Demographic decline and inequality drive American political rupture

Evidence

The numerical influence of conservative white Protestants is declining. The US population is becoming less white and more secular. The nation has become less powerful and more unequal. The tectonic plates of history were colliding with each other, creating new fissures and mounting tensions. The election of Barack Obama was one result of these gradual shifts; the unexpected victory of Donald Trump another; the Capitol insurrection yet a third. There are more to come. — Philip S. Gorski and Samuel L. Perry, The Flag and the Cross, 29

Categorization

• XREF: The thesis that perceived status decline among conservative white Protestants drives backlash politics connects to the learned taste claims about demographic anxiety fueling scapegoating in other books read (The New Crusades, Islamophobia in America). — connects to: Demographic projections of a majority-minority America fueled populist backlash politics — Khaled A. Beydoun, American Islamophobia_ Understanding…, 63; Growing inequality undermines the public sphere until the political system crumbles from within. — Jürgen Habermas, A New Structural Transformation of the…, 104; Pseudoconservatives misdirect resentment at democratic form rather than economic inequality — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School: Its History,…, 1797 (+2 more)

Broader Connections

• Demographic projections of a majority-minority America fueled populist backlash politics #exemplifies (0.85) — Khaled A. Beydoun, American Islamophobia_ Understanding…, 63
• Growing inequality undermines the public sphere until the political system crumbles from within. #corroborates (0.82) — Jürgen Habermas, A New Structural Transformation of the…, 104
• Raised material expectations amid inequality create explosive political potential #expands (0.78)
• Pseudoconservatives misdirect resentment at democratic form rather than economic inequality #complicates (0.75) — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School, 1797
• Racial democracy rendered structural inequality invisible and individualized #expands (0.72)