The Perils of Overeducated Resentment

Throughout history, societies have faced upheaval from groups of well-educated but underemployed individuals who feel undervalued and entitled to better lives, sparking revolutions and ideological shifts. For instance, the French Revolution was driven by frustrated lawyers, while Lenin's circle included privileged intellectuals resentful of their status. This pattern continues today, where college graduates steeped in progressive ideals often earn too little to thrive in expensive cities like New York or San Francisco, leading to bitterness and support for radical changes. Think of academics or artists who envy wealthier businesspeople and push for utopian systems that dismantle existing structures, as seen in Nazi Germany's appeal to university and creative communities by promising opportunities through exclusion. In modern America, this fosters a divide: one urban group prioritizes single life and cultural trends over family, with low birth rates sustaining their influence temporarily, while another relocates to affordable areas for marriage, kids, and community, like the South or Great Plains where people build families and attend church without stigma. Media elites in big cities often misunderstand this other America, amplifying cultural rifts, and upcoming clashes—such as in diverse New York between progressive policies and working-class needs, like charter schools for minority kids or small immigrant-owned stores—could force tough choices between ideology and reality.

Check the post here.