Nov 8, 2016The folly of the masses has replaced the wisdom of crowds as the dominant theme in polite discourse... All that really remains of liberalism is fear of the future.
↩︎ New Statesman
Should America switch to a monarchy system?
Interest grows in pushing for California's secession from the United States
They call it #Calexit. It will prove to be a flash in the pan. But still:
1/ If Trump wins I am announcing and funding a legitimate campaign for California to become its own nation.
— Shervin (@shervin) November 9, 2016
And California does have the world's sixth-largest economy. And the "Yes California Independence Campaign" did hold a meetup last night in Sacramento.
See also:
A third of all House Democrats now hail from three states (CA, NY, MA). California alone accounts for 20% of the House Democratic caucus.
— Dan McLaughlin (@baseballcrank) November 9, 2016
Throwing in the towel on democracy
On Sunday, the weekend before the election, the New York Times decided to give op-ed space to the chancellor of the International League of Monarchists—a distant relative of Leo Tolstoy and a UKIP candidate—to cite Edward Gibbon and implore America to give up the vote.
Democracies have dynasties, too
Hereditary rule wasn't exactly on the agenda at the framing of the Constitution. But If Hillary Clinton wins the presidency, two families will have ruled America for 24 of the last 32 years. (This would have been guaranteed if Jeb Bush had prevailed in his primary.)
Then again, politics have always been a family affair in the US: half the first Congress served alongside a close relative. From the 19th-century Adams to the Udalls, Bushes, Murkowskis, Kennedys, and even the ascendant identical Castro twins, the tendency continues for Americans to elect families, perhaps because their names act as brands to orient voters through our thicket of elections.
Nov 8, 2016It’s certainly instructive to look across the Atlantic at the increasingly spiteful and vulgar Presidential election in America—a race to the bottom in which, over a matter of weeks, one of two deeply divisive individuals will be elected Head of State. Who could sensibly want to replace what we here enjoy with such a system?
↩︎ Spalding Today
"Mouthbreathing Machiavellis Dream of a Silicon Reich"
Would a CEO of America be more like a monarch or a president? You can get rid of them, but their power is closer to absolute. Let's hope we don't have to find out how this harebrained Silicon Valley fetish for total corporate despotism would qualify.
The Editors' Longreads Picks
- An excellent essay on poverty and writing by Starr Davis. Updated May 31, 2022
- Novelist Héctor Tobar tries to understand the 1992 Los Angeles riots through the experiences of a single high school.
- Steven Johnson with a long assessment of the current state of A.I. and language. (The illusion has gotten very good.)
Welcome to The Morning News Tournament of Books, 2017 edition.
- Our championship match is decided in the Tournament of Books, with news of a Rooster surprise debuting this summer. Updated Mar 31, 2017
- In Thursday's action, Reyhan Harmanci sets up a colossal final.
- The Zombie round opens with Buzzfeed's Isaac Fitzgerald reading The Nix and The Underground Railroad.
Все ваши Белый дом принадлежит нам.
- "Will Putin expose the failings of American democracy or will he inadvertently expose the strength of American democracy?" Updated Mar 3, 2017
- Wilbur Ross just wanted to make some money in ethically gray areas (that should've prevented him from taking office).
- Jeff Sessions's spokeswoman can't help but continue to lie.
The oceans are under assault, and not just from the White House and friends.
- Trump's assault on the environment begins with American headwaters. Updated Mar 1, 2017
- Don't just blame the oil companies for destroying the oceans—blame sushi restaurants.
- Nothing escapes the deepest trenches of the ocean floor. Not light, not nutrients, not pollutants.