Thank you Professor Richardson.

"...although not quickly enough to undo damage of the previous forty years and satisfy those left behind, many of whom voted for Trump and some of whom have resorted to violence."

While economic indicators are strong and the United States has recovered faster than other major industrialized countries, far too many Americans continue to live paycheck to paycheck or worse while legacy Reagan economic policies continue to drive wealth to the top. I recently wrote:

"At the root, it is the extreme concentration of wealth versus the rest of us. Period. Everything else is intended to distract us and keep us divided and fighting.

While we continue to fight each other …

As of 2010:

Elon Musk had accumulated $2 billion. Now: $451 billion.

Jeff Bezos had accumulated $12.6 billion. Now: $243 billion.

Overall, in 2010 the wealthiest Americans held $1.37 trillion and have now accumulated $5.4 trillion."

The multiple generations of economic despair are leading to more societal-level uncertainty -which always opens the door to fear, hate, and othering. Couple it with corporate media directing anger and outrage away from the accumulation of vast wealth and onto divisive hot-button issues and you get a weak and divided nation on the verge of self-destruction.