#LONDINIUM90AD: MICHAEL VLAHOS. FRIENDS OF HISTORY DEBATING SOCIETY. @MICHALIS_VLAHOS HEADLINE: The Struggle for America: Ruling Elite vs. Populism and the Threat of Revolution The speakers analyze domestic American conflict, using David Brooks's framewor
The John Batchelor Show
John Batchelor
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🗓️ 22 September 2025
⏱️ 15 minutes
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Summary
HEADLINE: The Struggle for America: Ruling Elite vs. Populism and the Threat of Revolution
The speakers analyze domestic American conflict, using David Brooks's framework of the credentialed elite versus the non-credentialed public. Germanicus argues that the conflict is fundamentally between an entrenched ruling elite, solidified since the Cold War, and the populace, similar to the Roman optimates. This elite maintains power by accumulating wealth across generations while regular people suffer. The elite appropriates an ideology—which Germanicus calls the "church of woke"—to suppress the people, mirroring how the Roman aristocracy co-opted Christianity in late antiquity. The growing wealth inequality and mass migration policies exacerbate this conflict, providing a vehicle for populist leaders like Mr. Trump. The situation is coming to a head, with every election becoming an "existential choice" between the ruling class and the people. Germanicus suggests the resolution will be a revolution: either a restoration (represented incoherently by Mr. Trump) or the elites cementing complete control. He also notes that American global engagement, while enriching the elite, makes them vulnerable; should world situations "go south," the resulting turmoil could overthrow the domestically weakened ruling class.
1917 YALE AND READINESS.
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| 0:22.9 | This is the Frenchfister debating society. I'm in Lunditiam. I'm Gaias. |
| 0:27.8 | Germanicus is on the road. He's in what will be the Dalmatian coast, Dalmatia. |
| 0:33.5 | The transition from the Western Roman Empire to the Eastern Roman Empire after the 6th and 7th century. |
| 0:40.3 | In the 21st century, however, remarks suggest once more that the American Empire is struggling with common sense. |
| 0:49.3 | Why? I can't give a motive to any particular person other than the fact that they take their positions and throw food at each other. |
| 0:58.5 | All right, that's the nature of domestic politics. |
| 1:01.4 | Ordinarily, Germanicus and I leave it out of our conversation because domestic politics in Rome could get a man in exile or worse, but domestic politics in America |
| 1:14.0 | put you on television or in a video package or on a front page of a New York Times or Washington |
| 1:20.5 | Post headline. All right. Right now, I listen to an esteemed op-ed writer named David Brooks. |
| 1:28.9 | He is a man who appeals for reason whenever he speaks, and he speaks very well. |
| 1:37.3 | David Brooks has identified the contest now between the credentialed elite and the rest of us, |
| 1:45.5 | especially the rest of us who didn't go to college |
| 1:47.8 | or had very little of the higher education went right to work. |
| 1:52.9 | And David Brooks' analysis is the contest that's underway in America in the 21st century |
| 1:58.8 | is between the credentialed who regard their conduct as destiny. |
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