35 Theses on the WASPs - by T. Greer - The Scholar's Stage

LAST MONTH American Affairs published my review of Alexander Karp’s The Technological Republic.1 While I had plenty critical to say about Karp’s book, the meat of my essay was a historical survey of the ascendant “Eastern Establishment” of the Gilded Age. This class of men dominated American industry and exerted outsized influence in American politics in the decades between 1860 and 1930. They pioneered humanity’s leap into the industrial age and America’s rise to global preeminence. Much can be learned from them. There are two groups who may reap special benefit from pondering the old Establishment’s origins and accomplishments. The first is the explicit target of my review: the engineering elite of Silicon Valley, especially those associated with the “tech-right.” My message to this group is simple: You live below your privileges. No matter your background or upbringing, you stand today as members of a distinct leadership class. You should think about what this means for your childre

LAST MONTH American Affairs published my review of Alexander Karp’s The Technological Republic.1 While I had plenty critical to say about Karp’s book, the meat of my essay was a historical survey of the ascendant “Eastern Establishment” of the Gilded Age. This class of men dominated American industry and exerted outsized influence in American politics in the decades between 1860 and 1930. They pioneered humanity’s leap into the industrial age and America’s rise to global preeminence. Much can be learned from them. There are two groups who may reap special benefit from pondering the old Establi