 20 Dec 2014 16:41:57 +0000
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