Category Archives: the public

The revolt of the public and the “age of post-truth”

Posted on May 31, 2017 by

With Elites and With the Truth, It’s Complicated Three years ago I remarked that the public was engaged in a messy divorce from the elites who run the great institutions of the industrial age.  That bit of scandal is by … Continue reading →

Posted in democracy, the public | 15 Comments

2016: A hard rain

Posted on January 4, 2017 by

The Tipping-point of Revolt In 2016, a furious political tempest ravaged the democratic world.  Popular politicians – presidents and prime ministers – were toppled from on high and hurled into oblivion.  Exotic creatures, originating far from the old mainstream, were … Continue reading →

Posted in cataclysm, democracy, the public | 7 Comments

The news media: Surveying the wreckage

Posted on December 6, 2016 by

The Pretense of Objectivity The ideology of news makes two moral claims:  that it is complete, and that it is objective.  News, in other words, provides consumers with just the right amount of information necessary to function as citizens, and … Continue reading →

Posted in death of news, democracy, influence, newspaperss, the public, Uncategorized | 5 Comments

After the elections: The great unraveling

Posted on October 25, 2016 by

Candidates From the Lab We already know the most significant truth about the 2016 presidential elections:  that it is yet another brawl in the running global conflict between an alienated public and the institutions and elites that manage the established … Continue reading →

Posted in democracy, the public, Uncategorized | 7 Comments

Brief reflections on the Brexit vote

Posted on June 28, 2016 by

That the British vote to leave the European Union is a textbook example of the revolt of the public I take to be beyond dispute.  The Conservative prime minister strongly opposed the exit initiative, as did the Labour and Social … Continue reading →

Posted in democracy, the public | 1 Comment

Democracy and dictatorship in a nihilistic age

Posted on May 24, 2016 by

The Malady of Our Time We stand on the threshold of a new age that refuses to become manifest.  It’s as if the geopolitical clock were stuck at a minute before midnight:  the old forms, the ideologies and institutions of … Continue reading →

Posted in democracy, the public | 2 Comments

The revolt of the public and the rise of Donald Trump

Posted on March 29, 2016 by

The Political Apparition Like the phantom at the feast, Donald Trump materialized at the head of the Republican presidential race without anyone quite knowing how he got there.  Once we overcame our embarrassment over his unexpected arrival, however, we haven’t … Continue reading →

Posted in democracy, the public | 62 Comments