The Bait and Switch

[daredtowork]

71. This is the elitist way of looking at things

...once too many of the previously excluded "others" get involved, they just gum up the works and stall things. The elites are used to getting their way, and they view being opposed as "gumming up the works" and "stalling in committee". It doesn't occur to them to just give way and try reconstructing society in ways that are fairer. From the "other" side, it is the elites that are stalling and gumming up the works!

There was an interesting article a few days ago about black members of the House being "in revolt" over new seniority rules - they brought out what had become a truism for them: whenever black people finally "got there" playing by the rules, white people changed the rules.

I think this can be said for people who are used to wielding power in general. A couple days ago, I got to listen to an extremely entitled white privileged male deliver his screed about the "angry Left". The problem was he couldn't actually identify any members of the Angry Left. It was just a strawman that he and his Imaginary Center wealthy Democrat friends had imagined to play off of. The Angry Left was who they were Above and More Reasonable Than. The Angry Left were the ones who Stalled Things and didn't let this Privileged White Elite Male have his way.

There are not "too many interests to deal with". There are just interests that the Power Elite doesn't want in the room. And they will keep dealing out labels and reasons and threats and sky-is-falling warnings to keep them out.