which examines this phenomenon in great detail. In fact, its his insights that prompted me to phrase my post in response to RL in the way I did.

You would profit from studying his analysis, although Hayes' proudly lefty politics are clearly evident, his conclusions are remarkably non-partisan. He blames the Left as much as he does the Right. This is not an ideological book, at least far as I've gotten in it (I'm about half-way through) he percieves the phenomenon as cultural and social, not political. He sees it as a failure of our meritocratic system.

I really like this kid, he is probably one of the most astute and original social and political commentators since Barbara Ehrenreich. "Twilight" is available in paperback from Amazon for $18. Its probably available electronically as well.