Controversial opinion (on this website at least): The 2020s weren't the first time in history America had problems. Nor the first time young people had reason to feel pessimistic about the future. In fact, false nostalgia insisting that everyone had it so easy back in the day is part of the problem.
A political environment in which a decisive number of voters are mad all the time and think everything's awful, no matter current material conditions or personal experience, presages years of swinging back and forth, accomplishing nothing, satisfying no one but entrepreneurs of chaos and decline.
Contempt of Congress, contempt for the law, contempt for Epstein's victims, contempt for basic human morality, contempt for their own supporters, contempt for the American people.
Not merely covering up Trump and associates' awful actions, but being really obvious, throwing it in everyone's faces.
Full thing here if you'd like to read it:
Individuals who agree to participate in these "what do voters think?" pieces are probably not representative, as much of the public would not spend time doing that. That said, the sympathetic publication's takeaways stand out to me.
Everyone Wants to Know What Ge...
Europe not using frozen Russian funds just means Europe can tap those frozen funds in the future, or use them as a chip in negotiations.
If Europe hadn't found a way to support Ukraine, that'd be different. But they did.
The criticism is overwrought.
David Brooks hit a level of chutzpah fitting a mythological hubris story.
Could've said nothing. Or do responsible disclosure. Especially since Brooks didn't go to Epstein's island, he attended some rich guy meetings, which he does a lot.
But nope. Had to declare "I'm a better weaver than Athena!"
Don't *tread*. Not "treat."
Gah. Sorry for the typo. I gather most people recognized the real slogan from context, but still.
An individual in 2025 could be facing worse personal prospects than they did in, say, 2009. With hundreds of millions of people, some surely have that experience.
But in the aggregate, it makes no sense to see worse job prospects, lower real income, faster inflation, and fewer insured as better.
So much political commentary/analysis comes down to whether you see 2024 as:
1) A sweeping and lasting change, signaling deeply and widely held issue beliefs, practically a binding referendum on American culture
Or
2) The fourth close presidential election in a row, and impacted by global trends