Just the other day came news that the University of Illinois had hired a new president at a new, higher salary of $620,000, $170,000 more than his predecessor. Somehow this escaped the attention of the right-populist crowd now scrambling to find ways to criticize the Obama administration for the malfeasance of British Petroleum. In fact, it hardly seemed to merit much comment at all, despite Illinois’ ongoing budget crunch. It’s just business as usual.

In the midst of economic crisis, the wealthy always find ways to better themselves, even in so-called service professions. The other side of that coin is that the rest of us have to pay the bills and when there are a lot of big bills…

Right about the same time that the genocide of Native American people and culture was complete, say, the turn of the 19th century, Americans began to embrace the Boy Scouts’ simulacra of Native American and Western lore. (By the time I was a Boy Scout, more than 60 years later, this had evolved into all sorts of secret “Indian” societies and rituals. I still have my “Red Arrow” sash.) That’s a good example of imperial nostalgia. Right at the moment when utter defeat is imminent, the defeated become objects of admiration.

The term is most often used to describe a certain tendency in British culture. I think, though, that we are starting to see a touch of imperial nostalgia…