Is Pres. Trump the new Mao?

Article

The one book to understand Steve Bannon

Summary

Bannon tells "Axios'" Jonathan Swan that The Revolt of the Elites by Christopher Lasch is one of his favorites for explaining our times.

Quote

"Reading 'The Revolt of the Elites' gives you a deeper appreciation of the populist nationalist movement that propelled Trump to the presidency. It also gives you deeper insight into how Bannon thinks — his disdain for experts and party establishments, his skepticism on multinationals, his commitment to information warfare and the Breitbart comments section, his antipathy toward "globalists" and his particular distrust of the West Coast elite Lasch writes feel more loyalty to Hong Kong and Singapore than they do to "Middle America." Jonathan Swan

Understanding

Swan's article pulls out eight statements from The Revolt of the Elites to suggest how Bannon thinks. While it is a fallacious to assume Lasch's words equal Bannon's beliefs, there are some provocative ideas listed. Here is one -

• "We have become far too accommodating and tolerant for our own good....Compassion has become the human face of contempt...Today we accept double standards — as always, a recipe for second-class citizenship — in the name of humanitarian concern." Christopher Lasch

While that statement seems harsh, it is out of context and I assume the author has good intent, not cruelty, as his motivation. Perhaps we elites do use charity as a way to reinforce our privileged status and maintain the status quo of a society that works very well for us. Perhaps what Lasch and Bannon are calling for is a radical transformation of our class structure to be more egalitarian.

Huh. I used to aspire to the same goal when I was an undergraduate Maoist and admirer of China's Cultural Revolution.

I wonder how far the wealthy, white men in charge of the federal government right now will push that agenda?