Alan Greenspan has argued that the essence of American capitalism is creative destruction. That our tolerance for change, for the new, for being willing to replace incumbents, even when painful, is the essence of what has moved the US to become, in a mere 400 years, the most powerful economic engine on the planet.
However, With respect to our governance, we have not been as tolerant or as flexible. We have clung to ideas and systems that have changed only under the most dire circumstances. The civil war changed us, but not entirely...The great depression changed us, but again, not entirely...just listen to Mitch McConnell last week looking to shred the social safety net.
As for the present, Donald Trump did not deliver all the problems we face today. He merely exploited them….just as demagogues often do.
And so as we once again face a huge disconnect between the reality of the world...a world of global integration, social and economic dislocation and division, siloed and self-reinforcing news and information, and a governmental system unattuned and unresponsive. All of this can’t help but leaveBen Fountain has examined this world from the first volleys of the 2016 election, right up until today. His observations are in his new work Beautiful Country Burn Again: Democracy, Rebellion, and Revolution
whole groups of people behind. Author and journalist
My conversation with Ben Fountain:
Why New York is New York
The Notorious Maxwells
We Need Uniters, Not Dividers: A Conversation with Tim Shriver
How the Rich Really Live and Why We All Should Care
A Time When Oscar Winning Movies Really Mattered: The Making of Midnight Cowboy
The Founding Mothers of NPR
Toxic Masculinity In An Oil Boomtown
Elon Musk IS Leading Us Into The Future
Imagining the Next World War : 2034
Come Fly With Me: The World of The Pan Am Stewardess Before "Me Too"
The Royals Have Outlived Their Value: Gilded Lives at the Expense of the British People
Frida Kahlo and the Timelessness of Her Work and Her Ideas
Coffee, Globalization and and Why We Care About A Hill of Beans
Rethink Everything You Know About Policing
Where Is The Information We Have Lost In Data
Mike Nichols: A Life
Why The Exploration Of Space Should Still Matter
Are You A Broker, Expansionist or Convener? It Will Tell How the Pandemic Impacted You
Armed Members of Congress. Bloodshed in the Capitol. Talk of Secession. We've Seen It Before
The Hispanic Republican Vote
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