Che Guevara’s face on a shoulder bag at a protest outside Trump Tower in Manhattan in 2017. (Eduardo Munoz/Reuters)

A few people have asked about my linking of ideology to status. How does that work, exactly? they ask.

How about a few examples?

To begin with the most obvious one: Neo-Nazism is a murderous totalitarian ideology that in the United States largely has been associated with rednecks. Communism is a murderous totalitarian ideology that in the United States largely has been associated with intellectuals. You can be a college professor and be an open Communist. You can be a college professor and be an open Communist of a specifically murderous and totalitarian variety, such as a Maoist. (In the United States; not in, say, India.)


Terror of vaccinations is a nonsensical superstition with no scientific basis that is largely associated with déclassé figures such as Jenny McCarthy; terror of GMO crops is a nonsensical superstition with no scientific basis that is largely associated with well-off college graduates who shop at Whole Foods. Having anti-GMO views is not considered disqualifying for public office.

The belief that the Earth is something on the order of 6,000 years old flies in the face of all of the relevant scientific knowledge on the question. So does a belief in the therapeutic value of reiki. So do practically all of the special health claims made for yoga and chiropractic therapy, and the beliefs that chi and prana are real things. Question: Which one of these nonsensical beliefs would actually hurt the reputation of a college graduate employed in a responsible professional position?


Ashley Parker of the Washington Post has sneered that Trump supporters are not “reality-based.” She works for a newspaper that publishes horoscopes.


Etc.