Once in a while, I come across an article that is transformative, and worth spending a few hours taking it all in. Matthew Stewart's "The 9.9 Percent is the new American Aristocracy" in this month's Atlantic reflects on the changes in our nation's social and economic well and not-so-well being. He takes us from his great-grandfather Colonel Robert Stewart's unethical affairs in the Teapot Dome scandal to the present and our current president. The accumulation of wealth and power, and the politically created 1% has created the 9.9% and the games played to preserve the aristocracy the resulting monster of resentment. Resentment is what propelled Trump to where he is today. Here are a few phrases from the article for you now:
The raging polarization of American political life is not the consequence of bad manners or a lack of mutual understanding. It is just the loud aftermath of escalating inequality. ......... Wealth always preserves itself by dividing the opposition......The defining challenge of our time is to renew the promise of American democracy by reversing the calcifying effects of accelerating inequality.
Sorry, but this is too large to be a cut-and-paste piece.
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2018/06/the-birth-of-a-new-american-aristocracy/559130/
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Juan
Juan
Patriotism is not a short and frenzied outburst of emotion but the tranquil and steady dedication of a lifetime.
- Adlai Stevenson
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