There’s an interesting finding advanced by professor Eric Kaufmann, author of the new book Whiteshift, that the more populist views have a standing politically, the less likely they are to turn violent, and the fewer acts of violence we see. The takeaway: if mainstream politics can wrestle with the arguments of populists of the right and left as part of the legitimate political debate, the less likely supporters are to consider revolutionary or reactionary steps. If the Yellow Jackets think their views are getting a hearing, they are less likely to set anything on fire.

It remains possible that I am too pessimistic about what this combination of big tech, elite left-globalist, constant surveillance, and partisan-eliminationist stuff really means for the United States. But what if I and those who agree with me are right, and what’s more, everything these Masters of the Universe have planned is legal and constitutional? That there is no legal recourse except to say: build your own marketplace?

What we’re watching is the weaponization of market power and civil society against people conservatives see as apolitical and innocent. But if you believe pre-woke capitalism is inherently corrupt, where LGBT people and racial minorities were disrespected and isolated and worse, that vision of pre-woke capitalism is just a vindictive reflection of prejudice, racism, and bigotry.