Conversation

Been idly compiling a “billionaire political ideologies” dossier (Koch, Soros, Mercer, Thiel...) Starting to think billionaire-vs-billionaire is not the best way for a society to do its political thinking How do you advance political thought without billionaire $ fueling it?
12
34
Replying to
Ideologically populism is actually just wealth-elitism in disguise since it has no indie intellectual capacity (vertical horseshoe theory) Cultural elitism is middle-class in funding (tax-funded higher education) and roots. Ie it’s middle class ideology vs rich ideology
2
3
Replying to
Huh? See a lot of elites hanging out on Alex Jones? Trump rode the Koch brothers out of the controlling class of the GOP. Ironically, the Kochs' long-running institution bankrolling (Cato, American Heritage, etc) saved them. Few Trumpy cabinet members & no junior / senior staff
2
Replying to and
to your original question, making progress (in any direction) without billionaire $ = figuring out how to bankroll institutions without billionaire $
1
Replying to
meh. taxpayer funded institutions like universities are too sclerotic to drive change. i'm thinking publications like mother jones. prob must be a direct to consumer product, otherwise how to get middle class mindshare.
1
Replying to
They weren’t always. I just meant them as existence proof that ideological thought development need not be wealthy-funded. Other examples: early monastic orders of most religions, before institutionalizations and patronage kick in.
1