Why Society Is Falling Apart: Two Cheerful Views

DAVID BROOKS ADDRESSING BRITS

I can’t say I understood it all, but he is really fun to listen to.

And this was eight months ago!  As horrified as he was then, what must he think now?

Cheerful executive summary: he believes we’re going to preserve democracy, as we always have.

Needless to say, I hope he’s right.

But — my words now, not his — preserving democracy is not our only challenge.  Over the next few years, we will either figure out how to deal with a world where little unpleasant or boring work is required (because of AI, robots, and nearly-free energy from the sun) . . . which — when phrased that way — could actually be what humans have dreamt of since coming down from the trees (can you get much more cheerful than leisure and prosperity?) . . . or face a nightmare of even more grotesque inequality, with spectacular wealth for a few (The Haves and Have-Yachts), quiet desperation for most.

Part 3 of Andrew Yang’s The War on Normal People suggests ways we might achieve the former.  (The first two Parts explain why there won’t be any jobs.) It’s been nearly seven years since I (sort of) interviewed him.  I hope he runs for president again (though not as a third-party spoiler) to direct the national conversation toward this fundamental challenge.

FAREED ZAKARIA’S TAKE

Ref, You Suck.  He’s not particularly cheerful (forgive my bait and switch).  But his analysis is too clear — and important — to miss.