Shades of Many Colors

According to Putnam, the more we prioritize our private bubbles over public life, the more we disconnect from our local surroundings. This has weakened American democracy. Fewer people are engaged in politics, and those who do are often at the political poles. With less social capital, our neighborhoods are connected by fewer informal, reciprocal t... See more

“Trump is a creature native to our own style of government and therefore much more difficult to protect ourselves against,” the Yale political theorist Bryan Garsten wrote. “He is a demagogue, a popular leader who feeds on the hatred of elites that grows naturally in democratic soil.” A demagogue can become a tyrant, but it’s the people who put him

... See more

What was Trump? A fascist? A white nationalist? A malignant narcissist? A conservative with very bad manners? Once he became president, his only legislative achievement—a huge tax cut that heavily favored the rich and corporations—fit right in with Republican orthodoxy. His court appointments were friendly to business interests and also to religiou

... See more