Party Like It's 1929

The New K-Shaped Gilded Age

I’m not talking about Special K, a.k.a. Ketamine-infused parties. This is the other “K” where economists (Forbes and J.P. Morgan types) are identifying the split in spending between the very rich and the rest of us.

Thinking about this in the middle of the night got me writing a few new stanzas to Solidarity Forever! Bear with me, I’m not an accomplished songwriter and it’s hard to find a rhyme for yacht.

When the billionaires get richer
And the people can’t pay rent
When they party like Great Gatsby
And stop food from being sent
While their balance sheets keep growing
We’ll do more than just lament
We will organize to win

Our healthcare costs keep rising
While they buy another yacht
They want more for them and less for us
It’s not hard to see the plot
But we the people have the power
That is what we all were taught
We will organize to win

Affordability

The November 4^th election returns were a breath of fresh air. The news coverage focused a lot of commentary on “affordability” as a winning strategy. But, let’s pull the curtain back a bit. Rising costs are as obvious as your grocery tab or your upcoming insurance premiums. But, it’s not just that. It’s the yawning divide between the billionaires and the rest of us. The K-shape to the economy is more obvious than ever. Corporate media seems bewildered by that. Zohran Mamdani was not bewildered.

As is often the case, the media narrative is about Mamdani’s smile and his style. But, Mamdani was listening. The candidates in Virginia and New Jersey were listening as well. In those states, they were talking about affordability and DOGE cuts to the federal workforce, and traffic into Manhattan. The margins of victory in Virginia and New Jersey weren’t about a carefully crafted message. The conditions shaped the margins.

In Pennsylvania, three supreme court justices prevailed. In California, voters stood in line to vote on one ballot measure to re-draw congressional maps. Last summer, Texas Democrats in the legislature left the state to deny a quorum on the partisan gerrymandering pushed by Trump. Those Texas legislators incurred fines and faced death threats, traveling to California, Illinois, and New York with their urgent requests for help to balance out severe gerrymandering. California voters responded. Conditions shaped the outcome.

We were all taught that Martin Luther King, Jr. was the great leader of the civil rights movement. But, anyone who lived through the period knows that it was every small picket line, every sit-in, and every conversation. That is how movements are built.

I’ve always loved this quote from Carl Oglesby, president of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) in 1965-66:

It isn’t the rebels that cause the troubles of the world; it’s the troubles that cause the rebels. — Carl Oglesby

I truly believe we are coming to the reckoning with an economy that isn’t working. Trump said it was rigged. Meanwhile, the carefully orchestrated counter narrative of many Democrats was that it was working -- or at least it could work if the Biden infrastructure plan just had a bit more time.

I keep coming back to what Corbin Trent said. I quoted him in my October 27 Substack.

One of the biggest miscalculations of the Democratic leadership is that they believe Donald Trump is a cause rather than a symptom. — Corbin Trent

People are eager to hear ideas that address their needs. This time, the reset can’t just be back to yesteryear before Trump demolished the East Wing and democratic norms. The reset needs to speak to the troubles. With plain language. We don’t just need to “extend Obamacare subsidies.” We need health care for all — health care that is decoupled from the insurance and pharma profiteers. We need a vision forward. It needs to be bold enough to take on our K-shaped economy.

Wasp Waists and Pea Brains

I wrote about the surgery for Wasp Waist on October 7, after I read the New York Times coverage on the surgery required. On November 6, I read the New York Times transcript of a podcast, “Did Liberal Feminism Ruin the Workplace?”

Ross Douthat interviewed Helen Andrews and Libresco Sargeant. Sargeant’s recent book, The Dignity of Dependence, argues that liberal feminism forced women to suppress their nature and fit into workplaces and social systems made for men.”

Andrews, a conservative known for her remarks on “Overcoming the Feminization of Culture,” had this to say:

So I think I will restrict myself to the judgment on which I am confident, which is that the pathology in our institutions known as wokeness is distinctively feminine and feminized. And that, in a very literal sense, our institutions have gone woke because there are more women in them than there used to be.

Let’s step back for a minute. Let’s say you are looking at the big picture regarding women in the workplace. You might think that income needs were a factor. You might note that movement demands broke down barriers to employment. You might also conclude that hollowing out the industrial base changed conditions for many working families who now rely even more heavily on the income of women workers.

If you are Mamdani, you might look at providing relief for working families by subsidizing childcare. If you are Andrews, Sargeant, or Douthat, you think that blaming woke women plays better. It’s the same playbook used with immigrants.

“Wasp waist” is not the only self-inflicted deformity lurking under the conservative tent. Apparently, “pea brain” now afflicts the Times opinion writers. I will now pronounce Douthat’s last name as “Doubt That.”

Bill Polte’s 50-Year-Mortgage Idea

Let’s say you were looking at the big picture on housing. What you wouldn’t do is let Bill Polte, Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, devise policy on a poster board. Mother Jones published a story about what happened after Polte presented his idea to Trump:

Ten minutes later, Trump took to Truth Social to post in support of the idea, with a photo of the poster itself. Soon, the White House was flooded with calls pillorying the idea: a 50-year-mortgage could actually make the housing crisis worse, and raise costs to households in the long run.

Oh, wait for it, folks. Here is Plan B when you don’t have policy cred and need to assign blame:

A lot of young people are saying housing is way too expensive. Why is that? Because we flooded the country with 30 million illegal immigrants who were taking houses that ought by right go to American citizens. -- J.D. Vance

The Grey Lady Meets Her Match

Literary Hub illustration: Mamdani with a backdrop of 1927 news.

Peter Coviello, former chair of Africana Studies at Bowdoin College, wrote a brilliant commentary for Literary Hub, “Maybe Don’t Talk to the New York Times About Zohran Mamdani.”

I wasn’t familiar with Bowdoin College. I’m in Texas and it’s in Maine. It is where Zohran Mamdani majored in Africana Studies. Although the Times attempted to speak with Coviello, they didn’t. When he saw the story, he was grateful. The Times article by Jeremy W. Peters appeared 10/28/25, and was titled, “How a Small Elite College Influenced Mamdani’s World View.”

Coviello says, “It’s a wreck, but of a form so pure, so purely Timesian, you almost have to admire it.”

Here’s the Times angle:

Mr. Mamdani graduated in 2014 from Bowdoin College, in Brunswick, Maine, with a bachelor’s degree in Africana studies. And his experience there—readings of critical race theorists in the classroom and activism for left-wing causes on campus—is emblematic of the highly charged debate over what is taught in American universities.

Critics say the growth of these programs, which aim to teach about historical events from the perspective of marginalized and oppressed groups, has turned colleges into feckless workshops for leftist political orthodoxy.

“Critics say” is the tell,” writes Coviello, “and does it ever go on telling.” The critics cited include J.D. Vance and the right-wing National Association of Scholars.

Coviello’s broadside is hilarious. It made me miss Molly Ivins. Start with the New York Times. Then read Coviello’s eviscerating Literary Hub critique of Peters’ writing as “making the various more or less bovine noises of studious grey-lady impartiality.”

News in Brief

Tom Alter, tenured professor of history at Texas State University in San Marcos was fired. Find out how to support him at Defend Tom Alter.

• More than 5,000 letters have been sent to the Texas State demanding Tom’s reinstatement. Supporters rallied for Tom outside a Texas Board of Regents meeting in Austin Monday, November 10th. The meeting was a first step in consideration of Tom’s appeal to the University of its decision to terminate him.

• Tom and his family need your financial support as they continue the fight. You can donate at a Go Fund Me site. Recurring donations help.

• Rag Radio, KOOP 91.7 FM, interviewed Tom Alter on October 24. Listen to what he has to say.

The Rag Reborn

• Rag Radio, KOOP 91.7 FM, interviewed Kira Small, Ava Hosseini, and Grant Lindberg, the UT-Austin students putting out The Rag in 2026! Hear what they have to say.

Longhorns for Liberty

Are you a University of Texas at Austin alumn? Sign the petition sponsored by Longhorns for Liberty. I did. Here is an excerpt:

We are calling on you – as the leaders of the University of Texas at Austin – to stand up for the values that make higher education a cornerstone of American democracy: academic freedom, open inquiry free from government interference, and educational opportunity for all.

The federal government’s so-called “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education” is a dangerous attempt to place universities under direct political control. It will tie federal funding to ideological compliance, forcing schools to rewrite their policies and curricula and rewire campus life to fit the administration’s agenda. This is not reform; it’s coercion.

The Compact strikes at the heart of what makes UT Austin great: independent thought, world-class scholarship, and fearless pursuit of truth. Signing it would betray those principles and send a message that political power, not academic merit, determines what can be taught, studied, or spoken on campus.

To date, none of the 9 universities originally targeted by the federal government have signed on to the Compact. Like the other universities that are standing up for campus freedom, we urge you to meet this moment with courage and clarity as well.

For more information, visit Stand for Campus Freedom.

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Glenn Scott Papers: 1948-2018:

Thanks to everyone who contributed! People’s History in Texas is happy to report that funds have been raised to support an intern to catalogue the Glenn Scott Papers.

Glenn Scott left a legacy of leadership, commitment to social justice, and kindness that inspires us today. In recognition of her contributions as a labor organizer, Glenn will be inducted into the Texas Labor Hall of Fame in January 2026.