Joel Kotkin

@joelkotkin

Author: The Coming of Neo-Feudalism. Urban Futures Fellow @ChapmanU. Executive Director @Urbanreforminst.

Joined April 2011

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12KFollowers

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Joel Kotkin@joelkotkin · Apr 16, 2020

Our society is being reduced to a feudal state. The middle-class is becoming one of property-less serfs, while the "expert" class of the clerisy and the tech oligarchs take over. COVID-19 exacerbates it all. My latest book on the trends and reversing them. joelkotkin.com/books/

joelkotkin's tweet card. Joel's latest book, The Coming of Neo-Feudalism examines whether we can reverse the trend toward greater concentration of wealth and property, with reduced upward mobility.

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Joel Kotkin@joelkotkin · Jul 20

The simple truth is that the low wage/high welfare economy dependent on illegal immigration isn’t sustainable. #immigrationreform #economicpolicy Read more @latimes: latimes.com/opinion/story/…

joelkotkin's tweet card. Illegal immigration feeds a 'low-wage/high welfare economy' that pushes immigrants toward poverty and California toward fiscal peril.

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Joel Kotkin@joelkotkin · 12 h

It is not the far right that now tries to disqualify candidates or ban opposition parties, but the mainstream left. #politicalanalysis #modernfascism Read more @spikedonline: spiked-online.com/2025/07/22/fas…

joelkotkin's tweet card. Those celebrities and academics fleeing Trump’s ‘far right’ US betray a total ignorance of history.

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Joel Kotkin@joelkotkin · Jul 24

In the annals of stupid and poorly run schemes, the California High-Speed Rail project ranks among the worst. #infrastructure #California Read more @spectator: thespectator.com/topic/californ…

joelkotkin's tweet card. A better bet is that no one will be taking the 2 hour 40 minute high-speed train along the coast of California in the foreseeable future

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Joel Kotkin@joelkotkin · Jul 17

Los Angeles is now taking cues from the East Coast on how to destroy a once-great city. #immigration #urbancrisis Read more @unherd: unherd.com/newsroom/ice-b…

joelkotkin's tweet card. Los Angeles politicians have long dreamt of their city overtaking New York as North America’s dominant economic centre. Yet if LA is now becoming more like New York, it is for entirely the wrong...

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Joel Kotkin@joelkotkin · Jul 16

In my latest Parallax Views interview, I dive into the themes of my UnHerd piece, “Beware the New Eugenics.” Check it out: parallaxviews.podbean.com/e/jkotkin/

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Joel Kotkin@joelkotkin · Jul 16

Earlier this month, we celebrated the 4th of July and Canada Day on July 1st. Both countries have much to be proud of, but each also faces challenges. Check out this week’s newsletter to read my latest columns: conta.cc/40HoEeb

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Joel Kotkin@joelkotkin · Jul 15

Immigrants should be welcomed not as expiation for past colonial sins, but as contributors to building more resilient and prosperous societies. #immigrationpolicy #bordersecurity Read more @MSN: msn.com/en-ca/news/can…

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Joel Kotkin@joelkotkin · Jul 14

Americans once admired the tech oligarchs but increasingly find them objectionable and scary. #oligarchy #muskparty Read more @spikedonline: spiked-online.com/2025/07/08/elo…

joelkotkin's tweet card. The America Party is a cult of no personality that has nothing to offer to voters.

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Joel Kotkin@joelkotkin · Jul 7

Homebuilders constructed a million fewer homes – including units – in 2024 than in 1972, when there were 130million fewer Americans. #urbanism #housingcrisis Read more @spikedonline: spiked-online.com/2025/07/05/hom…

joelkotkin's tweet card. From Zohran Mamdani to the YIMBYs, the leading figures in the housing debate have little to offer most Americans.

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Joel Kotkin@joelkotkin · Jul 7

The growing rift between these two historically-persecuted groups represents a sad breaking up of a once great alliance. #antisemitism #blackjewishrelations Read more @spectator: thespectator.com/topic/we-need-…

joelkotkin's tweet card. The growing rift between these two historically-persecuted groups represents a sad breaking up of a once great alliance

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Joel Kotkin@joelkotkin · Jul 5

Once rejected largely due to Nazi atrocities, eugenics is being embraced by both the Left and Right. #transhumanism #geneticengineering Read more @unherd: unherd.com/2025/07/beware…

joelkotkin's tweet card. Beware the new eugenics

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Joel Kotkin@joelkotkin · Jul 1

More are looking to acquire skills that provide a higher chance of leading to a middle-class life. #aiimpact #higheredcollapse Read more @unherd: unherd.com/newsroom/ai-is…

joelkotkin's tweet card. Revolution and disruption rarely stem from the poor and destitute, but from what Alexis de Tocqueville described as “a revolution of rising expectations”. After all, it was the bourgeoisie who forged...

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Joel Kotkin@joelkotkin · Jun 30

The Democrats are not just undermining their own cities – they’re also creating fertile ground for a Republican resurgence. #urbanflight #progressivepolitics Read more @spikedonline: spiked-online.com/2025/06/26/zoh…

joelkotkin's tweet card. His Democratic mayoral primary win speaks to a party and a city in terminal decline.

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Joel Kotkin@joelkotkin · Jun 29

Trump has found his own formula — based largely on America’s tech savvy and energy abundance — to intimidate enemies and control friends. #energysecurity #geopolitics Read more @unherd: unherd.com/newsroom/trump…

joelkotkin's tweet card. One might not easily associate Donald Trump with Otto von Bismarck. Yet like the Iron Chancellor, who was famous for embracing the realpolitik of “blood and steel” in forging the German Empire, Trump...

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Joel Kotkin@joelkotkin · Jun 27

New York may be the most alluring city in America for the wealthy with elite degrees, but it faces very high levels of inequality. #redistribution #economiccollapse Read more @Telegraph: telegraph.co.uk/us/comment/202…

joelkotkin's tweet card. Rise in support for Zohran Mamdani illustrates how an alliance of immigrants and the young urban precariat is taking on capitalism

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Joel Kotkin@joelkotkin · Jun 26

Californians can enjoy the fruits of Trump’s policies even as they grumble darkly about him. #californiaeconomy #reshoring Read more @Telegraph: telegraph.co.uk/us/comment/202…

joelkotkin's tweet card. Gavin Newsom might prefer to lead the resistance against the president. But his state has much to gain from Trump’s policies

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Joel Kotkin@joelkotkin · Jun 25

American cities face an existential choice. #urbanfuture #cityrevival Read more @joelkotkin: joelkotkin.com/how-to-save-ou…

joelkotkin's tweet card. American cities face an existential choice. They need to develop new approaches to make urban centers work for the broad majority.

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Joel Kotkin@joelkotkin · Jun 24

In a jumble of old industrial buildings under the shadow of a giant Chevron refinery, a group of entrepreneurs are embracing the country’s emerging “hard tech” revolution. #hardtech #spaceeconomy Read more @unherd: unherd.com/2025/06/inside…

joelkotkin's tweet card. How Trump can win the space race

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Joel Kotkin@joelkotkin · Jun 20

Besides the Iran-Israel conflict, the biggest story of the past few weeks has been the protests against President Trump’s immigration policy. Check out this week’s newsletter to read my latest columns: myemail.constantcontact.com/Joel-Kotkin-Up…

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Joel Kotkin@joelkotkin · Jun 15

Los Angeles today offers a masterclass in urban dysfunction. #urbancrisis #olympics2028 Read more @spikedonline: spiked-online.com/2025/06/11/los…

joelkotkin's tweet card. How can riot-rocked LA be trusted to host the Olympics?

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