"How does a society, used to unimaginable affluence respond to a sudden drop in that affluence?" is probs the central premise of this administration
January 25, 2025 at 6:02 AM
"How does a society, used to unimaginable affluence respond to a sudden drop in that affluence?" is probs the central premise of this administration
It's not in spite of these indicators, it's *because* of them. Affluence and ennui are powerful drivers of modern authoritatianism.
Still hard to believe we voted for fascism with unemployment at 4.2%, the strongest performing economy in the rich world, & inflation, at 2.4% PCE in Nov 2024, closer to target than 85% of the months since we established it in 2012: bsky.app/profile/mcop.... Verily, a marvel of political economy.
Here's each G7 country's cumulative increase in real GDP per capita, since just before the pandemic:
🇺🇸 +9.4%
🇮🇹 +6.5% (thru Q3)
🇯🇵 +3.1%
🇫🇷 +1.8% (thru Q3)
🇬🇧 -1.1%
🇩🇪 -1.9% (thru Q3)
🇨🇦 -2.0% (thru Q3)
🇺🇸 +9.4%
🇮🇹 +6.5% (thru Q3)
🇯🇵 +3.1%
🇫🇷 +1.8% (thru Q3)
🇬🇧 -1.1%
🇩🇪 -1.9% (thru Q3)
🇨🇦 -2.0% (thru Q3)
February 19, 2025 at 4:39 AM
It's not in spite of these indicators, it's *because* of them. Affluence and ennui are powerful drivers of modern authoritatianism.
A case study in how affluence and middle-class boredom can poison the soul.
This guy right here. Was a Democrat, parents are lovely (believe so, anyway) & are well educated/good jobs, he was voted "Most Likely to Succeed" h.s. graduating class, studied I.R. at American U, got a job at State Dept, and YET... www.vanityfair.com/news/2020/02...
Inside the Red-Pilling of State Department Official Matthew Gebert
For years, Gebert, a white nationalist, flew under the radar, both at State and in his quiet Virginia suburb (“I’ve had Nazi milk,” one neighbor says). Now, coworkers wonder: How the hell did he pass ...
www.vanityfair.com
February 24, 2025 at 9:17 PM
A case study in how affluence and middle-class boredom can poison the soul.
Injustice Roberts Grew Up In Lily
White Affluence In Indiana, Where
Property Deeds Forbade Selling To
Black Or Jewish Families........?
White Affluence In Indiana, Where
Property Deeds Forbade Selling To
Black Or Jewish Families........?
May 8, 2026 at 11:30 AM
Injustice Roberts Grew Up In Lily
White Affluence In Indiana, Where
Property Deeds Forbade Selling To
Black Or Jewish Families........?
White Affluence In Indiana, Where
Property Deeds Forbade Selling To
Black Or Jewish Families........?
Affluence and narcissism
March 11, 2025 at 3:40 PM
Affluence and narcissism
idle affluence turns people into hitler
December 15, 2024 at 7:57 PM
idle affluence turns people into hitler
liberated from this life of comfort and affluence
April 2, 2025 at 8:47 PM
liberated from this life of comfort and affluence
The privilege of affluence is not spending on everything – it's spending exorbitantly on what you value.
November 17, 2024 at 4:14 AM
The privilege of affluence is not spending on everything – it's spending exorbitantly on what you value.
🇭🇺 Près de 200.000 personnes ont défilé à Budapest, selon les organisateurs, une affluence sans précédent pour la marche des fiertés en Hongrie, face aux mesures d'interdiction du Premier ministre nationaliste Viktor Orban.
June 28, 2025 at 4:19 PM
🇭🇺 Près de 200.000 personnes ont défilé à Budapest, selon les organisateurs, une affluence sans précédent pour la marche des fiertés en Hongrie, face aux mesures d'interdiction du Premier ministre nationaliste Viktor Orban.
Peaceful diversity, low crime, and affluence?
June 25, 2025 at 2:38 PM
Peaceful diversity, low crime, and affluence?
Peace and affluence, and an unwillingness to think about unpleasant things
March 20, 2025 at 2:27 AM
Peace and affluence, and an unwillingness to think about unpleasant things
According to people familiar with the call, a top Goldman Sachs executive remarked that some of the bank’s 'private markets clients' were 'just glad there’s something to talk about that isn’t software exposures and private credit'. ft.trib.al/in5iBbD
March 11, 2026 at 5:32 PM
dismantling the institutions upholding american hegemony and affluence because it would make the libs really angry if we did this
November 29, 2024 at 4:17 PM
dismantling the institutions upholding american hegemony and affluence because it would make the libs really angry if we did this
「 AQUAMARINE AFFLUENCE 」 💫
portrait commission for @kitonishiki.gay
portrait commission for @kitonishiki.gay
October 28, 2025 at 11:45 AM
「 AQUAMARINE AFFLUENCE 」 💫
portrait commission for @kitonishiki.gay
portrait commission for @kitonishiki.gay
i want more housing in this town, but it's so wild to mock the concerns of neighborhoods that have been historically displaced in the name of white affluence & convenience!
September 24, 2026 at 11:56 PM
i want more housing in this town, but it's so wild to mock the concerns of neighborhoods that have been historically displaced in the name of white affluence & convenience!
«La liberté et l’amour ne peuvent être interdits !»
Marche des fiertés à Budapest : affluence record à la Pride qui défie Orban
Marche des fiertés à Budapest : affluence record à la Pride qui défie Orban
Marche des fiertés à Budapest : affluence record à la Pride qui défie Orban
www.liberation.fr
June 28, 2025 at 3:01 PM
«La liberté et l’amour ne peuvent être interdits !»
Marche des fiertés à Budapest : affluence record à la Pride qui défie Orban
Marche des fiertés à Budapest : affluence record à la Pride qui défie Orban
I’m not quite entirely persuaded by this essay but goddam it is very good and bracing. Really worth a read.
www.liberalcurrents.com/a-disease-of...
www.liberalcurrents.com/a-disease-of...
A Disease of Affluence
Trump's supporters are not motivated by economic anxiety, but by its opposite.
www.liberalcurrents.com
December 13, 2024 at 7:58 PM
I’m not quite entirely persuaded by this essay but goddam it is very good and bracing. Really worth a read.
www.liberalcurrents.com/a-disease-of...
www.liberalcurrents.com/a-disease-of...
Hongrie / A Budapest, très forte affluence à la marche des fiertés interdite par Orban
June 28, 2025 at 3:38 PM
Hongrie / A Budapest, très forte affluence à la marche des fiertés interdite par Orban
Tom Nichols (@radiofreetom.bsky.social, writer for The Atlantic) says precisely the same thing as you: that the rise of Trump and MAGA is due to purposeless affluence.
February 23, 2025 at 9:51 PM
Tom Nichols (@radiofreetom.bsky.social, writer for The Atlantic) says precisely the same thing as you: that the rise of Trump and MAGA is due to purposeless affluence.
“That the negative wealth effect primarily targets non MAGA affluence voters.”
April 9, 2025 at 1:27 AM
“That the negative wealth effect primarily targets non MAGA affluence voters.”
“.. large tech companies have collectively laid off more than 150,000 workers, unraveling what many tech workers once perceived as a guarantee of affluence and employability.”
@nytimes.com
www.nytimes.com/2026/05/19/b...
@nytimes.com
www.nytimes.com/2026/05/19/b...
May 19, 2026 at 4:33 PM
“.. large tech companies have collectively laid off more than 150,000 workers, unraveling what many tech workers once perceived as a guarantee of affluence and employability.”
@nytimes.com
www.nytimes.com/2026/05/19/b...
@nytimes.com
www.nytimes.com/2026/05/19/b...
Finally got around to reading Dexter Filkins’s profile of Jared Kushner. A perfect asshole, and the embodiment of the silver-spoon elite who literally cannot distinguish their own affluence from the national interest, fanatically convinced that their obscene wealth somehow means everyone wins.
September 26, 2026 at 9:56 PM
Finally got around to reading Dexter Filkins’s profile of Jared Kushner. A perfect asshole, and the embodiment of the silver-spoon elite who literally cannot distinguish their own affluence from the national interest, fanatically convinced that their obscene wealth somehow means everyone wins.
And Ireland, which is at center of this, will be pretty easy to bully bc Ireland's affluence relies on companies like Facebook.
January 7, 2025 at 3:23 PM
And Ireland, which is at center of this, will be pretty easy to bully bc Ireland's affluence relies on companies like Facebook.
"America subsidizes affluence more than a subsidizes poor people"
THATS the headline.
THATS the headline.
October 30, 2025 at 1:03 AM
"America subsidizes affluence more than a subsidizes poor people"
THATS the headline.
THATS the headline.
If one of the "rewards" of affluence is that you get to opt out of the services everyone else uses -- roads & transit, aviation system, schools, healthcare, etc. -- then those services are inevitably starved of resources & decline. We have to force affluent people to be invested in them.
September 21, 2026 at 4:05 PM
If one of the "rewards" of affluence is that you get to opt out of the services everyone else uses -- roads & transit, aviation system, schools, healthcare, etc. -- then those services are inevitably starved of resources & decline. We have to force affluent people to be invested in them.