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The Bulwark ·For the curious

Still Radical, Still American

by Joshua Zeitz

Published 2026-06-23 09:31:53+00:00

Why does a nation built on the rejection of hierarchy seem so eager to return to it?

0:00 / 23:01 · Narrator Charon

Context

Writing on 23 June 2026, The Bulwark reflects on the legacy of the late historian Gordon Wood as the American semiquincentennial nears. The piece observes a curious shift in the national mood: a move away from the fiercely anti-hierarchical culture Wood famously traced and toward a new, modern deference. Whether it is the pull of charismatic political figures or the aura of tech billionaires, the argument is that the old rebellion against authority is being replaced by a different kind of status-seeking. It offers a necessary pause to ask what remains of that original radical spirit.

Show notes

An appraisal of Gordon Wood’s thesis that the American Revolution was a radical social transformation that replaced inherited hierarchy with a fiercely democratic culture. The analysis applies Wood’s framework to contemporary trends, including the rise of personalist political leadership and the public veneration of technology billionaires. It examines the tension between the nation's anti-authoritarian inheritance and a growing comfort with concentrated wealth and personal authority.

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