The Revolting Elites: How Christopher Lasch Predicted Trump and the Crisis of American Democracy

Both the American left and right are revolted by elites. But whereas the right has channeled its distaste for the powers-that-be into Trump and MAGA, the left has mostly failed to capitalize on populist hatred of American elites. So what to do? According to the influential Turkish political theorist Soli Ozel, progressives need to reread Christopher Lasch, author of the 1995 classic, The Revolt of the Elites and the Betrayal of Democracy. In an essay entitled “Lasching Out,” Ozel observes that Lasch's critique of meritocratic elites who abandoned their sense of social responsibility—what he calls their noblesse oblige—offers a progressive roadmap for understanding why figures like Kamala Harris failed to connect with working-class voters, and how the left might forge a new populist coalition that prioritizes material interests over cultural absolutism.

1. Lasch predicted Trump decades before 2016 - Writing between the 1970s & 90s, Christopher Lasch warned that American elites had abandoned their sense of social responsibility (noblesse oblige), creating conditions for populist backlash that would eventually manifest as Trumpism.

2. The new meritocratic elite looks down on ordinary Americans - Unlike traditional elites who felt obligated to society, today's managerial class views working people as "uncouth, racist, xenophobic" and prefers to ignore them rather than engage or convince them of better ways of living.

3. Kamala Harris epitomized elite denial - Harris couldn't acknowledge her elite status or explain why she wanted to be president, representing exactly the kind of disconnected leader Lasch criticized—one who presents herself as embodying the "American dream" while being fundamentally out of touch.

4. The left needs "left conservatism" - Progressives should be economically leftist but culturally conservative, supporting incremental change that maintains social institutions like family while prioritizing working-class material conditions over cultural absolutism.

5. Leadership and coalition-building matter more than ideology - Like FDR's New Deal coalition, the left needs charismatic leaders who can forge alliances across different constituencies, avoiding the absolutism that has alienated educated elites from the broader population.

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