I submit that in virtually
every political party, a distinction can be made between the “rank and file”
and the political elite. Kamala Harris may have lost to Donald Trump in the 2024
U.S. federal-presidential race in part because Harris had not spoken out enough
on economic issues amid soaring inflation on groceries and rents to gain
traction with Democratic and Independent voters who had had enough of the “woke”
ideological agenda, which includes, for example, moral pressure and even demands
that people announce their “pronouns” before speaking. Although President
Biden had initiated some anti-trust judicial action, the industry-oligopoly
of meat producers, for example, was left untouched. So too were the mega-grocery-store
chains. Kroger was later found to have spiked egg and milk prices above the
increased costs with impunity, yet Harris did not suggest that the Sherman or
Clayton anti-trust acts should be taken out of the garage for spin on the American
judicial highways that connect the rank-and-file party-members to party elites
mainly in New England, New York, and California. I contend that U.S. Senator
Bernie Sander’s anti-oligopoly speeches in conservative Congressional districts
gained such numbers in 2025 precisely because the Democratic Party’s elite had
lost touch with the party’s “rank and file” voters on economic issues.[1]
The full essay is at "Political and Economic Elites."
1. An oligopoly is an industry in which a few companies dominate. An oligopoly is between a monopoly and a competitive market. Prices on products can be higher than necessary, the surplus revenue going to profits. Sellers are price-takers rather than price-setters in a competitive market, whereas companies in an oligopolistic industry have sufficient market-power to set prices because consumers have few choices.