The Compass of Power

Where Nikki Haley's strength is coming from

Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley is gaining some steam as a challenger to Donald Trump. What is the former South Carolina governor doing that other candidates is not? Acting like she is a member of the ruling class of the South -- which she is.

Elites ate our social justice movements, right after they brought them to the table

Did the elites take over social justice movements like MeToo, Black Lives Matter and Occupy Wall Street?  Not exactly. Those movements were all totally in alignment with elite values in the northern United States. And those elites do control most American media and most of academia. So, to say these "causes" were ever separate from elitism would not be quite right. They were only separate from Southern elitism. In truth, social justice has become something of a religious cause to the heirs to the Puritans in Yankeedom. It's hard to imagine that a Marxist-style working class revolution could ever overwhelm that dynamic. Here are the articles I mentioned: David Leonhardt of the NYT: The Failure of Progressive Movements - The New York Times (nytimes.com) [https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/26/briefing/me-too-black-lives-matter-occupy-wall-street.html] Freddie deBoer: Freddie deBoer | Substack [https://freddiedeboer.substack.com/?campaign_id=9&emc=edit_nn_20230926&instance_id=103682&nl=the-morning®i_id=182541794&segment_id=145726&te=1&user_id=4a8647aa1a0704bf49131105a6732525] Andrew Sullivan: Could MLK Give A TED Talk Today? - by Andrew Sullivan (substack.com) [https://andrewsullivan.substack.com/p/could-mlk-give-a-ted-talk-today] Coleman Hughes: Why Is TED Scared of Color Blindness? - by Coleman Hughes (substack.com) [https://colemanhughes.substack.com/p/why-is-ted-scared-of-color-blindness]

The Very American Beauty of Bidenomics

Where does President Joe Biden’s pro-union, “from-the-bottom-up” economic policy come from? From his roots in Delaware and Pennsylvania, where the original settlers believed in getting an education-- but not too much -- and working hard -- but not too too hard.  #Biden2024 #bidenomics #quakerlifestyle

Vivek Ramaswamy, High Tech Hillbilly

The Republican Presidential Candidate is often described as a biotech executive, a Trump wannabe, or just this news cycle’s novelty act. But Ramaswamy’s connection with voters is no pretension -- he hails from Cincinnati, Ohio, making him a member of America’s most populous culture, the Appalachians. And those voters also happen to be the people who put Trump in the White House.

Only this podcast can explain “Rich Men North of Richmond.”

The song by Oliver Anthony isn’t actually liberal or conservative. It’s Appalachian. It talks about the same things that have animated singers in the Scotch-Irish-settled parts of America for 250 years, and it does it in the same musical style, too.  The real scandal is that so many online outlets want to claim some of its fame by shaming or blaming a work of art for being indicative of its culture.    Here’s the song:  Oliver Anthony - Rich Men North Of Richmond - YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sqSA-SY5Hro]  Here’s a sample of coverage (BBC):  Rich Men North of Richmond: The hit song that has divided the US [https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20230818-rich-men-north-of-richmond-the-hit-song-that-has-divided-the-us]