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The Classicist with Victor Davis Hanson: “The Pajama Boy Aristocracy”
Victor Davis Hanson describes how a new class of young, entitled, culturally conformist leaders are rising to power in Washington, Hollywood, and Silicon Valley.
Published in General
Love, ya, VDH. You take “Curmudgeon” up a notch!
I think Professor Hanson may have obliquely called Jonah Goldberg and John Podhoretz Pajama Boys in this podcast.
I didn’t hear those names mentioned but I was thinking similarly (Kevin Williamson, Charles Cooke – yes, Podhoretz).
I think Jonah is always substantive in his criticisms and hasn’t been the ‘Pearl Clutcher’ that others come off as.
Hanson’s remark about how so many public “intellectuals” really don’t know much of anything is the most interesting to me… I’m sure the cult of youth that was mentioned (and the pride in one’s ignorance and overvaluing of one’s own opinion that comes with it) plays a role in it, and I imagine it’s also very consequential that educational institutions don’t seem all that dedicated to relaying a coherent body of knowledge to younger people.
I wonder what will be needed to fix that, given events like the student vote against reinstating Western Civ coursework at Stanford, and students at Yale trying to remove Shakespeare from the English major course requirements. It’s funny to think that many of our so-called elites need remedial education. (And in the case VDH highlighted about Rhodes’ Iran deal echo chamber, you could easily replace “funny” with “scary.”)
Quite right, no such names were mentioned. Messrs. Goldberg and Podhoretz came to mind because I listen to GLoP. Many other names could be added to the list.
It was amusing to hear Mr. Senik’s nervous laughter in the background during that part of the podcast.
Professor Hanson thanks for just telling it like it is, and calling a pajama boy a pajama boy.
BTW when I was a kid we called those things “footsie pajamas”. In my neighborhood if you were still wearing them at age 10, you were pretty much considered a complete dork.
I spent a bunch of time as a saw operator in a machine shop.
So, it was great that I took his advice before I ever knew he existed.
Same here, but it was a saw mill. It’s a great teacher of life and reality, to spend all day standing next to spinning blades of death.
VDH hit the nail on the head with the panama boy analogy. I’ll be using that one!
Lordlings, that’s what they are. They are Lordlings, heirs presumptive to powers and privileges of a ruling aristocracy in a static, class-ridden, feudal monarchy.