Kamala Harris delivered a good, frank, well-sculpted speech last night — no question. She made me feel proud and stirred and revved up. But we all know that the general narrative of wokeism since the mid teens has been about “straight white guys bad” — about the diminishment and to some extent the demonization of straight white males, as they are generally regarded by wokesters as odious symbols of the institutional racism that has permeated this country for a long, long time.
Last night I was muttering to myself “there’s something happening here.” For the well-produced Chicago DNC show was a four-day extravaganza that served to mostly emphasize (be honest) the energy and promise of well-heeled. emotionally confident and highly articulate women of color. Along with their seemingly obedient husbands.
I feel zero allegiance with white male Trumpies, but this is a huge country with tens of millions of polite, well-mannered, relatively well educated fellows of European descent. Just under 60% of the population is white and African Americans total around 14%, but you’d never know that from watching the DNC show over the last four nights.
We all know from Scott Galloway that younger, not-as-well-educated white males who might be incels…these shlumpy, poorly dressed, porn-site-frequenting guys have been largely told by progressive urban women that they are not all that sexy or valued or even respected as urban women are better educated with far more positive outlooks and engaged attitudes.
We all know from having watched Twisters that traditional white-male energy and initiative is fine in limited doses but that Glen Powell-ish guys cannot bring their traditional macho strength and servings of old-school honor and saving-the-day heroism, and they certainly don’t warrant a kiss inside the airport terminal at the finale.
It’s all tied together, all part of the same unified urban-blue message — white guys are okay for corporate gigs and construction jobs and being actors and film critics and auto mechanics and legislators and running hardware stores and managing CVS outlets but they need to more or less stand off to the side as America gradually evolves into a woke 21st Century matriarchy, and fortified by a new kind of power structure — a new country led by well-educated women, people of diverse backgrounds, LGBTQs and a slice of the Ru Paul community for flavor.
Have I become Dylan’s Mr. Jones? I don’t think I am (last time I checked I was a cosmic, well-travelled Bhagavad Gita soul man and hepcat) and I certainly don’t want to be but…
Wealthy, independent minded whiteys like Galloway, Joe Rogan, Bill Maher and Adam Carolla have their own deals and fiefdoms and that’s fine, but white guys are somehow not seen as vital to the country’s cultural & political future as they once were. They seem to represent the recent past and/or a way of thinking that no longer quite fits or applies, certainly not like it did in the ‘90s and early aughts.
The new progressive social deal seems to be more about women who look and sound like Ella Emhoff (what was up with those godawful glasses and ugly arm tats and zero makeup and granny-bun hair and that generally de-sexualized appearance?) and even poor 17 year-old Gus Walz, who has a disability or two. Where are all the cool, regular, well-built, nicely-dressed dudes who own baseball mitts and know how to throw a football and can handle themselves at poolside cocktail parties? What are we? Who are we? Where are all the X-factor, well-read samurai jazz cats who wear Italian lace-ups?
All this aside, Kamala’s speech last night made me feel good and energized and hopeful for the most part. But at the same time I understand why many straight white males, especially the hinterland variety, have allied themselves with the right. It’s because they’ve been repeatedly told by progressive lefties that they arent rated all that highly.
