“It’s
perfectly possible for a man to lead a comfortable, indeed enviable
life by any objective standard, yet be consumed with bitterness
driven by status anxiety.” Dr.
Paul Krugman in a NY Times article
He
goes on: “This sort of high-end resentment, the anger of highly
privileged people who nonetheless feel that they aren’t privileged
enough or that their privileges might be eroded by social change,
suffuses the modern conservative movement.”
“Nothing
makes a man accustomed to privilege angrier than the prospect of
losing some of that privilege, especially if it comes with the
suggestion that people like him are subject to the same rules as the
rest of us.”
There
is a lot of that going around of late and as David
Climenhaga recently pointed out one in particular from Ontario
falls squarely into that category....
“Two
well-heeled older men who never wanted for anything during their
upbringings and now live comfortable, privileged lives will be
getting together in Calgary this evening to talk about just how very,
very angry they are.
I
give you Doug Ford, Progressive Conservative premier of Ontario, and
Jason Kenney, the man who would be United Conservative Party premier
of Alberta – and may well be if he can get enough Albertans to be
as angry as he is at these imagined slights to their privilege and,
indeed, their elite position in society.
Mr.
Ford, by the sound of it, has never really had to work a day in his
life, having inherited significant wealth from his father’s
label-making company rather like his political and rhetorical model,
the current president of the United States.”
Indeed
that shit disturber in chief to the south is doing all he can, like
his fellow bluster to the north, to destroy much of the hard won
progress towards a more sustainable world both socially and
environmentally.....
President
Donald Trump announced his decision to withdraw from the Paris deal
in June, saying the accord would have cost America trillions of
dollars, killed jobs, and hindered the oil, gas, coal and
manufacturing industries.
But
he also, at the time, said he would be open to renegotiating the
deal, which was agreed by nearly 200 nations over the course of years
– drawing ridicule from world and business leaders who said that
would be impossible.
Under
the Trump administration, the EPA has taken a more industry-friendly
stance, weakening greenhouse gas rules around oil drilling and
vehicle fuel efficiency, as well as tearing up an Obama-era plan to
limit pollution from coal-fired power plants. The agency removed its
section on climate change from its website last year for an “update”
that has yet to materialize.
There
is an old adage that says 'Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts
absolutely' , we must be careful to maintain the traditional checks
and balances on our political elites of all stripes, our very
democracy is under attack in so many places near and far.
