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kleinbl00  ·  1963 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: A State of Enduring Division in the US

Jared Dillian has been advocating his clients prepare for socialism because pendulum swings are a way of life and things are pretty rightward at the moment.

Claire Wolfe said "America is at that awkward stage where it's too late to work within the system and too early to shoot the bastards" in 1996.

I think there are three aspects that argue for American exceptionalism:

1) No historical basis for ethnic strife. Yeah it sucks to be black in the US but blacks are 12% of the population and in nearly all of the country are fully integrated into society. Europe has no blacks. America has been settled by wave after wave of migrants while Europe consistently fights them as invaders and denies them citizenship. I grew up in the heart of 400-year-old ethnic enmity (which is tough to do in a 240-year-old country) and it was basically two groups of poor people giving each other traffic tickets with increased regularity. Ain't nobody got no scores to settle over Cyprus.

2) No dynasties. Wealth in the US tends to be cyclical with few families retaining it for three generations. "Vanderbilt" is still a name but Gloria Vanderbilt makes jeans for old ladies, she doesn't overthrow the government of Panama to make transoceanic shipping cheaper.

3) A generally nomadic population. "Roots" in the US means raising your kids in the house your parents left you. American families will routinely criss-cross thousands of miles for employment, education and other opportunities.

These three things bust up most of the tendencies towards localism. They prevent a permanent rentier class from taking hold. But they don't prevent it completely. There's going to be a backlash. I expect it to be ungainly. And I expect it to be a ways off because things are going to get worse before they get better.