This is spot on. The real power in the modern GOP isn't the Silicon Valley money; that's just a marriage of convenience. No, the real power is down at the local country club, in the Rotary and church deacons' meetings, the same good ole boys who have always made sure things stay the way they are.
The South described here reminds me sharply of the old system of "Rotten Boroughs" that dominated politics in C18 Britain. I wonder why the middle class failed to squeeze out the landed gentry in the South in the way it did in C19 Britain.
I am the daughter of a Mississippi native and the great-granddaughter of poor white sharecroppers. I appreciated this piece. It’s very difficult to talk about with my family, but maybe I will try.
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