A Very British Dystopia
A Very British Coup embraced the intrigues of class war, but its sequel falls prey to the mundanities of culture war.
492 Article(s) by: Luke Savage
Luke Savage is the author of The Dead Center: Reflections on Liberalism and Democracy After the End of History and a writer on Substack.
The Trump Era Is Over. Our Leaders Want To Take Us Back To 2015
With the Trump presidency thankfully in its death throes, Joe Biden and the Democratic leadership are in thrall to a dangerous illusion that they can take the country back to the political world of 2015 as if nothing happened. They’re about to learn that they’ve won a Pyrrhic victory.
Once More, With Feeling: America Must Abolish the Electoral College
Whatever the final outcome of the vote, there has rarely been a more vital moment to champion democracy and majority rule. That means abolishing the Electoral College.
Donald Trump Has Done One Good Thing — He’s Desacralized the American Presidency
Like the monarchy in Old Regime France, the mystique of the presidency has always played a crucial role in maintaining the symbolic legitimacy of an oppressive American political order. In four years, Donald Trump has systematically destroyed that mystique.
What Is the State of Conservatism Today?
Know Your Enemy is a podcast about conservatism that takes analyzing its ideas and actions seriously. As we approach the end of Trump's presidential term, we talked to its hosts about the state of the Republican Party and the Right after nearly four years of President Trump.
The United States Is Badly In Need of Democratic Reform
America’s political institutions are designed to keep democracy at bay. But evidence is mounting that Americans have had enough and want reform.
Attacking Trump as a “Fake Billionaire” Is a Dead End
The real scandal isn’t that Donald Trump is secretly poor — it’s that our system let such an obvious fraud get so rich.
How Pepe the Frog Morphed From a Goofy Cartoon to a Hate Symbol
An entertaining new documentary helps explain the strange visual alchemy of the internet — and how a goofy cartoon of Pepe the Frog became, despite its creator's opposition, a mascot of the postmodern right's virulent reactionary politics.
The First Presidential Debate Was Completely Nuts
Last night’s debate between Joe Biden and Donald Trump was a ninety-minute stream of consciousness that pitted a mediocre-at-best challenger to a raving, dangerous reactionary. Were we expecting anything different?
Joe Biden Is Wrong. Believing in Science Means Banning Fracking.
Joe Biden wants to have it both ways, issuing bold rhetoric about the climate emergency while refusing to adopt a policy agenda to match. But taking the science of climate change seriously means banning practices like fracking — something Biden has so far refused to do.
The United States Needs a National Moratorium on Utility Shutoffs
A new report estimates that 76 million households will be vulnerable to utility shutoffs by next month. Congress needs to act now to stop these shutoffs — it's a matter of life and death.
Donald Trump Has Added Trillions to the US Military Budget. Joe Biden Wants to Spend Even More.
Joe Biden has made clear he would veto Medicare for All because it costs too much. But when it comes to the military, ballooning the budget by several trillion additional dollars isn't enough for him — Biden wants more.
Joe Biden’s Promises Were Meant to Be Broken
Contrary to the rosy predictions of liberal pundits, Joe Biden has not embraced the Left or its priorities. The only viable left strategy under a Biden administration will be one of confrontation.
It’s Ecosocialism or Barbarism
Bloodred skies. Entire towns torched. The West Coast wildfires are the latest proof that we have no alternative to a Green New Deal — and that the urgency, in the face of increasingly apocalyptic conditions, is mounting rapidly.
Joe Biden Won’t Learn Anything From Ed Markey’s Win
For four decades Sen. Ed Markey was a run-of-the-mill liberal Democrat. But when he found himself threatened by a potentially career-ending defeat, he turned toward young voters and the Left — and it worked. Could Biden do the same? Maybe. But he probably won’t even try.
Joe Biden Is Falling into Donald Trump’s Law-And-Order Trap
Despite Trump’s posturing, crime is nowhere near top of mind for most of the American electorate. So why is Joe Biden running on a triangulating law-and-order message?
Ed Markey’s Victory Over Joe Kennedy III Was Far From Inevitable
For most of his campaign, incumbent senator and Green New Deal cosponsor Ed Markey was losing to Joe Kennedy III's well-funded and establishment-backed primary challenge. Markey won by doing something few Democrats today are willing to: embracing the Left.
Republicans Run Toward Their Base. Democrats Run Away From Theirs.
This year’s RNC was predictably a circus, while the DNC was largely pitched to a relatively small sliver of affluent professionals and suburban conservatives. While conservatives are pulled ever rightward by an increasingly radicalized fringe, liberal elites discipline their base into accepting a message crafted for someone else.
Joe Biden’s Strategy of Appealing to Republicans Is Courting Disaster
In 2016, Democrats put their chips on winning over conservative voters disgusted with Donald Trump and ended up with their worst electoral college margin since the days of Michael Dukakis. For some reason, they seem intent on trying the same strategy again.
Joe Kennedy III Is a Spoiled Rich Kid Who Feels Entitled to the Senate
Joe Kennedy’s campaign for Senate against Ed Markey is utterly pointless, a vacuous bid to leverage his youth and his family crest into another position of power.