Thank You for featuring the brilliant Sarah Kendzior in your newsletter. She saw this disaster coming, and like you Anand, she understands that unregulated capitalism cannot coexist with democracy. But the warning alarms of an emerging plutocratic dictatorship should've been sounded in 1983, when the first homeless shelters opened around the country. I fear that even "woke" journalists (perhaps especially "woke" journalists)are missing something important when they criticize the plutocracy: the poor and working classes are not just angry at the billionaires. They are ALSO angry at the "woke" gentrifying class. Here's an example of why: I loved Isabel Wilkerson's book, "Caste" and I recommend it to everyone. The Woke Media loved it, too. But there is an ugly side to the arguments she makes. She suggests that a Caste system based on race is immoral (which it is) but that a caste system based on ability is perfectly fine. On page 293 of her book she writes: "If people in the lowest caste had the CAPACITY to be equal, why were they being enslaved?" CAPACITY??? Is it okay to enslave a human being who doesn't have the "capacity" to be equal? Is it okay to enslave people who don't have the "capacity" to do other than manual labor? Is it okay to enslave people with mental illness, or learning disabilities, or Traumatic Brain Injury? Because we've certainly decided it's okay to let such people suffer and die on our rich city streets (unhoused people have a life expectancy 30 years younger than the general population). As Sarah Kendzior said: "The gulf isn't about geography so much as it is about wealth and networks, though obviously where you live reflects that somewhat." Dr. Wilkerson reflects a toxic attitude among the Woke Gentrifying Class that poisons the water of our politics. This attitude doesn't make people vote for Trump, but it does make people refuse to vote at all (which may be just as bad). There should be no such thing as a "capacity" to earn a place of equal value among our fellow human beings. That should be every human's birthright. Until the Woke Gentrifiers get it that they're NOT innately superior to the people who clean their toilets, and care for their children, and deliver their groceries, and pick up their garbage, the poor and working classes will refuse to vote for their preferred Woke candidates. Why should they? Why should they trust the opinions of people who look down on them? Human Rights and Human Value must NEVER be based upon "capacity".
this is very helpful and valuable stuff. thank you. // Both Kendzior and Masha Gessen responded with clarity in real time. // On the magnificent hair issue, as a now bald guy I say IF YOU’VE GOT IT FLAUNT IT.
I have zero respect for anything Joe Scarborough has to say after watching him and Mika give Trump endless access during the campaign. He now wants to pretend it did not happen when there is tape of it. Sarah Kendzior is a great scholar, a patriot and a truth teller. Thank you for this great interview.
That interview with Joe Scarborough was PAINFUL to watch. Not that I've ever liked or deliberately watched him but he was -- & I'm being lazy about intellectualizing here -- SUCH a condescending asshole to you, as were others there (the snide & stupid remark about your hair, for example, which is & has always been awe inspiring; the overbearing whiteness of it all (& I'm white) .... I just got very tripped up watching this.) Sarah Kendozier is a goddamn national treasure. As are you. I first became aware of you just after the 2016 election and my sons, still in their late teens/early 20's then, students in NY (& now living there) were encouraged to be as attuned to your opinions and scholarship as I am. It's great for us to share an admiration for you and your viewpoint, to always refer to things you've recently posted or expressed publicly. This is just fan mail. Thank you for your newsletter.
Wow. A panel of 4 clueless white MSNBC hosts. Amazing how asleep they were, but not surprising. It's really quite appalling. Thank you for sticking to your truth, Anand. As always.
Thank you for this insightful article Anand! We are all way too comfortable with what's going on right now, maybe because we still don't want to believe it could happen in the United States. If we could just open our eyes and act in an effective way (hopefully by simply voting on or before November 3rd), we might have a chance to step back from the edge of the precipice. What do we do if and when the system completely falls apart?
I’ve been following Sarah since January 2017. Her book, The View from Flyover Country, detailing the crumbling of institutions prior to 2016, explains some much. History is so important to understand these times. Thank you for this conversation. Bravo to both of you for sounding the alarm. We heard you. I wish leaders had and acted.
Kendzior's book chilled my blood. The endless organized crime connections just made me sick to my stomach. My question is, if her central thesis is correct (that the admin is an international organized crime syndicate masking as a government), then by definition I fear we are past the point of what Masha Gessen (in a recent Anand G interview) said was authoritarian capture. So what now?
Sarah Kendzior is one of the most brilliant scholar/journalists anywhere to be found. And so many more years to blow our minds with her incredible expertise and intelligence. I’d like to just flat out say, “She is a badass who tells it exactly as it is.” No sugar coating and with such power in her presentation of the brutally obvious facts. Put her, Malcolm Nance, Jeremy Bash, and Masha Gessen on a repeating loop please. To be Sarah Kendzior. The confidence she projects in her subject matter is awe inspiring.
Great piece. After we let it sink in, we need to act. None of this is inevitable. Register and vote. Talk to your friends and family. Volunteer to be a poll watcher. Call your local Democratic organization. Volunteer to work the voter protection hotlines and election protection teams. Donate!
Yes!! Finally, let's just say it: We live in a criminal worldwide web that is sanctioned by our governments and promotes the interests and money accumulation of the elite. WE, the people and the press (made by the working class, democracy now, the ink, the intercept, etc.) are the bulwark against corruption and the black marketeers that are bleeding our world dry with no thought of tomorrow's children.
You hit the nail on the head. That's what we are. I had horrible fears about what would happen to this country after the 2016 election, and while those fears have (sadly) been realized, even I did not foresee the level of corruption and grift that would become a staple of the current Administration, or the mental gymnastics in which supporters of it would engage in order to justify its criminality.
And, if you think that it's bad now, just wait until he wins again in November.
Thank You for featuring the brilliant Sarah Kendzior in your newsletter. She saw this disaster coming, and like you Anand, she understands that unregulated capitalism cannot coexist with democracy. But the warning alarms of an emerging plutocratic dictatorship should've been sounded in 1983, when the first homeless shelters opened around the country. I fear that even "woke" journalists (perhaps especially "woke" journalists)are missing something important when they criticize the plutocracy: the poor and working classes are not just angry at the billionaires. They are ALSO angry at the "woke" gentrifying class. Here's an example of why: I loved Isabel Wilkerson's book, "Caste" and I recommend it to everyone. The Woke Media loved it, too. But there is an ugly side to the arguments she makes. She suggests that a Caste system based on race is immoral (which it is) but that a caste system based on ability is perfectly fine. On page 293 of her book she writes: "If people in the lowest caste had the CAPACITY to be equal, why were they being enslaved?" CAPACITY??? Is it okay to enslave a human being who doesn't have the "capacity" to be equal? Is it okay to enslave people who don't have the "capacity" to do other than manual labor? Is it okay to enslave people with mental illness, or learning disabilities, or Traumatic Brain Injury? Because we've certainly decided it's okay to let such people suffer and die on our rich city streets (unhoused people have a life expectancy 30 years younger than the general population). As Sarah Kendzior said: "The gulf isn't about geography so much as it is about wealth and networks, though obviously where you live reflects that somewhat." Dr. Wilkerson reflects a toxic attitude among the Woke Gentrifying Class that poisons the water of our politics. This attitude doesn't make people vote for Trump, but it does make people refuse to vote at all (which may be just as bad). There should be no such thing as a "capacity" to earn a place of equal value among our fellow human beings. That should be every human's birthright. Until the Woke Gentrifiers get it that they're NOT innately superior to the people who clean their toilets, and care for their children, and deliver their groceries, and pick up their garbage, the poor and working classes will refuse to vote for their preferred Woke candidates. Why should they? Why should they trust the opinions of people who look down on them? Human Rights and Human Value must NEVER be based upon "capacity".
this is very helpful and valuable stuff. thank you. // Both Kendzior and Masha Gessen responded with clarity in real time. // On the magnificent hair issue, as a now bald guy I say IF YOU’VE GOT IT FLAUNT IT.
Bravo. I’ve also been shunned by those calling me an “alarmist”. Problem is, our alarms are falling on deaf ears
I have zero respect for anything Joe Scarborough has to say after watching him and Mika give Trump endless access during the campaign. He now wants to pretend it did not happen when there is tape of it. Sarah Kendzior is a great scholar, a patriot and a truth teller. Thank you for this great interview.
That interview with Joe Scarborough was PAINFUL to watch. Not that I've ever liked or deliberately watched him but he was -- & I'm being lazy about intellectualizing here -- SUCH a condescending asshole to you, as were others there (the snide & stupid remark about your hair, for example, which is & has always been awe inspiring; the overbearing whiteness of it all (& I'm white) .... I just got very tripped up watching this.) Sarah Kendozier is a goddamn national treasure. As are you. I first became aware of you just after the 2016 election and my sons, still in their late teens/early 20's then, students in NY (& now living there) were encouraged to be as attuned to your opinions and scholarship as I am. It's great for us to share an admiration for you and your viewpoint, to always refer to things you've recently posted or expressed publicly. This is just fan mail. Thank you for your newsletter.
Gracias, Anand.
And to you too, Sarah. I bought your book right after reading the interview.
peace and love,
Wow. A panel of 4 clueless white MSNBC hosts. Amazing how asleep they were, but not surprising. It's really quite appalling. Thank you for sticking to your truth, Anand. As always.
Thank you for this insightful article Anand! We are all way too comfortable with what's going on right now, maybe because we still don't want to believe it could happen in the United States. If we could just open our eyes and act in an effective way (hopefully by simply voting on or before November 3rd), we might have a chance to step back from the edge of the precipice. What do we do if and when the system completely falls apart?
I’ve been following Sarah since January 2017. Her book, The View from Flyover Country, detailing the crumbling of institutions prior to 2016, explains some much. History is so important to understand these times. Thank you for this conversation. Bravo to both of you for sounding the alarm. We heard you. I wish leaders had and acted.
Kendzior's book chilled my blood. The endless organized crime connections just made me sick to my stomach. My question is, if her central thesis is correct (that the admin is an international organized crime syndicate masking as a government), then by definition I fear we are past the point of what Masha Gessen (in a recent Anand G interview) said was authoritarian capture. So what now?
Sarah Kendzior is one of the most brilliant scholar/journalists anywhere to be found. And so many more years to blow our minds with her incredible expertise and intelligence. I’d like to just flat out say, “She is a badass who tells it exactly as it is.” No sugar coating and with such power in her presentation of the brutally obvious facts. Put her, Malcolm Nance, Jeremy Bash, and Masha Gessen on a repeating loop please. To be Sarah Kendzior. The confidence she projects in her subject matter is awe inspiring.
You lost me at "apartheid state". Israel is an indigenous decolonization project.
Very powerful! Perfectly worded. I have chills after reading this. Wish everyone would see this, too.
Great piece. After we let it sink in, we need to act. None of this is inevitable. Register and vote. Talk to your friends and family. Volunteer to be a poll watcher. Call your local Democratic organization. Volunteer to work the voter protection hotlines and election protection teams. Donate!
Yes!! Finally, let's just say it: We live in a criminal worldwide web that is sanctioned by our governments and promotes the interests and money accumulation of the elite. WE, the people and the press (made by the working class, democracy now, the ink, the intercept, etc.) are the bulwark against corruption and the black marketeers that are bleeding our world dry with no thought of tomorrow's children.
You hit the nail on the head. That's what we are. I had horrible fears about what would happen to this country after the 2016 election, and while those fears have (sadly) been realized, even I did not foresee the level of corruption and grift that would become a staple of the current Administration, or the mental gymnastics in which supporters of it would engage in order to justify its criminality.
And, if you think that it's bad now, just wait until he wins again in November.