That is the topic of my latest Free Press column, here is one brief excerpt, not unfamiliar to MR readers:
As great apes, we obsess over the social hierarchy. Who is being praised and who is being excoriated? Who is hot and who is not?
That may sound like gossip, but it is also a big part of our politics. If politics is fundamentally about the way we human beings organize ourselves—or, put another way, how we build and wield power—then status is the ultimate coin of the realm.
And here are some judgments about who is rising in status:
Alan Garber: The president of Harvard has said no to Trump’s demands, and the Trump administration seems to have backed down. They announced that the demands on Harvard were put and sent in a letter by mistake. Whether or not that is the true story, you have to say Garber won this round. But as is always the case, a future spill may yet be in the cards, for instance if further legal wrongdoing is discovered in the university.
Canadians: They are running two decent candidates for prime minister. Furthermore, they were able to get Trudeau out of the race and replace him with Mark Carney without the Liberal Party falling apart, or a weak candidate forcing his or her way to the front. Opposition to becoming the 51st state has given the whole country a dose of additional mojo. To keep this gain, though, they now have to translate that fervor into a much stronger economy. We will see if they manage this, but so far the place is on the upswing in terms of status.
Greenlanders: They are now the center of world attention, and I don’t see much evidence of them saying stupid things. They are making overtures to the United States and not burning their bridges to Denmark, while making it clear they desire eventual independence. Ideally they can play Denmark and the United States off each other, and arrive at a future where the United States shows up with a positive and dynamic plan for developing the nation and making them all millionaires. The chance of that is rising long-term, even if the current Trump rhetoric has turned into a public relations nightmare for the United States. Kudos to them.
The bond market: You can’t take its loyalty for granted. The evidence suggests its temporary collapse played a central role in getting Trump to reverse some of his worst trade policies.
The U.S. judicial system: It has stood up to Trump repeatedly, even with SCOTUS having a 6–3 Republican-appointed majority. Some Trump supporters are upset at the courts, but the overall repute of the judiciary—among conservatives as well as liberals—has been rising.
Daniel Lurie: The new mayor of San Francisco took office in January of this year. He inherited and then helped along a trend of falling crime rates and rising public order. The city is much nicer and safer; I saw it with my own eyes a mere month ago. He is going to get the credit if this trend continues, just as Rudy Giuliani did. He is doing good things, but this is also a story of being in the right place at the right time. Fame is not always a fair mistress.
I also consider those who are falling in status.
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