US Marine Corps
In the words of the current meme, nothing changes until a “preference cascade,” the moment when “everybody” changes their mind.In the words of the current meme, nothing changes until a “preference cascade,” the moment when “everybody” changes their mind.
Is the current moment of wildfires devastating tony Pacific Palisades such a moment? Nobody knows. Such a moment is “necessary” for a preference cascade, but maybe not yet “sufficient.”
One thing that may trigger a preference cascade is my notion that “women expect to be protected.” I noticed during the late COVID unpleasantness that the women of my acquaintance were right there, repeating and following the latest command to lock down, or socially distance, or get the vaxx. It’s part of the deal about women being protected. But when it turns out that women are not protected, despite doing everything they were told to do, then watch out, as in the mother confronting Gov. Gavin Newsom last week.
“I live here, governor. That was my daughter’s school. Governor, please tell me what you’re going to do,” she pleaded with Newsom.
What are you going to do to protect me and mine? That is where women come from, and nothing will change it.
Earth to liberal women with #WeBelieve yard signs out front: there is only one person in your life that will protect you, and that man is your father or your husband. If you don’t have a father or a husband in your life, then you are not protected. If a politician or an activist is promising protection then that promise is a lie. As in greater Los Angeles right now.
I believe that it is not an accident that the growth of the welfare state parallels the enfranchisement of women. Welfare state politicians promise that government programs will protect you, without a man in your life. I believe that the welfare state makes women worse off, particularly in the mental health department. At some point, women will realize this, and then things will change.
But then there is the bigger issue. Can politics protect women from natural disasters? Michael Schellenberger put a list of things on X that should have been done to mitigate the disaster.
- Helicopters circling
- Immediate emergency warnings to residents
- Sprinklers to wet down vulnerable areas
- Three times more reservoirs
- Water recycling and desalination plants
- Expansion of nuclear power
Instead, politicians have been focusing on the sins of “Slavery, indigenous genocide, and climate change.”
<img alt captext="US Marine Corps” class=”post-image-right” src=”https://conservativenewsbriefing.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/wildfires-in-the-autumn-of-the-educated-class.jpg” width=”450″>I think there is a clue here. Politicians and activists live to rid the world of enemies and injustice. But keeping people safe from fires and floods has nothing to do with fighting enemies and eradicating evil. Instead, it takes people getting together to decide how to do useful — and dangerous — things to protect each other from harm.
It’s interesting, isn’t it, that ordinary people get together to help out in emergencies, as in the Cajun Navy, Redneck Air Force, and Operation Helo in the late North Carolina flood. And do you notice that “cajun” and “redneck” are pejoratives? So let’s see. In Hollywood and west LA, how about the Pinko Army to set up sprinklers and the Woodland Queens to clear the brush?
I say that the rule of the educated class is coming to an end. Its rule was based on the notion that educated people Knew and should have the political power to save the world. Because philosophy and science and experts.
Could we all agree that the receipts are in, and the whole idea of politics-with-everything directed by an evolved educated class has been a disaster? From the French Revolution that wrecked France? To the Marxism that wrecked Russia and China? To the two world wars that wrecked Germany? To the welfare state that mobilizes everyone to demand free stuff from the billionaires? To the politico-religious movements that make everything from the environment to race relations into a moral crusade?
What went wrong? I will tell you. Politics only works when there is an enemy, a real enemy, such as Commies and Nazis and KKKs. But ordinary racists, sexists, homophobes, climate deniers? Maybe not.
So here’s the problem. All the routine things that government does are directed by politicians, that live and die by fighting the enemy. Maybe not a good fit!
So should politicians run education? Should politicians run the care of the poor? Whatabout “public goods” like roads and water supply and sewage disposal?
I say that there is a vast middle ground between politicians fighting the enemy and consumers and businesses buying and selling.
We humans are social animals. We are really good at doing things together short of fighting it out at one end or buying and selling at the other. Why shouldn’t the Cajun Navy and the Redneck Air Force and the Pinko Army and the Woodland Queens get together for a brewski in normal times to plan for disaster, and amaze us with their heroics during emergencies?
I’m expecting a “preference cascade” any minute now.
Christopher Chantrill @chrischantrill blogs at The Commoner Manifesto and runs the go-to site on US government finances, usgovernmentspending.com. Also get his American Manifesto and his Road to the Middle Class.
Image: US Marine Corps
