Joanne McNeil:
I have found myself thinking about power differently lately as I realize there are no kings, if there ever were—just people who represent ideas with purchase over the minds of others, with hands on various levers to reach these minds. Levers that have grown rusty.
Some of the fake kings have money. Many are burning to the ground their own industries—the sources of what had been their clout and prestige to weed out what they call “wokeness,” even though, ultimately, they couldn’t care less if sitcoms are diverse or not, not even about pronouns. What they fear is what every rich person fears: justice and accountability. They have been so coddled, so isolated from the world, that sarcastic tweets from random people felt to them like the blade edge of a guillotine. Wrath toward the greater public—a public they must court if not serve, has come back to them in the end, as voided cultural capital and waning influence.