The Political Orphanage Richer Than Ever, Miserable Anyway
37 snips
Mar 18, 2026 
Brink Lindsey, Senior VP at the Niskanen Center and author on political economy and social change, explores why mass affluence fails to bring meaning. He discusses how abundance reshapes work, status, and community ties. Topics include the shift from material scarcity to spiritual lack, cultural polarization, institutional distrust, and rebuilding social life through localism and policy changes.
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Meaningful Work Is Now A Class Privilege
- Work now delivers autonomy and meaningfulness mainly for the educated 25%, leaving others with low-autonomy service jobs.
- Lindsey links loss of meaningful work plus eroded social ties to rising loneliness and dissatisfaction among the majority.
Political Conflict Moved From Class To Culture
- Politics shifted from economic redistribution to cultural identity after the 1960s as scarcity fears faded.
- The professional managerial elite drove cultural agendas, splitting ordinary people into culturally conservative and liberal camps.
Expressive Politics Undermines Problem Solving
- Expressive rationality (performing group membership) now crowds out instrumental problem-solving in politics.
- Lindsey notes identity signaling and negative partisanship fuel polarization more than policy debate.
