rant · moment 24 of 29
No Shared National Identity Left
from Episode 148 - Streak of Evil (with Yannis Pappas) · #148
3 min
Tim argues America no longer has unifying cultural touchstones since the Cold War/WWII generation passed, leaving disparate regions like Louisiana, Portland, and Rhode Island feeling like different countries, while the wealthy chase money globally (Kazakhstan gas deals).
- Different regions of America feel like different countries — Louisiana backwoods versus San Francisco versus Portland versus Rhode Island.
- Wealthy people don't care about America's needs; they'll make money wherever it exists, whether that's natural gas in Kazakhstan or elsewhere.
- Tim invokes Nelson DeMille's novel The Gold Coast: rich guys in New York, Miami, and Beverly Hills have never actually been to America.
- Rich people used to have to pretend they cared about their local communities because their factories and farms kept them tied to America.
- Factory owners sold their plants years ago and don't even go near the towns that depended on them — the Chris Farley character from Tommy Boy now does heroin.
- What kept wealthy people in check was civic virtue and social responsibility; they needed political connections and the idea that they had to stay engaged.
- But when factories and consumers were in America, they had reason to care; now globalization and technology enable partnerships that don't require any domestic commitment.
- There's no neighborhood community left anymore — not even at the local level.
Tommy BoyNelson DeMilleChris FarleyUnited StatesEnglandCanton OhioKazakhstanIndiaSri LankaRhode IslandNew YorkManhattanThailandOmahaLouisianaMiamiBeverly HillsChinaPortlandSan Francisco