General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Wall Street Journal Op-Ed Bemoans The End Of White Rule In The United States [View all]caraher
(6,278 posts)The teabaggers are a mix of ignorant people who can't tell grass roots from astroturf and those deliberately exploiting the blindness of the former group. The first group vastly outnumbers the latter, and you'll find the old-school WASPs mainly in the latter group. While technically they are mostly white and non-Catholic christians, most teabillies are not "anglo-saxon" and more importantly, not from the "ruling class" for whom Epstein expresses so much fulsome nostalgia.
I think a more accurate diagnosis is that, in their infinite ruling-class wisdom, Epstein's beloved WASPs decided that, for the purpose of preserving their positions of privilege, it was a better bet to encourage the forces of teabagger ignorance than to concede anything to more enlightened views.
So I think Epstein is right in some narrow technical sense, the fact is that they ceded any claim to intellectual high ground by accepting blatantly ignorant politics into polite company for personal gain. I agree the problem is not non-whites (wow, was that awkward!); I just think that the WASP subset of all whites is far less than half.
In a way, this echoes the tale of how the Irish became white in America. The teabillies I see where I live supporting political and economic views against their own best interests have been seduced into believing they have more in common with a Rand Paul or Mitt Romney than the Mexicans working in the same low-wage factory jobs they have. Divide and conquer, the oldest trick in the book for a privileged minority...