One of the longest conflicts running in American politics is rooted in the populist idea that in the United States there are two classes of people which are divided not by income, but by power held in the financial and political realms. Not all successful politicians and businesspersons, though, are members of what is commonly referred to as the Ruling Class, just those who might appear to be a bit pretentious in the eyes of one individual typically holding the power to influence the minds of millions, who belong to the Country Class.
For much of the twentieth century, this massive inferiority complex was propagated principally by far-left activists and pseudo-intellectuals seeking to ignite an uprising against the capitalist establishment. Interestingly enough, this debacle did not take off during the 1900s and '10s, during which the fight for workers' rights was raging. The concept of class warfare really gained steam during the 1930s, when the Great Depression left much of the nation facing the horrific prospect of either permanent unemployment or marginal opportunities digging ditches for Franklin Delano Roosevelt's New Deal-inspired Works Progress Administration. Class warfare then stagnated a bit during the mid-1940s' post-World War II economic boom, and the stability derived from this during the succeeding decade. By the time of the social revolution of the 1960s, however, the Ruling and Country classes were battling once again in the minds of those attempting to overthrow civilized society in favor of a utopian (there goes that word again; trust me, we will discuss it at length shortly) construct which entailed free love, free material goods, and plenty of free lunches. After this bit of nonsense fell out of public favor, the much-hyped class conflict came to naught and was essentially forgotten.
Despite popping in and out of the mainstream of American political discussion from time to time, class warfare remained more or less a quizzical absurdity relegated to a handful of history books; until the presidential election of Barack Obama in 2008. It was then that the far right picked up where their opposite numbers left off and propelled the notion that it was not capitalists who were the true Ruling Class, but essentially all politicians belonging to the Democratic party, most moderate Republicans, and those just not seeming to be "Real Americans," meaning people choosing to refrain from becoming excited about hot-button issues, dress and speak in a down-home fashion, or, simply put, think for themselves. Of course, this new-found vendetta makes about as much sense as its predecessor did, but this is unimportant. The fact of the matter is that the reactionary right proved itself effectively to be no different from the radical left; they are two peas in a hell-raising, crypto-authoritarian pod. Sadly, this is clear to see for all but their adherents, whose numbers, it would seem, are growing at an alarming rate.
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