The American Spectator : What's the Matter With Thomas Frank?

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Among the Intellectualoids

What's the Matter With Thomas Frank?

By David Hogberg on 3.22.10 @ 6:06AM

He hasn't changed, even if the new documentary based on his book undercuts the book's patronizing arguments.

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Frank replied that while Winston did film in Johnson County, he didn't use it so he could keep "geographic unity" in the movie. Winston didn't address the question.

Perhaps the concern was geographic unity. Or perhaps it's that we'd have seen a Johnson County not much like the one Frank describes in the book. As Steven Malanga pointed out, "Shawnee and the rest of Johnson County, have done especially well. For three years in the 1990s, the Shawnee area's unemployment rate actually dipped below 3%, making it one of the tightest labor markets anywhere." Furthermore, "And though Mr. Frank describes the place as practically desolate, Shawnee's population grew by a robust 27% during the 1990s. Even more astonishing, today, only 3.3% of its citizens live below the poverty level, compared with about 12.5% nationally."

Polemical works like Frank's tend to reveal more about their authors that they do about the people they are supposedly studying. For Frank it is axiomatic the leftist ideas lead to better economic results than conservative ones. If people are voting for conservative politicians, then those folks must be deluded somehow.

A genuine examination might actually ask these people about their economic situation and how that is related to social issues that they care about. If Frank were to do that, he might have to end up questioning whether liberal ideas really do lead to better results. Yet Frank suffers from what Thomas Sowell calls "The Vision of the Anointed." It is a vision held by many intellectuals in our society, a belief in their own superior knowledge and virtue that leads to a belief that they are an anointed elite who is qualified to make decisions for the rest of us in order to lead humanity to a better life. (For more on the incentive and constraints that foster this type of thinking, see Thomas Sowell's great new work, Intellectuals and Society.) To acknowledge that the people of Kansas are best suited to know their own interest and vote accordingly would mean that Frank would have to give up his belief in his superior knowledge and virtue.

At the end of the talk Friday, Frank stated that he was working on a new book about the Tea Party movement. Readers beware…If his new book is much like What's The Matter With Kansas?, you can look forward to learning more about Frank's sense of moral superiority than what motivates Tea Partiers.

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topics:
Thomas Frank, Intellectual Elitism, Social Conservatism

About the Author

David Hogberg is a reporter living in Washington, D.C. Follow David Hogberg on Twitter.

Letter to the Editor View all comments (41) | Leave a comment

Shamus| 3.22.10 @ 7:37AM

This guy Frank has nothing to say. His column in the Wall Street Journal is a waste of space. His ideas are pretty much incoherent.

Howard| 3.22.10 @ 8:47AM

I agree with you about Frank and his weekly WSJ Column "The Tilting Yard". Frank seems to mail in his columns. Compared to most of the other columnists who seem to have some facts and statistics to buttress their opinions, Thomas Frank is all polemics. The WSJ should consider replacing him with a better qualified liberal (oxymoron) .

John Navratil| 3.22.10 @ 12:37PM

Who could be "better qualified" than Frank? The man believes his own B-S. Isn't that the definition?

mikroenjeksiyon| 10.4.10 @ 5:33AM

Was a beautiful page. Thanks to the designers and managers.

Bilwick| 3.22.10 @ 8:31AM

Thomas Frank is simply carrying on the work of his ancestor, the Tory flack Sir Thomas Frank, who in 1776 wrote the original anti-Tea Party broadside, "What's the Matter with Massachuetts? Or: Why These Insolent Peasants Should Simply Shut Up and Let us Bugger Them." Old Sir Thomas would be proud of him.

Jack Olson| 3.22.10 @ 8:45AM

I read Frank's book, so I doubt I'll bother watching the movie. His thesis is that Republicans exploit voters' attitudes on social issues like same-sex marriage to win undeserved victories on economic issues like taxation: "Wake up, you fools, and tax the daylights out of the fatcats!"

There are two flaws in his argument. First, the average voter has no faith that he won't end up paying the taxes which he was promised would only tax the rich. That's what happened with the Alternative Minimum Tax, isn't it? Second, he has even less faith that the tax money thus collected would be spent on him. More likely, it will be "from each according to his income, to each according to his campaign contributions." That's what happened with farm subsidies, isn't it? Most farm subsidy money goes to people with wealth far above average. That average voter has learned what Frank has not, that what the average voter gets from his government is rarely what he was promised.

Pete| 3.22.10 @ 10:43AM

Add to that the fact that the average midwestern voter doesn't see suckling at the teat of federal government as a good thing and doesn't wish to be better off at the expense of his fellow man. All you have to do is look at Franks's picture next his column to know what you would get if you read the article (I read it twice and won't ever do it again). Even in black and white grainy pixels in the WSJ, you can see the condescending smirk and air of intellectual superiority. I would pay to punch him in the face.

maximumrandb| 3.22.10 @ 3:32PM

In his WSJ portrait he looks like he's going to cry. And his writing comes across so whiny. He is actually worse than the WSJ's previous token liberal/weenie, Al Hunt.

astorian| 3.22.10 @ 10:35AM

Thomas Frank’s argument comes down to this: “The social issues don’t matter! All that matters is economic self-interest! Anyone who forsakes his own economic self-interest and casts his vote based on social issues is a deluded idiot!”

Okay… so, what does that make Steven Spielberg and Barbra Streisand? They’re rich, so they should be voting for the Republicans, who offer them tax cuts. The Hollywood Left regularly votes against its own economic self-interest, based on the social issues that Thomas Frank tells us don’t really matter.

I await his next book, "What’s Wrong With Hollywood?"

betty | 3.22.10 @ 11:22AM

Mega dittos! I, for one, can't stand to be lectured by the likes of Jim Carry (20 mil per pic) about the "greed" in this country.

Petronius| 3.22.10 @ 10:50AM

Frank and his ilk should be boiled in monkey piss. The primary interest of every Real American is to accumulate enough wealth and concentrate the power necessary to keep him and all others who Can't Understand Normal Thinking out of our lives.

Richard| 3.22.10 @ 11:27AM

So it is wrong to do something against one's economic self-interest? Like every soldier who volunteers for a few dollars a month to fight and suffer for his country? Like every volunteer EMT, fireman, or rescue worker who leaves his job to help others? Maybe there are more important things than making money. What a shallow dolt this guy is!!

Reformed Activist| 3.22.10 @ 11:36AM

I read Frank's book, and used to agree with the theory that conservatives were using God, Gays and Guns to rile the troops and allow the fatcats to run wild. I remember Bush 41 going on and on about "family values" which made me want to puke, thus I voted for BJ Clinton. (I was 20, I knew nothing). Conservatives did lose their way. I wish Bush 43 had spent more time talking about limited government, the role of government (it doesn't exist to redistribute wealth) and the free market rather than gay marriage. I hope Peggy Noonan is happy that she voted for "change." In a way, we have her to thank, because more people are becoming politically engaged, thanks to all this "stimulus". Maybe there's some hope yet.

Roy| 3.22.10 @ 4:43PM

Evidence please that Bush spent significant time talking about "gay marriage", especially compared to time TALKING ABOUT limited government.

Cubby | 3.22.10 @ 9:40PM

I don't call the prescription drug benefit plan and no child left behind limited government.

Kenneth E. MacAlister Jr.| 3.22.10 @ 12:55PM

What's the matter with Thomas Frank? I think the phrase "brain-dead & loving it" about covers it.

Frank Kelly| 3.22.10 @ 12:55PM

I agree with Howard's comment that the WSJ would do well to replace Frank on their op-ed pages with a better qualified liberal. I have a liberal friend who makes much more intelligent argument than does Frank Frank seems to be burdened with the notion that he is a "gate keeper" to the "intelectuals'" club - and of course all members of the club see all issues and even misinterpret history thru the prism of their socialist beliefs.

mickeymat| 3.22.10 @ 2:20PM

I am so flattered. I have been posting this very question in the comment section of every article Frank has written for the Wall Street Journal for months.

name is required| 3.22.10 @ 2:21PM

Like most liberals, Frank is inherently insecure and full of self-loathing. He is ashamed of his roots and felt that while at UVA he was somebody's poor relations, due no doubt to a bad case of class envy. THAT'S what's the matter with Thomas Frank.

lash| 3.22.10 @ 2:56PM

Thomas Frank is yet another detestable, disgusting Democrat who makes his living by telling lies and practicing hypocrisy. It's an easy way to make a comfortable salary until the money runs out. Mr. Frank's idea of "government" produces nothing but regulations and red tape. Mr. Frank's soft little hands will be growing callouses soon enough.

ACynic| 3.22.10 @ 3:49PM

I stopped reading the arrogant, elitist, Marxist-Leninst rants of Frank after about the first two weeks of his WSJ debut.
He is your typical elitist, narcissistic, arrogant, hypocritical communist appartchik.
These lefties are all the same. No one is stopping them from turning over 85% of their income to the govt; but NONE of them do. All of them use every tax dodge they can to minimize taxes. Most of them live in nice fancy homes and drive big, gas guzzling SUVs. They just don't like the unwashed masses to do so.
They all believe that they are natural born leaders to whom we must prostrate ourselves while they provide us with their all knowing leadership - whether we want it or not - as they create their version of heaven on earth.
Of course, this is what Hitler and Stalin and Kim Jong and Castro and Chavez and Obama and Pelosi and Mussolini and Honnecker and Lenin and Marx and Geobbels, and of course, the most famous Kapo of them all, Rahm Emanuel believe. also believe (d).

Roy| 3.22.10 @ 4:44PM

Liberals think the answer to kids out of wedlock is to have them vivisected.

What liberals don't realize is that in that world, ALL kids are out of wedlock.

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Mattled| 3.23.10 @ 1:15AM

I get the WSJ and glance over his "writing". I have written in to WSJ to ask them why they think we should be treated like NYT readers----fed s**t and kept in the dark.
Tommy Frankie------compost.

Didn't read his book and won't see the movie.

Yosemeti Sam| 3.23.10 @ 1:30AM

" ... For Frank it is axiomatic the leftist ideas lead to better economic results than conservative ones...."

Attaboy Frank!

Behold Mexifornia!

Behold saltless New York!

Liberal nirvanas - leaden examples.

Matt| 4.17.10 @ 10:22AM

Is it wrong to do something against one's economic self-interest? I mean every soldier who volunteers for a few dollars a month to fight and suffer for his country does it. So does every volunteer EMT, fireman, or rescue worker who leaves his job to help others. Maybe there are more important things than making money. I can't believe what a shallow dolt this guy is!
---------------------
Matt Gold

Robert| 7.3.10 @ 11:48AM

Lots of complaining and character disparagement here, but no facts to refute any of Frank's arguments in the book. Who are the whiners now? Just laziness...

Dave Brull| 7.28.10 @ 1:01PM

I doubt that more than one or two of the posters to this thread have ever set foot in the state of Kansas. Having been raised there and having seen the changes over the last couple of generations, I can confirm Mr. Frank's premise. Yes, there are those that are doing quite well, but the politics they promote have been nearly universally destructive to the idyllic rural life they champion-- to the point that many Kansas counties are rapidly depopulating as the elders dies off and the younger ones race to leave.

Peter| 9.29.10 @ 4:26AM

Note Buyer| 10.3.10 @ 3:29PM

It continues to amaze me what the politicians, main stream media and pundits think of Joe and Jane voter. They think we are all stupid and while our inept education system is doing its best to bring this to fact, many if not most voters, even those dazed by Obama during the campaign trail now know he has his own agenda and it looks a lot different than what he promised. Many are only wishing the Presidency only lasted 2 years. I can only hope after November, he will be severely limited in what additional damage he can do to this country.

Trevor Dahl| 10.23.10 @ 12:12AM

Having lived in Johnson County for the last six years, Frank's premise is a joke. The suburbs comprising Johnson County are some of the more affluent ones in the entire midwest. They are a very productive, enterprising people.

I'm assuming that out of intellectual honesty Frank will tackle the issue why people of Detroit keep voting for Democrats. I won't hold my breath.

aiswarya| 10.30.10 @ 2:12AM

Jonathan Cohn at the New Republic claimed "it's not clear how many seniors really have the ability to navigate the world of health care with the sort of sophistication to really hunt down the most cost-effective care, even if, as Ryan promises, they'd have more information at their disposal." Richard Cohen recently lamented that the one of the main reasons health care reform hadn't passed was that "the country suffers from a surfeit of democracy

nezil| 11.14.10 @ 1:20AM

it's good and more informational article .

Criminal Record Search| 11.24.10 @ 1:18PM

I wish Bush 43 had spent more time talking about limited government, the role of government (it doesn't exist to redistribute wealth) and the free market rather than gay marriage. I hope Peggy Noonan is happy that she voted for "change."
Criminal Record Search

Dyson DC25| 12.3.10 @ 10:27AM

I have to say that I agree with Shamus....

karooraan| 1.6.11 @ 8:04PM

When we know about Thomas Frank,it amazes more.Actually his books are containing so many useful matters .

Black Matt| 2.14.11 @ 12:23PM

Kevin Carson would be a fine substitute, as evidenced by this excellent critique from the left of Thomas Frank...

http://c4ss.org/content/6102

"In hinting at the pro-business vs. pro-market distinction, of course, Frank scored at least an oblique hit on an important point: The so-called “libertarian” wing of the conservative movement, for the most part, is more pro-business than pro-market. As he suggested himself, if you examine their agenda closely, despite all the rhetoric it’s not really about whether government is big or small. It doesn’t matter so much what size government is as who it helps out. What they mean by “pro-market” is a big government that helps out business interests.

"But Frank himself ignores this same distinction in all three of his books. In each of them — One Market Under God, What’s the Matter with Kansas?, and The Wrecking Crew — Frank equates the corporate economy untold dozens of times to “the free market” or “laissez-faire,” and denounces corporate mercantilists like the folks at Heritage, AEI and FreedomWorks as “free market fundamentalists.”

"Big government and big business, for the past 150 years, have engaged in an elaborate kabuki dance in which each presents itself as victim and enemy of — and protector against — the other. But their enmity is about as genuine as that of the “good cop” and “bad cop” in a police interrogation room."

writers' block| 2.15.11 @ 5:02AM

Thats the peculiarity of America and its people, they are free to air any view they have and most important thing it gets the space in the society rather being suppressed by the state .. that's what a democratic country is all about..

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