Washington Post: The Substack Controversy’s Bigger Story

How big is the “far right” vote in 2021?

The “far right” is now at least half of Trump voters. These people are also distinct from another 35% of Trump voters – the people who used to be the Republican base before the Trump presidency – who share the same view on political correctness/wokeness and cancel culture. Both of these groups are also distinct from the “far right” vote which remained estranged from Trump and the Republican Party because they are so alienated and disaffected that they sat out and remained non-voters.

Washington Post:

“Individually, these may seem like small incidents, even unrelated, but they are manifestations of an increasingly merciless “cancel culture” that tolerates no violations of progressive norms, even those committed long ago or inadvertently. That culture has become powerful in media, academia, entertainment and corporate America, which means it affects everyone. The Substack fight in particular might prove an augury of where free expression is headed. …

In this case, a win for the cancellation artists would validate the dark prophesies one often finds in conservative writing, including on Substack: a future where “woke capital,” in thrall to left-wing activists, makes it effectively impossible to hold a professional-class job without enthusiastically embracing progressive orthodoxy — especially on issues of identity. …

Companies with valuable monopolies typically force higher prices from customers, a.k.a. “economic rents.” Labor monopolies, however, often prefer fringe benefits to straight cash. And woke capital, Harwick argues, is actually the creation of a labor cartel: the highly progressive monoculture of professional workers. To keep them happy, institutions that employ a lot of professionals have been pressured toward a narrow ideological consensus, corresponding to the views of roughly the left-most 8 percent of the American electorate. It’s a hidden fringe benefit that Harwick dubs “ideological rents.” …

If forced to choose, simple arithmetic suggests those firms should probably let the most progressive 8 percent go and focus on the other nine-tenths of the country. …”

How many Americans are progressive activists?

The Voter Study Group puts this cluster at around 13% of the electorate. It is White upper middle class, college-educated professionals who live in wealthy enclaves and who have cosmopolitan and modernist values. Political correctness has become something like their new religion.

Voter Study Group:

“The 2017 VOTER Survey data reveal stark demographic differences behind these issue preferences. DILEs (13 percent of the electorate) are heavily Democratic (67 percent) and liberal (77 percent), and are less than 1 percent Republican or conservative. They are also the youngest group, with 51 percent under 45 years old. The DILE cluster has the second-highest percentage of white voters (75 percent), behind only the CY cluster (79 percent). Their educational attainment is the highest of all the groups, as 86 percent have some college/an associate’s degree or more, with 48 percent having graduated college, and 22 percent having done post-graduate work. Finally, they have the highest income — with 26 percent making $100,000 or more, and only 10 percent making $30,000 or less. …”

This study found that they are 8% of the electorate.

They also feel “safer” than any other group. Perhaps that should change? Maybe they should be the focus of our ire since this is the group that is causing all the problems? It was their brats who went out and rioted for months last summer. The “Wall of Moms” came out in support of them in Portland.

Hidden Tribes:

“Progressive Activists have strong ideological views, high levels of engagement with political issues, and the highest levels of education and socioeconomic status. Their own circumstances are secure. They feel safer than any group, which perhaps frees them to devote more attention to larger issues of social justice in their society. They have an outsized role in public debates, even though they comprise a small portion of the total population, about one in 12 Americans. They are highly sensitive to issues of fairness and equity in society, particularly regarding race, gender, and other minority group identities. Their emphasis on unjust power structures leads them to be very pessimistic about fairness in America. They are uncomfortable with nationalism and ambivalent about America’s role in the world.

Main concerns

Climate Change, Inequality, Poverty

Compared to the average American:

More than twice as likely to list politics as a hobby (73 percent v. 35 percent)

Three times more likely to say that people’s outcomes result from “luck and circumstance” (75 percent v. 25 percent)

Less likely to believe the world is becoming a “more and more dangerous place” (19 percent v. 38 percent)

More than twice as likely to say that they never pray (50 percent v. 19 percent)

Almost three times more likely to be “ashamed to be an American” (69 percent v. 24 percent)

More likely to say they are proud of their political ideology (64 percent v. 43 percent)

Eleven percent more likely to be white (80 percent v. 69 percent)

Seven percent more likely to be between the ages of 18 and 29 (28 percent v. 21 percent)

Twice as likely to have completed college (59 percent v. 29 percent) …”

We’ve embarked on an interesting experiment.

Can this 8% to 13% of the electorate transform the internet into a progressive safe space and censor the views of at least 25% of the electorate by branding these people “far right” and “extremists”? Can they censor the president of the United States who represents 47% of the electorate?

“Woke” issues are divisive within the Democratic Party and command near unanimous opposition from Republicans and intense opposition from Independents as well:

The “far right” vote for Republicans is significantly larger than the “progressive activist” vote is for Democrats. The Republican establishment vote is only 15% of Republican voters. A recent NRSC poll on a “winning message” for the 2022 midterms found that taking on Big Tech has about 90% support within the Republican Party and strong support from Independents.

Note: Why on earth are we voting for conservatives to cut their taxes? Why is the Republican policy agenda focused on enriching and making life easier for our enemies?