The Bunker – News without the nonsense

Daily: The Bored Middle Class that's Destroying Democracy from Within

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t’s often said that the crisis in Western democracy is caused by those left-behind, but is the greatest threat to security actually a bored middle-class? University Professor and author of Our Own Worst Enemy Tom Nichols talks to Arthur Snell about why unchecked narcissism is to blame for rising illiberalism, which factors are accelerating our democratic demise, and why building coalitions is our only way out.


  •  “We’ve become used to being hyper-connected to each other, which turns out to be a pretty bad thing for maintaining democracy.”
  • “The people who vote for populists are overwhelmingly white, middle-class and well-off.”
  • “In the US anti-immigration feeling is sky-high in areas where there are no immigrants, it’s driven by television.”
  • “We now have millions of people who have become so detached from reality that it’s impossible to have a rational conversation with them.”


    • Presented by Arthur Snell. Produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producers: Jelena Sofronijevic and Jacob Archbold. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Audio production by Alex Rees. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production

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