When Miss Marple (played by the great Joan Hickson) was asked how she solved murders, her reply was,
'I can see everything from my front window in St Mary Mead'
We can debate the merits of St Mary Mead and for that matter, Midsomer in their quest to replace Colima or Caracas as murder capital of the world, but the point is a good one
Recalling the UK EU referendum in 2016, the think tank mentality within the M25 and Westminster bubble was that Remain would win and the UK would move together arm in arm with the EU towards ever closer union They had absolutely no idea what was going on especially in the non metropolitan midlands and north of England because their elected representatives, mainly of the Labour Party, had long since given up caring what their constituents thought because their vote at election time was all but assured. We both remember well what happened in the financial markets when Sunderland voted to Leave
This arrogance amongst the political elite is not confined to the UK because ultimately they were representing the same agenda promulgated by the European elite that the people do not know what is best for them and it must be more Europe at all costs
What does this have to do with the United States ?
In doing so, and as the neo liberal reset of 1979 became a global flow of dollar capital, the interests of the US were so aligned with the rising EC/EU that one consequence of the post 2008 US crash and 2011 Euro crisis was that the dollars printed by the Yellen's Fed were absorbed by the export driven Eurozone and held onto via UST purchases concomitant with fiscal compacts, with next to nothing invested in infrastructure.
In short, Fed QE was propping up the Eurozone with barely any discernible benefit for Europeans and no consent from the American people
So Juvenal's quote about Bread and Circuses still holds But as more people learn to understand what is being done on their behalf and how it differs from what their elected representatives pledged to do, there is I would argue an even bigger pushback against the globalist tendency to spend/squander resources on overseas projects whilst importing that which they have no mandate to do, that have no clear benefit to the people the policy markers are supposed to be serving !
I think this was certainly a factor with Brexit, a reason why Boris Johnson secured a mandate and why Donald Trump just won a landslide and I don't think the technocrats can continue ignoring a trend that is spreading across Europe as well
It's easy to move away from your core constituents. You spend more time in London, meeting pressure groups and lobbyists and being wined and dined. Your focus narrows to an echo chamber, to the point you are shocked that Trump wins despite fair warning. (Amazed to see The Guardian Football Weekly delaying its Champions League pod to take this stance - what a messed up set of editorial priorities there.)
It's much harder to reconnect with your core base up north. They see you as an effete, metropolitan snob with your nose in the trough, because that is what you have become.
When Miss Marple (played by the great Joan Hickson) was asked how she solved murders, her reply was,
'I can see everything from my front window in St Mary Mead'
We can debate the merits of St Mary Mead and for that matter, Midsomer in their quest to replace Colima or Caracas as murder capital of the world, but the point is a good one
Recalling the UK EU referendum in 2016, the think tank mentality within the M25 and Westminster bubble was that Remain would win and the UK would move together arm in arm with the EU towards ever closer union They had absolutely no idea what was going on especially in the non metropolitan midlands and north of England because their elected representatives, mainly of the Labour Party, had long since given up caring what their constituents thought because their vote at election time was all but assured. We both remember well what happened in the financial markets when Sunderland voted to Leave
This arrogance amongst the political elite is not confined to the UK because ultimately they were representing the same agenda promulgated by the European elite that the people do not know what is best for them and it must be more Europe at all costs
What does this have to do with the United States ?
As Christopher Hitchens argued in this 1996 article about Bill Clinton (https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v18/n11/christopher-hitchens/a-hard-dog-to-keep-on-the-porch) and echoed 20 years later by Mark Blyth (https://youtu.be/rGvZil0qWPg?si=ha617PPG2k-M6o69), the centre left moved away from their core constituents and embraced finance because democracy was evolving to serve the technocracy and therefore had to limit choice.
In doing so, and as the neo liberal reset of 1979 became a global flow of dollar capital, the interests of the US were so aligned with the rising EC/EU that one consequence of the post 2008 US crash and 2011 Euro crisis was that the dollars printed by the Yellen's Fed were absorbed by the export driven Eurozone and held onto via UST purchases concomitant with fiscal compacts, with next to nothing invested in infrastructure.
In short, Fed QE was propping up the Eurozone with barely any discernible benefit for Europeans and no consent from the American people
So Juvenal's quote about Bread and Circuses still holds But as more people learn to understand what is being done on their behalf and how it differs from what their elected representatives pledged to do, there is I would argue an even bigger pushback against the globalist tendency to spend/squander resources on overseas projects whilst importing that which they have no mandate to do, that have no clear benefit to the people the policy markers are supposed to be serving !
I think this was certainly a factor with Brexit, a reason why Boris Johnson secured a mandate and why Donald Trump just won a landslide and I don't think the technocrats can continue ignoring a trend that is spreading across Europe as well
It's easy to move away from your core constituents. You spend more time in London, meeting pressure groups and lobbyists and being wined and dined. Your focus narrows to an echo chamber, to the point you are shocked that Trump wins despite fair warning. (Amazed to see The Guardian Football Weekly delaying its Champions League pod to take this stance - what a messed up set of editorial priorities there.)
It's much harder to reconnect with your core base up north. They see you as an effete, metropolitan snob with your nose in the trough, because that is what you have become.