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smart, useful comparisons.

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Jun 17, 2022Liked by Richard J. Tofel

Well framed. The politics vs. Policy phrase is particularly apt. Do you think it stems from the need to fill first the television and now the web news cycle? Or more the need to compete with entertainment?

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When you characterize how different the country is based on simple demographics, you are a part of the problem. How different we are vs. used to be-- along gender and race and sexual preferences.

If you chose instead measures most responsible for our conflict they would be quite different. Income disparity probably being number one. But the decimation of the rural lifestyle through agribusiness and concentration in large corporations is probably central to this divide. Read Wendell Berry for starters. "Elites" is a catchall for the irresponsible governance and disparagement toward non-college, non-urban, non-materialist family-first, community first cultures that may as well have been conquered. 50 years of false promises and bad legislation.

And disillusionment? Do you think the college educated young people feel good about themselves going to these predatory mercenary organizations? Many of which used to be reputable like McKinsey or Johnson and Johnson. It's money that changed the country.

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