The blasphemy of billionaires and the decadence of pundits who defend their obscenity
The true source of the threat of "civilizational suicide."
Lately, I have been thinking about Pat Robertson. Yes, the very same. The late televangelist used to accuse America of falling away from the straight and narrow when there was a natural disaster. Hurricanes, tornadoes, floods – these were God's punishment, he said. For what? Well, whatever Robertson didn't like, but gay men preoccupied his attention. I guess God wouldn't punish America if they were back in the closet. Or something like that.
I have been thinking about Robertson's style of rhetoric in light of the recent discourse over "woke 1." There appears to be an established elite consensus that Donald Trump and the politics he represents were a natural and legitimate reaction to it. Noah Berlatsky called this the "white supremacy consensus." Victor Ray put that in historical context: "The end of Reconstruction and the rise of Jim Crow depended upon the exact type of elite consensus that non-white folks had gone too far in calling for equality, that we are living through. It does not bode well for the future, even if the GOP is routed in the next couple of elections."
What does this have to do with Pat Robertson?
Consider Jamelle Bouie's contribution to the "woke 1" discourse. In a new video, the Times columnist reminded us what "woke 1" was about: "a material response to real conditions, from police violence to rampant inequality to sexual abuse and misconduct." Yes, he said, some of that was silly, but "put this in perspective and recognize that in this moment, the obsession with wokeness that seems to monopolize the thoughts of America's commentary class is utter decadence, a prime example of the total lack of moral seriousness from many of the people who presume to explain the world to ordinary Americans" (my italics).
Importantly, the evidence of decadence is the fact that the "white supremacy consensus" is based on make-believe. Bouie points to a piece by David Brooks, "an ostensibly serious and sober-minded political commentator," who asserted that "the left really did" purge universities of conservatives, elevate a "caste system that privileged the children of the affluent and screwed the working class," and create "a stifling orthodoxy that stamped out dissent." Brooks says these things really did happen when they really did not. Yet lacking an empirical basis does not matter. What matters is that such claims are shared by privileged white men like him, men for whom decadence is not a moral failing but a mark of status.
But elite decadence isn't the only thing reminding me of Pat Robertson.
So is elite impunity.
Last week, I told you about Philip Bump's reporting on the decline in the prosecution of white-collar crimes since the Financial Panic of 2007-2008. From that point onward, men like Elon Musk went from being merely rich to being very obscenely rich. Bump said his wealth grew by 60 times. Musk is symbolic. Over the last two decades, oligarchs have committed great crimes to produce great fortunes. Sixteen people in America are worth nearly $4 trillion. That has never happened before. They own our media. They own our tech platforms. They own all of one political party, some of the other. And they are trying to own our money.
Indeed, crypto currencies might be the perfect marriage of elite decadence and elite impunity. There is "no legitimate use" for them, according to Paul Krugman. "They’ve had 18 years to come up with one," he said in June. "They keep throwing things up like 'an inflation hedge' or 'source of stability.' Every one of them has turned out to be baseless. The only real use for crypto is tax evasion, money laundering and crime. It’s the preferred mechanism of choice for global terrorists, sex traffickers, and rogue nations like North Korea and Iran."
And let's not forget for the American president. For one thing, it hides bribery by elites. For another, it scams the little people. Charlie Bilello reported today that the value of Trump's meme coin is down -98 percent while his wife's is down -99 percent. “Everybody’s profiting," Trump said in July when he defended his family's $1.4 billion in crypto earnings. It's "perhaps the most blatant example of corruption in the history of American politics," Bilello said. Yet the entire "Epstein class," as Jon Ossoff might say, either approves of crypto or is silent.
Where we are right now is arguably the culmination of two decades of elite impunity and elite decadence. During that time, the very obscenely rich looted the republic, depleted our institutions and weakened our foundations, perhaps irreversibly. Musk is prone to saying that civilization is tempting suicide by allowing immigrants to take over. He's right about suicide, but wrong about immigrants. The threat is men like him who are bent on reshaping society so they never face the consequences of their choices. Their implicit goal isn't just to play God but be God, and there's no price they won't pay. But instead of bravely and humbly fighting this blasphemy, and instead of examining recent history to deduce the conditions from which it arose, the David Brookses of the world have decided to craft fables about "wokeness" that are, as Jamelle Bouie said, "made-up," "false" and "never happened."
Which brings me back to Pat Robertson. I think the late conservative Christian broadcaster and presidential candidate was wrong. Marginalized people are no sin, nor were hurricanes, tornadoes and floods the consequence of recognizing the inherent worth and dignity of all people. I say that, because I believe that's what God wants us to do. Democracy, freedom, equality, inclusion – these are the straight and narrow. All else is falling away from God.
But perhaps Pat Robertson was right, too. Our nation has lost its way. Multiracial democracy has given way to autocratic evil. Prosperity has given way to sickness, meanness, impoverishment and death. A cancer has spread through the body politic, yet we still tolerate the blasphemy of billionaires and the decadence of elite pundits who defend their obscenity.
Maybe God is punishing America.
And the worst is yet to come.
