Articles that begin pushing the rock back up the hill

As many of us are just beginning to come to terms with November, there were two articles, one yesterday and one today, that had some helpful observations.  There was nothing earth shaking about them, but they did articulate thoughts well, and in a way that made sense and did so with a historical perspective.

The first was in the December 4th New York Times Sunday Magazine.  With the title "Exit Wounds", the piece by Ian Buruma discusses the election results from the perspective of the United States and Britain.  Its subtitle is the starting point.  "For seven decades, the United States and Britain defined and defended a vision of democracy and freedom that profoundly shaped the global order.  What happens when their own citizens opt out of it?"  Buruma's succinct writing deals with complex issues in an intelligent way.

The second was in the December 5th online New Yorker.   "The Frankfort School Knew That Trump Was Coming", written by staff writer Alex Ross, looks at Europe today and its political revisionism and compares it to what has just happened in the U.S.   A thought of consequence was "the combination of economic inequality and pop-cultural frivolity" had the effect of  "mass distraction masking elite domination".  There is much more to the commentary in this opinion piece based on ongoing events.

They both were worth reading here.