Keen On

Both the American left and right are revolted by elites. But whereas the right has channeled its distaste for the powers-that-be into Trump and MAGA, the left has mostly failed to capitalize on populist hatred of American elites. So what to do? According to the influential Turkish political theorist Soli Ozel, progressives need to reread Christopher Lasch, author of the 1995 classic, The Revolt of the Elites and the Betrayal of Democracy. In an essay entitled “Lasching Out,” Ozel observes that Lasch's critique of meritocratic elites who abandoned their sense of social responsibility—what he calls their noblesse oblige—offers a progressive roadmap for understanding why figures like Kamala Harris failed to connect with working-class voters, and how the left might forge a new populist coalition that prioritizes material interests over cultural absolutism.1. Lasch predicted Trump decades before 2016 - Writing between the 1970s & 90s, Christopher Lasch warned that American elites had abandoned their sense of s