re: #293 Love-Child of Cassandra and Sisyphus

Conspicuous consumption becomes a political item during recessions/depressions.

It happens over and over: the well off become disconnected with the masses and masses really notice it during hard times.

This is a problem for the Democratic party: the educated elite are mostly Democrats but when they show up to these events the masses out in the hinterland notice that and thus the entire party becomes the party of the “elite”.

The blowup in CA over Newsom’s dinner at The French Laundry is a good example of this.