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Culture War Roundup for the week of March 31, 2025

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I think one thing that American liberals / institutionalists desperately need to recover is an understanding that most people don't see themselves in some universal, internally sympathetic class with our well-credentialed elites, and thus that the claim of such elites earning and maintaining trust is itself nothing like a default. And "But I did well on the test administered by elites like me" isn't enough. I think that's a really hard pill to swallow for people who have put all their chips on the current meritocracy, though, and it's understandable, because we were all born into a world that once had more default institutional trust.

The problem is that studies like this make this harder. It's a cycle.

They do think they're smarter, but that's not all of their claim. Or they wouldn't find it so hard to grant that someone like Elon is smart.

It's that they are necessary, precisely because the bigotry and ignorance of the unsympathetic part of the populace can't be left unchecked. It's not only harmful to them, it disproportionately harms those America owes a blood debt. It hurts the marginalized the worst and, to steal a line, that's too serious a matter to be left up to the voters to decide themselves.

They know they are disliked by some, they expect it. But a) people always resist progress and b)those people are people who don't know about things like this.

It's much harder to climb down this sort of moral position than it is to admit you're not as certain about a purely technical matter. It's much harder to see the necessity.