The Biggest Radicals Are Post-Grads Making Under $60K

In this Frontpage Mag article, Daniel Greenfield analyzes Nate Silver’s finding that the Democratic Socialists of America’s core demographic consists of highly educated post-graduates who are not particularly well-off, arguing these radicals often choose low-paying academic or nonprofit paths while complaining about affordability.

• Nate Silver identifies the DSA sweet spot as people who are “very college-educated (80% BA+)” yet “not particularly well-off,” with 45 percent reporting household incomes below $60,000, and specifically highlights post-graduates.
• Many of these individuals deliberately pursue low-end academia as adjuncts or nonprofit work, positions that may later yield higher pay if they secure tenure-track or advance, even as they protest living costs in expensive cities like New York and San Francisco.
• Some graduate without understanding career tracks or student debt, then turn socialist after discovering they can no longer afford frequent takeout or DoorDash while repaying loans.
• Others come from wealthy families and engage in self-conscious “slumming,” using temporary financial complaints as a career trajectory into radical politics, similar to historical examples of intellectuals posing as workers.
• Greenfield contends these post-grads function as a destructive force who use rent complaints to advocate smashing capitalism rather than building practical skills or productive careers.
• The pattern provides another argument for dismantling large parts of higher education, which systemically overproduces wannabe intellectuals who recapitulate Marx’s journey while offering little of use to society.

Read the full story:
https://www.frontpagemag.com/the-biggest-radicals-are-post-grads-making-under-60k/