- https://PayPal.Me/lukeisback
"Luke Ford reports all of the 'juicy' quotes, and has been doing it for years." (Marc B. Shapiro)
"This guy knows all the gossip, the ins and outs, the lashon hara of the Orthodox world. He’s an [expert] in... all the inner workings of the Orthodox world." (Rabbi Aaron Rakeffet-Rothkoff) LATEST POSTS:
- Tanner Greer
- Economist Tyler Cowen
- Richard Reeves: A Life in Institutions
- Jake Adelstein: The Reporter Who Became His Story
- Jim Goad (1961-2026)
- Moira Greyland
- Robert Oscar Lopez: The Inconvenient Witness
- Two Ledgers: Decoding the Gurus and the Price of Talk
- The Pervert’s Progress: Costin Vlad Alamariu and the Making of Bronze Age Pervert
- Curtis Yarvin: A Life Against Democracy
- Mark Helprin: Against the Current
- Mark Brandt: The Man Who Asked Who Else Is Prejudiced
- John T. Jost: The Psychologist of Acquiescence
- Strange Bedfellows in the Academy: Alliance Theory and the Straussian Schism
- Tournier on Desmond Ford
- The Fence and the Blessing: How Jews Have Thought About Gentiles
- Tournier on Luke Ford
- Tournier on The Nostradamus Kid
- An Alliance Theory of Antisemitism
- Tournier on Cinema Paradiso and Desmond Ford
BEST POSTS:
- * The Enlightenment Wasn’t Enlightened (6-23-26)
* Mr. Burge Draws The Line (6-23-26)
* 'Improving on Democracy' (6-17-26)
* People Leak To People Who Are Fun (6-11-26)
* Why Does Australia Produce So Many Great Journalists? (6-11-26)
* Steve Wynn and the Press: Power, Litigation, and the Contest Over Las Vegas (6-3-26)
* Sheldon Adelson and the Journalists (6-3-26)
* The Vigilant Animal: Thinkers Who Reject the Myth of Human Gullibility (6-2-26)
* The Cost of Refusing the Misunderstanding Myth (6-2-26)
* Show Me How It Travels (6-2-26)
* The Norm Explainers (6-2-26)
* Centering Marginalized Voices (6-1-26)
* What would it look like if the Washington Post put its reader first? (6-1-26)
* What would it look like if the Financial Times put its reader first? (6-1-26)
* What It Would Mean for the Los Angeles Times to Put the Reader First? (6-1-26)
* What It Would Mean for The New York Times to Put the Reader First? (6-1-26)
* Why Wembanyama Lives on the Perimeter (5-31-26)
* The Emotional Palettes Of San Diego, Los Angeles, San Francisco & Sacramento (5-27-26)
* The Administrative Capital: Sacramento Legal Culture (5-27-26)
* San Diego - The Quiet Republic (5-27-26)
* The Quiet Bar: San Diego Legal Culture (5-27-26)
* SF v LA Legal Culture (5-27-26)
* Why Talent Travels Poorly Between San Francisco and Los Angeles (5-27-26)
* San Francisco and Los Angeles as Rival Models of Urban Access (5-27-26)
* Social Cliques in New York, 2026 (5-25-26)
* Social Cliques in San Francisco, 2026 (5-25-26)
* The Rival Courts of Washington (5-25-26)
* The City of Private Rooms (5-25-26)
Category Archives: Elites
Why Do Elites Fetishize Equity, Equality, Forgiveness, Support & PSAs & Hate Punishment And Vengeance?
Part of it is class psychology. The people who dominate media, universities, foundations, and large bureaucracies live in environments where cooperation and reputation matter more than physical force. Their status comes from credentials, networks, and moral language. In that world, … Continue reading
Posted in Elites
Comments Off on Why Do Elites Fetishize Equity, Equality, Forgiveness, Support & PSAs & Hate Punishment And Vengeance?
Why do elites love assisted suicide and push it in their movies/tv?
My mother who had terminal bone cancer was essentially given an assisted suicide in 1969 when she was down to about 50 pounds (the doctor gave hera high morphine dose that killed her). I don’t begrudge this, but I don’t … Continue reading
How Expert Are International Relations Experts?
I am fascinated by expertise and by decoding what is real expertise and what is self-aggrandizement and socially destructive. I grew up on college campuses, the youngest son of a Religion professor. I love ideas. I love learning. And I … Continue reading
Good & Bad Nationalism
People evolved to be tribal, and nationalism is just an extension of that basic instinct. Hating that hard-wiring is like hating parents who prefer their own kids to children they’ve never met on the other side of the world. When … Continue reading
Posted in Blob, Elites, Nationalism
Comments Off on Good & Bad Nationalism
Which journalists, pundits, & experts are gaining status and prestige from this Iran war?
Gemini says: The rapid escalation of Operation Epic Fury has created a “prestige vacuum” that the hawkish alliance is filling with high-velocity narratives. As of March 5, 2026, the status hierarchy in the “Iran Hand” world has shifted from the … Continue reading
Decoding The Blob’s Cliches About The Iran War
The foreign policy establishment’s rhetorical toolkit for the 2026 Iran war is designed to protect the “managerial” brand. By using standardized clichés, the Blob can signal loyalty to the professional class without necessarily having to offer a viable military alternative. … Continue reading
Decoding The Blob (America’s Foreign Policy Establishment)
The distinction between a war of necessity and a war of choice is pure signalling. These categories are not objective descriptors of military reality but are propagandistic tools used to manage the internal prestige of the coalition. Why have elites … Continue reading
Posted in America, Elites, Journalism
Comments Off on Decoding The Blob (America’s Foreign Policy Establishment)
Decoding Richard Haass
Richard N. Haass is a useful case for Alliance Theory because he sits at the center of the American foreign policy establishment. His career is not primarily about commanding armies or winning elections. It is about coordinating elites. Council on … Continue reading
Pentagon Switches To Plain Talk Instead Of Elite Talk
Coop LoPresto (@LCplLoPro) writes on X: There’s a couple things in here that, while not a huge deal, I can dig. And mainly it’s just the language of the presentation. Ever since Hegseth became SecDef/War/Bro, you can hear staff officers … Continue reading
Why Are Elites Disturbed By The Killing Of Iran’s Leader?
Elites treat different kinds of killing differently because each type sits in a different status and legitimacy frame. Targeted killing of a regime leader violates a strong elite norm about sovereign hierarchy. Heads of state occupy a special rung in … Continue reading
Posted in Elites
Comments Off on Why Are Elites Disturbed By The Killing Of Iran’s Leader?