Joel Kotkin | Elites: The New Ruling Class?

In this Direct interview, John is joined by American demographer, academic and author Joel Kotkin. John and Joel discuss some of the key theses of Joel’s widely-praised recent book, 'The Coming of Neo-Feudalism'.

Joel shines the spotlight on the Western progressive elite or, as he terms them, the 'new clerisy', who sideline and silence anyone who speak or, increasingly, think against the orthodoxy. He paints a worrying comparison between this status quo, the Chinese experience of authoritarianism and the medieval feudalism known to Europe for hundreds of years.

Joel Kotkin is often described as “America’s uber-geographer”, and is an internationally recognised authority on global economic, political and social trends. Mr. Kotkin is the Presidential Fellow in Urban Futures at Chapman University in Orange, California and Executive Director of the Houston-based Urban Reform Institute.
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00:00 Intro
01:26 How does geography shape society?
05:03 The new feudalism
08:00 Parallels of ‘policing of views’ in China and America
12:07 What does the new aristocracy believe?
21:38 Realignment of the left and right
26:58 Intolerant progressive elites
32:41 Class divides
45:44 The benefits of liberal democratic capitalism
52:06 The erosion of our freedoms
53:20 Conclusion
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Conversations feature John Anderson, former Deputy Prime Minister of Australia, interviewing the world's foremost thought leaders about today's pressing social, cultural and political issues.

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Joel Kotkin:
https://twitter.com/joelkotkin
https://joelkotkin.com/
https://www.chapman.edu/our-faculty/joel-kotkin