#Londinium90AD: Gaius and Germanicus philosophize on the resilient, confident, tireless senatorial class Optimates (elite) always with us, First Century A.D and Twenty-First Century A.D. Michael Vlahos.

Oct 03, 2021, 01:41 AM

Photo: Music for Gaius and Germanicus.

@Batchelorshow

#Londinium90AD: Gaius and Germanicus philosophize on the resilient, confident, tireless senatorial class Optimates (elite) always with us, First Century A.D and Twenty-First Century A.D.  Michael Vlahos.


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The optimates (Latin for "best ones"), also known as boni ("good men"), are a label in studies of the late Roman republic. They are seen as supporters of the continued authority of the senate.

The twenty-first century doesn't apply such generous labels, except in sarcasm.

"Once, leftists were accused of harbouring more rarefied tastes. In Ireland, smoked-salmon socialist used to be the go-to insult. In South Africa, it’s Gucci communist. In Argentina, it’s hippie con osde – a hippie with a private health plan.

"The classic British term is champagne socialist or, if you want to push it a little further, Bolly Bolshevik, for the lady or gentleman with an appetite for Bogdanov and Bollinger. In Australia, it’s chardonnay socialist, because enjoying a white wine while advocating a society in which the community owns and controls the means of production, distribution and exchange is just not on. Such political ambitions should be accompanied by cheap ale, served in flat caps, with a lump of coal for dipping.

"In France and Germany, the equivalents retain echoes of earlier times. The salonkommunist or salonbolschewist is the German 'drawing-room communist,' who speaks the gospel of Marx from the comfort of his book-lined abode, rather than preaching Engels from deep inside a Berlin techno club. The French term gauche caviar, or 'caviar left,' now conjures up almost unimaginable decadence, a 1980s world occupied also by the US 'limousine liberal'.

"The rise of Bernie Sanders and Jeremy Corbyn has prompted the creation of a new set of pejorative terms based on the supposed characteristics of those leaders and their supporters. Corbynista echoes Chavista, because, of course, Corbyn loves Venezuela. Momentum is referred to as Maomentum. Tankie, a term used to describe Stalinists, is making an online comeback. Sanders supporters were dubbed Bernie bros, even as the Vermont senator picked up more support among young women than Hillary Clinton. Now, the US has brocialists, dudes who don’t let their belief in democratic socialism get in the way of being sexist."

—https://www.theguardian.com/politics/shortcuts/2017/oct/23/latte-socialist-gauche-caviar-how-spot-good-time-leftwingers-around-world