Still, the move toward Brexit channelled populist passions that now shape politics on both sides of the Atlantic: a contempt for experts and mainstream institutions; a hatred of liberal cosmopolitan idealism; a shameless embrace and proliferation of misinformation by political opportunists; and agendas anchored more in antipathy for a perceived enemy than in a positive vision for everyone.
~ Ishaan Tharoor via The New Yorker
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Since the 1990s, political parties across the West have been hemorrhaging members amid a wider weakening of internal structures. While especially damaging on the left, always reliant on popular support, the trend affected forces across the spectrum. As a void opened between voters and parties, many citizens stopped engaging with them and even decided to opt out of voting altogether. The result has been a steady erosion of mainstream parties’ electoral support.
~ Anton Jäger via The New York Times
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After the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, in 1963, Jacqueline, alert with a widow’s sense of history management, spun in Life magazine the myth of Camelot.
~ Doreen St. Félix via The New Yorker
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Large government budget deficits generally worsen the current account, and fiscal tightening tends to improve it. This effect operates partly through the exchange rate: when a government borrows less, there is less demand for foreign capital, which lowers interest rates, allows the currency to depreciate, and improves competitiveness.
~ Michael Starr via American Affairs
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America is unique, and comparisons are difficult. The country easily outpaces the rest of the developed world in gun deaths and overdoses, both major mortality drivers here that have largely been accepted as the cost of being American. But even if you discount those peculiarities, plenty of other indicators are pointing the wrong way.
~ Vann Newkirk via The Atlantic
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When you want to know how things really work, study them when they’re coming apart.
~ William Gibson
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A trace of Gavin Newsom’s childhood shyness lingers in his fondness for performing comedic riffs, usually delivered in a key of ironic self-lament, which insulate him from more direct engagement. He was dressed in a white shirt, dusky-blue suit trousers, and a blue tie knotted, with two crisp dimples, into a four-in-hand.
~ Nathan Heller via The New Yorker
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It has never been my object to record my dreams, just the determination to realize them.
~ Emmanuel Radnitzky
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When words become unclear, I shall focus with photographs. When images become inadequate, I shall be content with silence.
― Ansel Adams
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Anthropic is regarded as a giant among AI companies, but perhaps what it really excels in is anthropomorphism.
~ Ted Chiang via The Atlantic
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