forget about all of the uninformed, nutty, uneducated, unsophisticated posts that have sprung up over the past 3-4 weeks, courtesy of the three stooges plus the newly added Box of Rocks. Below is commentary from a veteran political observer and money manager from tonight's newsletter. It's long, perhaps too long, for some like "Rocks" to read, but you never know. Either way, it's a lot more insightful, educated, and entertaining than listening to babies who are in stage 1-2.
During the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, American culture was moving from a post war, fairly uniform set of values to the great transition, which started in the mid-1960s. The sexual revolution, a rejection of cultural norms, the civil rights movement, the anti- war, and anti-establishment movements all occurred during that time frame. This period is what the American political Right refers to as the Left winning the culture war.
The political Left marched the country into an era of greater government involvement in schools, indeed everyday life, more regulations etc. and eventually in President Obama’s terms in office, normalizing wealth re-distribution, while re-defining capitalism. This is a thumbnail
sketch of what has happened culturally.
But underneath the growth of government, highlighted by a new peak in governing via regulation, a change was occurring. At the state/local levels, hundreds of elected government offices were voted into office that were devotees of free markets, less government and are anti- regulation. Even the U.S. House and Senate now have majorities, which profess to favor these positions. These are early signs that a new culture is emerging and with Trump’s election, the transition has taken off. This is why the Old Culture is almost literally, up in arms. Riots on the Berkeley campus and a Secretary of Education who is physically turned away at a public school by protestors,
are only the beginning. The Left has lost its power of persuasion and we can see that in how Trump responds to critiques, which used to drive politicians from the Right totally off the stage at the first sign of trouble. Being accused of womanizing or an affair used to do it - no more. Called a sexist? He says he loves women. The Attorney General is a racist? They get a daughter of Martin Luther King Jr. to rebut the allegations. In the old days, the Right would have folded but as I wrote months
for the first time in decades, we now have a fighting “Republican” in the White House. Others will follow and until the Left figures out how to deal with the new culture, who like them will not quit and worse, reject every accusation thrown at them, the Left will lose power.
Have you noticed how Trump simply rejects anyone who does not agree with him? The Left, the media, the Democrats, the Liberals, judges, you name it, Trump has wrapped himself around defending himself, the people, the country and to use his language, it’s all to “Make America Great Again.” He does not just mean economically, he is driving a cultural change as well, which will be focused on some of the old Rights values, but not all. This approach flies in the face of open borders, globalization and the U.S. being more interested in low prices than low wages. He has changed the way Presidential and now cultural messages will be sent- via Twitter, later via another
format, perhaps AI.
The Left will not give up easily, in fact I think we are about to see an explosion in lawsuits related to culture, demonstrations, and in the media a near total loss of civility. Political discourse, which can be coarse, is reaching a level where I think the old Left will implode and a new Left will form. But this may take years. In the meantime, a new identity is taking shape, a new culture.
