[lbo-talk] INSTANT POPULISM: A short history of populism old and new

[Wojtek S]

Somebody: "In fact, class as a unit of analysis really only succeeds when
dealing with the bourgeoisie, the most cohesive and self-conscious class in
history."

[WS:] Add to it European aristocracy - which points to a more general
observation that elites -capitalist or otherwise - tend to be a far more
cohesive and self-conscious social class than the lower social strata.  This
different level of cohesiveness not only explains the superior position and
power that elites wield in society, but also the relative lack of success of
class-based appeals and politics aimed at lower social strata.

Wojtek