Americans don’t just disagree on policy anymore. They disagree on reality. They disagree on who and what deserves trust. They are, in measurable statistical terms, living in different countries while sharing the same zip codes.
~ John Mac Ghlionn via The Hill
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The radicalization of college-educated Americans who have begun to live the unpleasant realities of their less privileged compatriots—who can hardly afford rent, much less to buy a house and start a family—is an encouraging turn. They could form part of a broader social movement that finally addresses our deepest problems instead of dissolving them in electronic bile. A professional class that identifies with America’s multitudes of have-nots and votes on that basis would be a powerful force for greater equality and opportunity.
~ George Packer via The Atlantic
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Our leaders preside over an extraordinary machinery of destruction, but they remain strikingly obtuse about human beings — about their pride, shame, convictions and historical memory.
~ Yonatan Touval via The New York Times
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Donald Trump does not think strategically. Nor does he think historically, geographically, or even rationally. He does not connect actions he takes on one day to events that occur weeks later. He does not think about how his behavior in one place will change the behavior of other people in other places.
~ Anne Applebaum via The Atlantic
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Explanations exist; they have existed for all time; there is always a well-known solution to every human problem — neat, plausible, and wrong.
~ H. L. Mencken
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The enthusiasm of software developers for generative A.I. stands in stark contrast to how other Americans feel about the impact of large language models.
~ Clive Thompson via The New York Times
The states, in signing the Constitution, did not relinquish their independent authority to safeguard the public health.
~ Matthew Lawrence via The New York Times
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Political questions are far too serious to be left to the politicians.
~ Hannah Arendt
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A college-educated working class sounds like an oxymoron because socioeconomic status is generally defined by education and believed to rise with each academic degree. In recent years, a college education has become one of the most reliable indicators of both economic well-being and voting behavior.
~ George Packer via The Atlantic
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All true opinions are living, and show their life by being capable of nourishment; therefore of change. But their change is that of a tree — not of a cloud.
~ John Ruskin