This reminds me of Chapo’s recurring bit about the core MAGA voter basically being a guy named Chick Hickenlooper who owns a regional chain of water parks that are always one inspection away from a Legionnaires’ outbreak
This is very interesting. One addendum to this is that small and medium capital in the US tends to be very highly indebted. Might that not be one reason that Trump is so focused on lowering interest rates? In my view there is a connection here between this observation, and the framework of "political capitalism".
During the recent winter storm, I had to host a neighbor who is part of this Trumpenproletariat: she's a woman in her 80s whose adult children didn't think it was a problem that she might lose power and die in her house (as some elderly people did in Nashville). We spent three days together that were a revelation to me about how these people think: basically, she had a hard life, and so she thinks that everybody else from now on should also have a hard life.
She mocked people who think child care should be affordable or even free. She scoffed at people who "want people to vote." She said that the Bible says nobody should get divorced (but she did get divorced because God made an exception for her). But she also was very confused about reality: she thought that the redistricting in TN happened because "Nashville is too crowded so they had to move some people out." !!!
It seemed fine to her that the government would just tell people that they had to leave Davidson County because it was getting too crowded. That level of authoritarianism seems normal to her. I had to explain many things, including the fact that redistricting was not about making people move. It was about gerrymandering, or arranging the voting districts in favor of Republicans. That's when she got a very annoyed look on her face and said, "Because they want people to VOTE!" As if voting was something like pooping on the sidewalk: disgusting!
This person has voted Republican in all national elections and still has a Trump sign from 2020 in front of her house. But in 2012 or so, she got extremely annoyed because there was no free health care for her unemployed, alcoholic adult son. I tried to explain that the Republican Tennessee legislature had rejected the Medicaid expansion that would have covered people like him. She thought it was all Obama's fault.
A conversation between you and Prof Cooper would make for an excellent podcast on the political economy of American fascism. Btw- what did you think of Tooze’s history setting duties at Davos?
You hardly need to appeal to a murderous thug like Lenin to get a quote about looking for who stands to gain. There's a weakness on the left for finding some redeeming value in figures like Lenin (same for Castro, Guevara, Trotsky and until recently at least Ortega) who set themselves up as revolutionary heroes but in the historical record have acted as, as I described Lenin, murderous thugs.
Instead of "come on," engage. Why are you appealing to someone like Lenin for banal truism? Look, I love your analyses. They're really enlightening and sharp, and there have been worse historical actors than Lenin, but perhaps few set in motion such huge disasters. But such an uncritical reference to someone awful seems the opposite of what appreciate about your work.
I think you can quote awful people without endorsing their lives and actions. I quoted Stalin the other day. It's done with a touch of irony. I did a long piece about Lenin's theory of imperialism. These are significant thinkers and figures of history, no matter how we morally judge them.
I don't know about thinkers, and the irony doesn't come through. The juxtaposition of the citation at the beginning and the commonplace nature of the assertion is weird. But I totally understand that when we write especially in this form, it's hard to think through all the potential meanings. But I get what you're saying, and let's leave it.
This post reflects Trump's way of running the government like his family business: a seat of his pants/one-step-ahead-of-the-sheriff style. And deeply in debt.
This reminds me of Chapo’s recurring bit about the core MAGA voter basically being a guy named Chick Hickenlooper who owns a regional chain of water parks that are always one inspection away from a Legionnaires’ outbreak
This is very interesting. One addendum to this is that small and medium capital in the US tends to be very highly indebted. Might that not be one reason that Trump is so focused on lowering interest rates? In my view there is a connection here between this observation, and the framework of "political capitalism".
Here's what my initial research has turned up:
GEO Group — Heavily leveraged. As of ~2023-2024:
- ~$2-2.5 billion in total debt
- They converted from REIT to C-corp in 2021 specifically to address debt (REITs must distribute 90% of income, limiting debt paydown)
- Banks fled after Biden's 2021 executive order against private prison contracts — major banks (JPMorgan, Wells Fargo, Bank of America)
stopped lending to private prison companies
- High interest rates + uncertain contract environment made refinancing difficult
- ICE contracts = 43% of revenue, making them extremely dependent on immigration enforcement policy
CoreCivic (GEO's competitor) — Similar story, ~$1.5B debt
Gov't contracts typically require surety bonds, which have some debt market exposure but generally are based on credit score of the company afaic.
Fascinating John....
Yeah, great observation, and I want to look more into the specifics.
Let’s go charts baby love da charts
:)
During the recent winter storm, I had to host a neighbor who is part of this Trumpenproletariat: she's a woman in her 80s whose adult children didn't think it was a problem that she might lose power and die in her house (as some elderly people did in Nashville). We spent three days together that were a revelation to me about how these people think: basically, she had a hard life, and so she thinks that everybody else from now on should also have a hard life.
She mocked people who think child care should be affordable or even free. She scoffed at people who "want people to vote." She said that the Bible says nobody should get divorced (but she did get divorced because God made an exception for her). But she also was very confused about reality: she thought that the redistricting in TN happened because "Nashville is too crowded so they had to move some people out." !!!
It seemed fine to her that the government would just tell people that they had to leave Davidson County because it was getting too crowded. That level of authoritarianism seems normal to her. I had to explain many things, including the fact that redistricting was not about making people move. It was about gerrymandering, or arranging the voting districts in favor of Republicans. That's when she got a very annoyed look on her face and said, "Because they want people to VOTE!" As if voting was something like pooping on the sidewalk: disgusting!
This person has voted Republican in all national elections and still has a Trump sign from 2020 in front of her house. But in 2012 or so, she got extremely annoyed because there was no free health care for her unemployed, alcoholic adult son. I tried to explain that the Republican Tennessee legislature had rejected the Medicaid expansion that would have covered people like him. She thought it was all Obama's fault.
Bingo!!! Thanks John!!!
A conversation between you and Prof Cooper would make for an excellent podcast on the political economy of American fascism. Btw- what did you think of Tooze’s history setting duties at Davos?
You hardly need to appeal to a murderous thug like Lenin to get a quote about looking for who stands to gain. There's a weakness on the left for finding some redeeming value in figures like Lenin (same for Castro, Guevara, Trotsky and until recently at least Ortega) who set themselves up as revolutionary heroes but in the historical record have acted as, as I described Lenin, murderous thugs.
come on man.
Instead of "come on," engage. Why are you appealing to someone like Lenin for banal truism? Look, I love your analyses. They're really enlightening and sharp, and there have been worse historical actors than Lenin, but perhaps few set in motion such huge disasters. But such an uncritical reference to someone awful seems the opposite of what appreciate about your work.
I think you can quote awful people without endorsing their lives and actions. I quoted Stalin the other day. It's done with a touch of irony. I did a long piece about Lenin's theory of imperialism. These are significant thinkers and figures of history, no matter how we morally judge them.
I don't know about thinkers, and the irony doesn't come through. The juxtaposition of the citation at the beginning and the commonplace nature of the assertion is weird. But I totally understand that when we write especially in this form, it's hard to think through all the potential meanings. But I get what you're saying, and let's leave it.
Yes, let's, because I'm not going to change how I write. And apparently, you haven't seen the Big Lebowski.
"I am the walrus." ????
You have a good point there.
Reposting as comment to your post, not the annoying comment about Lenin.
Yup. This also jibes with MacLean’s analysis of the class composition of the Second Klan. One typo: change Melina to Melinda.
“they are all regional, dynastic family businesses and major GOP donors.”
Reminds me of “American Gentry: The Political and Economic Elite No One Talks About” by Patrick Wyman in The Atlantic.
This post reflects Trump's way of running the government like his family business: a seat of his pants/one-step-ahead-of-the-sheriff style. And deeply in debt.
Another quality column. How can we get you syndicated?