What is "The Establishment" ?

There's a lot of talk, particularly in the light of the Brexit vote and the US election, about rejection of "The Establishment".

What is it? I'm really asking.

Some of the anti-establishment commentators on the forum hold such profoundly different views on basically everything, that I suspect it may mean radically different things to different people.

Further thoughts:

Traditionally it has meant the core of our civil society.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Es...United_Kingdom

But it clearly doesn't mean that in modern parlance.

you are the establishment

that would be things like the bbc, hedge funds, thinktanks , career politicians etc.

For the past 30 or so years its the neo liberal globalist elite and their supporters in the mainstream media. They make up the core of all the main parties; they're neo liberal globalists first, and Coservatives/Labour/LibDem/Republican/Democrat second, hence why leading Republicans imply they'd rather support Hillary than Trump. Its because she's one of them and Trump isn't.

What do you think liberal means?

What do you think liberal means?

Literally, or in modern political pigeon-holing.

I honestly don't think anyone really knows what 'the establishment' means except to justify their slightly extreme political views. That's on both the extreme left and right (economically and morally before we open that can of worms!)

I honestly don't think anyone really knows what 'the establishment' means except to justify their slightly extreme political views. That's on both the extreme left and right (economically and morally before we open that can of worms!)

That's rather disappointing if it's right.

So something along the lines of "people I disagree with in some kind of position of power", varying naturally depending on the politics of whoever is talking.

the establishment is farage, gove, may, bojo and trump etc.

the establishment is farage, gove, may, bojo and trump etc.

On the face of it, this post rather confirms the definition in my previous post.

What do the people in your list have in common?

"The Establishment"............any large powerful unmanageable political or religious organizations!

"The Establishment"............any large powerful unmanageable political or religious organizations!

So there are many of them? It's always referred to as a single thing.