Men of Good Fortune

Theorists of revolution have pointed out that such outcomes occur when a people feel that its expectations for themselves and for their children have been thwarted. That is exactly what has happened to the white working class. Of course, it is harder to fool black people. James Baldwin had a genius observation about why black people don’t have a midlife crisis. Why? Black people never believed in the American Dream, but white people do. White people wake up when they are 40 or 45 years old and realize there is no place for them. That is why suicides are highest among white middle-aged men. That is also why the vast majority of mass shootings are committed by alienated white men.

Christ Hedges

Men of good fortune, often cause empires to fall While men of poor beginnings, often can’t do anything at all The rich son waits for his father to die The poor just drink and cry And me I just don’t care at all

Men of good fortune, very often can’t do a thing While men of poor beginnings, often can do anything At heart they try to act like a man Handle things the best way they can They have no rich daddy to fall back on

– Lou Reed

I listened to this song in 1997 as a Deutche Bahn train pulled into Tiergarten Station.