The Civil Industrial Complex

In the last few years, the American left has produced scores of new slogan-friendly policies to reshape the American economy. The 2020 primary saw various Democratic candidates promote Medicare for All, a wealth tax, the Green New Deal, a universal basic income, free college, and more. These policies and their slogans were the rallying cries of the Grassroots. Progressive organizations and left-leaning voters rallied around their champions (Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders) against a collage of “corporate Democrats.” Battalions of semi-professional and volunteer activists canvassed the nation enlisting every vote they could get their hands on. These armies of progress were supplied with over a hundred million dollars in small donations, simultaneously proving the might and righteousness of the cause.

And then they lost. Badly.

Despite their electoral defeat, Bernie Sanders and many on the left claim that they won the ideological battle, and that their movement and ideas are ascendant in American politics. If that is the case, then the benefactors of America’s exploitative economy can rest easy knowing their power is safe and sound, even if the prophecy of a future left-wing majority comes to pass. This is because these policies originate from America’s current day civil society organizations, which are primarily inhabited by a highly-educated, righteous class of people who are out to get what they deserve while fixing the world. It is a class divorced from production, and therefore a class almost entirely dedicated to improving the consumer experience.