Homeland Elegies: A Barack Obama Favourite Book 2020
We will be known as a culture that feared death
and adored power, that tried to vanquish insecurity
for the few and cared little for the penury of the
many. We will be known as a culture that taught
and rewarded the amassing of things, that spoke
little if at all about the quality of life for
people (other people), for dogs, for rivers. All
the world, in
... See moreAfter 9/11, the United States began operating in Afghanistan, supporting and buying native armies to confront al-Qaeda. But over time these were replaced by U.S. ground forces, and the war expanded to Iraq. What had been a rational war turned into both an unwinnable war and one that would drain and distort American domestic life. Imperial wars exha
... See moreGeorge Friedman • The Storm Before the Calm: America's Discord, the Coming Crisis of the 2020s, and the Triumph Beyond
Who built palaces for his personal pleasure while schools decayed and his country’s health care system collapsed. Who maintained one of the world’s most expensive armies while he allowed his nation’s infrastructure to crumble. Who channeled resources to his cronies and political allies, allowing them to siphon off much of the country’s wealth for t
... See moreBen Fountain • Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk
And so, as the pandemic shut down cities and states, half the country looked to science and the other half looked to Trump. Americans didn’t look to one another because there was no longer any trust between them. Into this void government by the people collapsed, leaving the unelected elites and the elected demagogue to battle it out. The struggle
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