Divided Nation

For John, BLUF:  What separates us is our social classes.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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The Chump Effect

From The National Review, by Kyle Smith, 12 November 2020.

Here is the lede plus one:

James B. Meigs, the former editor of Popular Mechanics who lately has been writing an insightful column about tech for Commentary, is also doing superb work for City Journal. His latest essay carries a title that is useful shorthand for so much of what is going on around us today: “The Chump Effect.” (At the moment the essay appears to be available only for subscribers to the print edition of the quarterly, which is publishing the best long-form journalism from a center-right perspective that I’m aware of. It’s shocking that, in an era when ordinary weeklies sell for eight bucks or so, this high-impact, 128-page journal with no filler, no ads, and no celebrity fluff costs as little as $5 an issue.)

The Chump Effect is Meigs’s clever term for the bipartisan, broadly shared feeling that various systems are rigged in favor of elites, insiders, and favored groups, which leads to a breakdown in societal trust and trust in institutions. If those guys don’t have to play by the rules, we think, why should I? Meigs delves into social-science experiments that show people motivated by the Chump Effect can act irrationally by effectively volunteering to pay a cost in order that others be punished for ignoring norms.

This is another manifestation of the problem with a meriocracy that does not provide space for those in the bottom half of the population, job and income wise  See, for example, the book by Harvard Professor by Michael J. Sandel, The Tyranny of Merit: What's Become of the Common Good?.

We have become a divided nation, but it isn't between Republicans and Democrats, but between Classes.  The realization of that division is being more and more apparent, as reflected in President Trump's increased minority votes this November.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff