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The ongoing uproar after the election of Donald Trump led the sociologist James Davison Hunter to reflect in a fresh way on the engines driving political conflict and social division. Back in the early 1990s, he popularized the phrase “culture war,” the now-indispensable term to describe the struggle for the political and cultural power to define the future of the United States. In the second decade of the twenty-first century, he sees that this struggle has “evolved and metastasized into a class war.” Of course, the culture war has always been a class war. Thirty years ago, when Hunter first began studying it, the culture war was a fight within the broad American middle class, a contest over which of its wings would prevail over the other. Then as now, it pitted a new, economically ascendant class of professionals and “creative industry” managers against a downwardly mobile bloc of “old economy” elites and the middle and working classes tied to them. Our politics are enflamed because this struggle is ongoing, and the stakes are high. It is a battle not just for prestige but for supremacy and rule in every domain of social life—culture, economy, state.

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In learning a language, the chief difficulty consists in making acquaintance with every idea which it expresses, even though it should use words for which there is no exact equivalent in the mother tongue; and this often happens. In learning a new language a man has, as it were, to mark out in his mind the boundaries of quite new spheres of ideas, with the result that spheres of ideas arise where none were before. Thus he not only learns words, he gains ideas too.

This is nowhere so much the case as in learning ancient languages, for the differences they present in their mode of expression as compared with modern languages is greater than can be found amongst modern languages as compared with one another. This is shown by the fact that in translating into Latin, recourse must be had to quite other turns of phrase than are used in the original. The thought that is to be translated has to be melted down and recast; in other words, it must be analyzed and then recomposed. It is just this process which makes the study of the ancient languages contribute so much to the education of the mind.

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If only that’s all they would be doing. But it’s not enough for the to make a free choice not to patronize Chick-fil-A; EVERYONE must boycott the Heretic business, as well, and if it takes breaking the law and interfering with other people’s free choice, well, then, that’s what they’ll do.

Read it.

In a summer when the news is urgent, relentless, and horrifying, royal-watching is a welcome diversion. And the show hasn’t been this good in years. What is it about Meghan Markle, the new Duchess of Sussex, that has unleashed such a frenzy of decoding? Why do people project so many different meanings onto her, as if she were a living Rorschach test, begging to be interpreted and analyzed?

Well, for one thing, she is one of us. Or more nearly one of us than anyone who’s ever entered the royal family. She’s American, biracial, self-made, a grown-up. She’s had a career. She’s not like Diana Spencer or Kate Middleton, who were unknown before they emerged as princesses-to-be, appearing as public figures at the same moment that they began to disappear into the mystery of royal life. Meghan was already visible, and we’re hoping she’ll stay that way. We know the sound of her voice — she’s been an actress, she’s written a blog, she’s expressed opinions about feminism and race. We want her to keep talking.

I question whether the Boston Globe would be quite so comfortable with her ‘keeping talking’ if her expressed oppinions about ‘feminiism and race’ hadn’t been conventionally ‘progressive’. It is de rigeur these days for anyone who has any possible whiff of Upper Class about themselves to be anodyne in public and not express any sentiment that Elton John or Beyoncé would find objectionable. This is especially true of modern ‘royalty’, and the handcuffs are especially tight for those who marry into royalty, such as Catherine Middleton and Meghan Markle. Every photo must be ‘heartwarming’. Every word must exhibit a bleeding heart. Every virtue must be signaled, although not to excess, of course. The Crust look to them to provide the glossy overcoat that allows their precious moral superiority to shine and gleam and serve as a beacon to those who, not having millions in the bank and instant celebrity, must row their own boat as they make their way in the world.

There is no substantive difference between the Queen’s kids and Barack Obama’s kids, between the Duke of York’s kids and AlGore’s kids, between a Montbatten-Windsor and a Kennedy. None can be allowed any degree of intellectuality or to express an original thought (even if an original thought would dare intrude; against that horrible happenstance they have been carefully programmed). None can be allowed to hold a Real Job, one where you make a useful thing and sell it to a willing buyer, meet a payroll and build a business; what they do is modern clerisy work, preferably for some level of government or (ideally) a fashionable foundation.

We want her to show the world, in the summer of 2018, that not all Americans are boorish jerks.

And that, of course, is the chief fear of the Boston Globe, and those who take their cues from its pages.

Our ruling class is becoming overbred, like certain breeds of dogs, and will eventually be fit only to be carried around in a purse and handed off to minions when they become inconvenient.

Read it.

“People don’t realize there’s a cure for diabetes out there,” Vivek Kumbhari, director of bariatric endoscopy at Johns Hopkins Medicine, told Gizmodo. “We’re just not taking it.”

Not even under Obamacare.

Reagan’s Son: Trump’s Base Would Pick Putin Over Any Democrat As U.S. President  I know I would.

Tom Arnold Calls Trump A ‘Racist’ And Goes After His Supporters In Rambling Rant During TV Promo Event   ‘I’m going to do this until he resigns’ Good luck with that. ‘I think I can, I think I can, I think I can….’

Guy Who Smashed Trump’s Hollywood Star: I Did ‘A Real Good Act’ And Even Robert De Niro Has Praised Me

Reporters Desperately Try To Keep Trump-Russia Collusion Narrative Alive, Even As Evidence Fades

CNN’s Jake Tapper Calls Mueller Probe Critics ‘Unpatriotic’ On Colbert

CNN Guest: ‘This Was A Good Week For Trump’ Outside Of ‘CNN Land’

Kellyanne Conway Asked About Democrats Embracing Socialism: ‘I Don’t Mind It At All’

NBC’s Chuck Todd Warns Trump ‘Over-Hyped’ Strong Economic Growth  He promised 3%. We’re getting 4.1%. I don’t see Chuck’s problem, unless it exists between his ears, which I am fully prepared to believe.

Donald Trump has not had a science advisor for longer than any other president  Perhaps he doesn’t need one, because he doesn’t cast a glaze of ‘science’ over what he actually wants to do, the way Obama and the Democrats always strive to do.

Read it.

As always, government is the problem, not the solution.

Typically such regulations are established to protect existing firms against competition by raising barriers to entry so that poor people can’t start their own businesses because they can’t afford the time/money to jump through all of the licensing hoops.

Read it.

But I doubt it. The country is still run by Africans, Africans who had no problem swallowing 20+ years of Mugabe. They’re just waiting for the next tribal kleptocrat dictator to come along in hopes that they’ll find a seat on the gravy train.

UPDATE: Zimbabwe election: Mugabe successor vies for power with young rival who modelled campaign on Trump

Read it.

I guess Trump made ’em do it.

A group of environmentalists are claiming “necessity defense” regarding their attempts in 2016 to shut down two pipelines, arguing that the threat of climate change is so imminent that they were justified in their actions. The Minnesota Court of Appeals in April ruled in their favor. The Minnesota Supreme Court subsequently declined to review this decision, allowing the protesters to fight their criminal charges using the necessity defense strategy.

I’d like to see their evidence that ‘climate change’ is even a thing. Courts aren’t like universities, they want to see actual proof, not ‘models’.

None of the four activists charged are actually natives of Minnesota, but hail from far away areas, such as Seattle and New York City.

Courts also like to see some showing that there is some personal connection to the alleged harm. This could get amusing.

“For many of us engaging in work to avert civilizational collapse, there comes a point when all else has fallen away, and it becomes clear that the one thing left for us to do is to put our bodies in the way of the machine,” reads a portion of their website.

I’m in favor of having the machine run over those bodies. I’ll be happy to drive.

Read it.

Generally, Medicaid payments are required by law to go directly to medical care professionals after being allocated to states. But, the previous administration allowed a nice little carve out for unions.

Under the Obama administration, home health care unions were allowed to automatically deduct membership fees from the Medicaid money. By the tortured logic used by the previous administration (and the eleven states with unionized home health industries), health aides are state workers and Medicaid money is state money.

The implication that health workers can have Medicaid money taken away from them, often without their knowledge, is unfair and unsustainable.

Unions are like the Mafia without the accountability.

Read it.

All of these regulations are imposed with the best of intentions but that ol’ debbil The Law of Unintended Consequences comes back to bite us on the ass every time.

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Let that be a lesson to us all.

Think of it as evolution in action.

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These cobbled-together coalitions always break up when the time comes, as it always does, that one special interest group’s interests clash with another’s. We saw this when the FDR Democrat coalition came unglued when Reagan was elected, and wise Republicans have been picking off the outliers every election since then.

Read it.

But you have to remember that Trump has accomplished ABSOLUTELY NOTHING during his term in office.

Just remember that.

Absolutely nothing.

Iraq cleric Moqtada al-Sadr calls for delay in formation of government as he backs protests sweeping south

Imran Muhammed: Axe-murderer sentenced to 24 years in jail for ‘ferocious’ killing of co-worker

The Syrian war is a ‘shame to mankind’ says Serbia’s top weapons maker – but I found his instruction books in eastern Aleppo

Taliban bombmaker who attempted Westminster knife attack jailed for life

Israeli soldier killed by Palestinians near Gaza strip, military says

Iranian Goes Berserk With a Knife on a Lübeck Bus  Those pesky Iranians.

Video Reports on the Knife Attack in Lübeck

Ceasefire between Israel and Hamas holds after intense fighting

Pakistan rights group warns extremists trying to influence political campaigns in close election  Oh, ya think?

NY Times Headlines, Timelines Falsely Suggest Israel’s the Aggressor on Gaza Border  It’s all about the Narrative, Larry.

Explosion Heard Near Kabul As Exiled VP Lands In Afghanistan  No doubt some fireworks to celebrate his homecoming.

Pakistani Taliban Kills Candidate From Prime Minister Hopeful’s Party Days Before Election  Guess they looked at America’s Democrats and said ‘Ha! Amateurs!’

Israel rescues hundreds of Syria’s White Helmet aid volunteers from encircled war zone  Not that they’ll get any credit for it.

Pakistan election candidate killed by Taliban suicide blast

Pakistan election 2018: How bulk voting denies democratic rights to up to 60% of Pakistanis

‘White Helmets’ Rescuers Evacuated As Assad Nears Total Victory In South Syria  I guess the white helmets were to make them better targets.’

ISIS Suicide Bombing Kills 20, Gunmen Mosque Attack Kills Four In Afghanistan

Stanford Muslim RA Threatens To ‘Physically Fight Zionists On Campus’

Security Forces Repel Suspected ISIS Attack In Iraq’s Kurdish Capital

Muslim Who Squeezed $3M Out of SPLC for Calling Him an Anti-Muslim Extremist Says Others Also Wrongly Labeled

Decision to allow two notorious British Isis fighters to face death penalty in US condemned by senior MPs

Syrian government condemns ‘criminal’ evacuation of White Helmets rescuers

Father defends use of FGM despite death of his 10-year-old daughter

Tunisia Refuses Migrant Boat Carrying 40 Africans With No Aid  It’s not their job to help Africans. That’s the Europeans’ job.

Actors offered money by UK casting agency to take part in ‘anti-Qatar event’ outside Downing Street  Hey, this is skilled work — not just for anybody.

Faisal Hussain: A Nut Case With No Connection to Terrorism

Germany’s Slap on the Wrist for Muslim Anti-Semitism

Algerian Man Pleads Guilty To Working With Pennsylvania Woman And Other Conspirators To Help Terrorists

White Helmets rescuers stuck in Syria fear regime reprisals after colleagues evacuated by Israel

Fatima Khan: ‘Snapchat queen’ who posted video of dying boyfriend found guilty of orchestrating killing

Pakistan election 2018: Fears of instability ‘no matter who wins’ after brutal and violent campaign

Pakistan on unprecedented security lockdown as voters head to the polls after election campaign marred by violence

NIGERIA: Tribal Loyalties

Swedish student single-handedly prevents deportation of Afghan asylum seeker by refusing to sit down on flight

At least 31 killed as Pakistan election begins with deadly suicide bombing in Quetta

Islamic State claims responsibility for Toronto shooting as 10-year-old victim named

More than 50 dead as Isil strikes with coordinated suicide bombs in southern Syria

ISIS Claims Responsiblity For Toronto Mass Shooting

ISIS Says Toronto Mass Shooter Was ‘Soldier Of The Islamic State’

It’s Election Day In Pakistan. But Not For Transgender Pakistanis

It’s Election Day And 29 People Are Dead In Another ISIS Attack In Pakistan

New York Man Pleads Guilty To Helping Other Terrorists And Trying To Be An ISIS Fighter  Yeah, ‘Ali Saleh’ sure says New York Man to me….

Toronto shooting: Isis claims responsibility for attack which killed two people and wounded 13

Man admits fathering daughter’s three children  Don’t see anything in the Koran against that. Maybe I missed it.

ISIS Goes On Bombing Spree Throughout Syria Killing Hundreds

New Swedish Informational Pamphlet Directed to Immigrants: “So, You’re Thinking About Fucking a Child”

ALGERIA: It Smells Like Another Revolution

Dozens injured as hundreds of migrants storm Spain’s Ceuta border with Morocco  

Kuwaiti blogger slammed for racist post says criticism is ‘Islamophobic’  If you’re Muslim, you must use the word ‘Islamophobic’ at least once a day. I think that’s in the Koran somewhere.

Toronto shooting: No evidence Isis responsible for attack which killed two and wounded 13, police say

The True Extent of Palestinian Hatred for Israel

Sarah, Champion of Islam

It Wasn’t Me — Allah Said It!

Punishment Reduced for Somali Gang-Rapists in Sweden

Read it.

How about that GREAT government-provided health care! Don’t you wish we had a system like that over here?

Feel the Bern….

Read it.

Thank God for all those strict British gun control laws, or the place would be like Texas.

As my grandaddy used to say, when guns are outlawed only outlaws will have guns.

Joel Kotkin blows the whistle.

Its political leaders and a credulous national media present California as the “woke” state, creating an economically just, post-racial reality. Yet in terms of opportunity, California is evolving into something more like apartheid South Africa or the pre-civil rights South. California simply does not measure up in delivering educational attainment, income growth, homeownership, and social mobility for traditionally disadvantaged minorities. All this bodes ill for a state already three-fifths non-white and trending further in that direction in the years ahead. In the past decade, the state has added 1.8 million Latinos, who will account by 2060 for almost half the state’s population. The black population has plateaued, while the number of white Californians is down some 700,000 over the past decade.

No matter how many times socialists say ‘This time will be different’, it never is.

The Antiplanner turns over a rock.

Construction of Seattle’s latest streetcar line is late and over budget, so the mayor halted construction and hired a consultant to find out why. Now the consultant report itself is late.

The city knew that the problem had to do with the fact that construction turned out to be more complicated than the city anticipated. Now the consultant says that figuring out the problem turned out to be more complicated than the consultant anticipated.

Don’t you hate it when that happens?

Matthews Compares Trump to a Communist for Banning CNN Reporter, Setting AF1 TVs to FNC  Flinch, little snowflake, shiver, shiver….

Ex-NFL Player Says President Trump Is Attacking ‘Black Culture’ Through Anthem Protest Criticism  To the extent that modern ‘black culture’ is defective, that’s probably true.

Morning Joe Panel Compares Trump to Erdogan, Slams His ‘Enemies List’  Apparently it’s okay for Morning Joe to have an enemies list, but not for Trump.

CNN: The Oppo Research Arm of the Democratic Party

Salon Mocks MSNBC for Doing 455 Stormy Daniels Segments in Past Year

ABC’s Cecilia Vega Melts Down Over White House’s ‘Shocking’ ‘Unprecedented’ Ban of CNN Reporter  ‘Moommmeee!  Donald hit me back!’

CNN’s Alisyn Camerota ‘Relieved’ After Learning She Falsely Accused White House Of Censorship  She ought to have been fired. But the Crust takes care of its own.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: Trump’s Immigration Policy Is ‘On The Spectrum’ Of Ethnic Cleansing  There’s the new weasel-phrase: ‘on the spectrum’. I guess she’s in favor of ‘ethnic soiling’.

Donald Trump assassination market appears on blockchain platform Augur

Long-time Republican defects to Democrats over ‘misogyny and racism’ of Trump administration  How long did it take them to find one?

Twitter Employee Blasts White House As Racist Days Before Conservative Shadow Ban  Bias? What bias?

Poll: Majority Of Democrats Believe A Straight-Up Conspiracy Theory

Van Jones Says Trump Gives Off ‘Negative Vibration,’ People Are Becoming What ‘We’re Fighting’  Anybody who gives Van Jones a ‘negative vibration’ has my vote.

More Mueller madness

Read it.

Note to self: Avoid California.

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We can’t be out of money! There are whole piles of it here!

Feel the Bern….

Read it.

Welcome to Camp of the Saints.

A more accurate headline would say ‘Invaders’ instead of ‘Migrants’.

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I doubt it. Their whole political methodology is the screa OMG WE’RE ALL GONNA DIE and hope to scare voters into giving them power, power, and more power.

Read it.

If there is a system that isn’t reality-based, somebody will try to game it .. often successfully, and far too often at other people’s expense.

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The Crust takes care of its own.

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We have the technology — whether you like it or not.

Thank God cash still always works.

Want to cause trouble? Pay in dollar coins.

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Democrats aren’t really happy unless they’re breaking stuff up.

Except government agencies, of course. Those are just peachy.

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Think to the artificial intelligence we hold in our hands or that lie at our bedside: Siri, Google, Cortana, Alexa. While Siri is default male in the United Kingdom (it’s thought that Brits respond better to “authoritative” voices), it’s typically understood that consumers are looking for a voice of obedience and subservience, a voice trained take direction, to always be available, always of service. A woman’s voice: the perfect servant.

Actually, it’s because female voices carry better and are more understandable in most cases than male voices. This is why emergency messages in fighter jets are done in female voices. Of course, when you’re looking for something by which to be offended, everything is oppression.

Artificial intelligence programs learn based on real-world experience, not proglodyte talking points. So feminists are going to be offended by artificial intelligence until they figure out some way to embed Cultural Marxism in the software.

Read it.

Democrat, of course. Everything we want ought to be free (except to the taxpayers).

Read it.

No. But it does shake the box, and that’s something.

UPDATE: ‘Highly Capable’: Sessions Defends Rosenstein Against Impeachment Effort

It’s not his capability that is questionable, it’s the ends to which that capability is put.

UPDATE: Steve Scalise Supports Impeachment Of Rod Rosenstein: ‘Has Not Done His Job’

Read it.

As are most ‘protests’, full of dirty people who have never been trained to pick up after themselves.

Check it out.

The seventies were the high point of rock music. Everything has been downhill since then.

I love this kind of musical analysis. I could never do what these guys do, but I like to know how they did it because that way I appreciate it more.

I realized a long time ago that all of my favorite groups have one word names: Yes, Rush, Chicago, Kansas, Boston, Genesis, Journey, Aerosmith, Queen, Eagles, Heart, Foreigner, Styx, Santana …. I may have missed one or two.

The only exception is Moody Blues, but they were exceptional in every way.

UPDATE: My wife reminds me that I am also fond of Fleetwood Mac (classic), so that’s another exception.

Read it.

About fargin time.

However….

The Crust takes care of its own. Prediction: Nobody gets fired; nobody goes to jail.

Read it.

The hipster lifestyle is not inexpensive.

Former Special Ops Official ‘Shocked’ White House Isn’t Considering Stripping Hillary Clinton’s Security Clearance  After the server fiasco, I’d have thought her clearance would be yanked as a matter of course.

‘Hardball’ Panel Peddles Fake News About Sessions Chanting ‘Lock Her Up’ at TPUSA Event

CNN Combats Trump’s ‘Gaslighting’ By Blowing Their Own Hot Air  Haven’t seen David ‘Rodham’ Gergen is a while.

MSNBC’s Kasie Hunt Shocked Over Trump’s Post-Helsinki Poll Bump  I’m sure she doesn’t know anyone who voted for him.

NY Times Mourns Layoffs at Anti-Trump Tabloid NY Daily News, But Loathes NY Post  My, what a surprise.

Donald Trump’s ‘Walk of Fame’ star destroyed with pick axe  The first step in becoming an UnPerson. (What do you think? What this disturber of Domestic Tranquility a Democrat or a Republican?)

CNN Touts Anti-Trump ‘Tyranny’ Tirade by Democrat Economist

Stephen Colbert Calls Trump A ‘Racist, Horny, Old Burger Goblin Who Literally Steals Children From Poor People’  He actually gets paid to act like a particularly vicious middle school student. I should have a job like that.

Maxine Feels Inspired — Claims God Sent Her To Earth To Stop Trump  God must be very displeased with her so far.

MSNBC’s Katy Tur: Fox, Daily Caller Are ‘Not Journalists’ If They Defend Trump  This is a definition of ‘journalist’ unknown to any dictionary.

Huh? CBS/AP ‘Fact Check’ Claims Trump ‘Wrong’ to Call Dossier a Clinton Campaign Doc  I guess their reading skills aren’t what they might be.

Fake News: Rachel Maddow Falsely Claims White House Edited Putin Tape  She’s done worse.

Joe Scarborough Forced To Correct Tweet About White House Censorship After WaPo Correction  And it BURNS!

Top House Democrat Speculates That Trump ‘Pee Tape’ Is Real  Well, it’s sorta his job.

Maxine Waters: People Should Be ‘Out In The Streets Screaming’ Over Trump  Well, there’s a lot of screaming, but I would hesitate to call them ‘people’….

‘Hardball’ A-Block Freaks Over ‘Delusional,’ ‘Strong Man’ Trump, Compares Him to John Wilkes Booth  Eventually they’re going to run out of far-fetched historical figures to smear him with.

Read it.

But you have to bear in mind that Trump has accomplished ABSOLUTELY NOTHING during his term in office.

Just remember that.

Absolutely nothing.

(Next up: China.)

Read it.

She’s got grandkids? That’s a scary thought….

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Oops.

Proglodytes have no hesitation being bigots because they’re the Good People so its okay.

Read it.

Prediction: Nobody will get fired; nobody will go to jail.

The Crust takes care of its own.

Ordinarily I’d be upset about this but the residents of Seattle elected this numbskull and it’s only proper that they have to live with the result.

Read it.

Just let me add: STFU and Go Away.

Read it.

About time they got the Obama NewSpeak terminology flushed.

Think of what CNN would make of that.

Review of a new book.

A giant of business scholarship, Mr Pfeffer teaches one of Stanford’s most popular courses, on office politics and power. His early works looked at organisational design and how it sapped employee productivity rather than enhanced it. His previous book in 2015, “Leadership BS”, examined the gap between what companies say and how they act. He reprises these themes in his latest work, bringing a trove of original data to make his case.

And it still won’t matter a damn.

Nothing is more commonplace than a book about a problem that no individual can fix. Why people buy these things is beyond me. I remember my manager at EDS twenty years ago encouraging everyone to read Stephen Covey’s Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, which we all dutifully did. So far as I could tell, it made not one shred of difference either to EDS or to us as individuals.

Read it.

You may recall my City Journal feature on Buffalo from 2015. This was written about the time New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s Buffalo Billion program – a pledge to spend $1 billion in state funds to bring back the city economically – was in the earlier stages of development.

Fast forward, and Cuomo’s Buffalo Billion chief Alain Kaloyeros and Buffalo construction magnate Louis Ciminelli were recently convicted on corruption charges. A lot of the heavy lifting journalistically that raised questions about the Buffalo Billion was done by Jim Heaney and his team at the Investigative Post.

My, what a surprise. Aren’t you surprised? I’m sure surprised.

Whenever a great new government program is announced, the first thing I do is wonder how much of the money will be stolen through cronyism, bribery, and featherbedding.

Read it.

The calendar is based on era names that coincide with the rule of its emperors, and the country has been in the Heisei or ‘peace everywhere’ era since Japan’s current emperor, Akihito, took the throne in 1989.

We do much the same thing, as the references to the Trump Era (or ‘Era of Trump’) in the daily news makes clear.

I am always surprised at how much the Heisei Emperor looks as if he ought to be Jackie Chan’s dad.

Read it.

What happens when a society with a penchant for the cosmetic meets a medium dominated by it?

…

The irony here should be apparent: we were not so much being fed means to become creative or passionate as we were being shown ways to signal that we were either one?—?or better, both. It didn’t appear to matter whether or not we’d ever truly experienced what it was to feel the rush that accompanies creativity, or the bliss that is the complete lack of need for approval when immersed in the throes of passion. All that mattered was that cosmetically, it looked like we had. It was, in many ways, sickening; for years, we existed full of nothing but shortcuts to anything worthwhile; everything with an agenda, and never your own. It was also simply economics; in a society as massive and complex as ours has become, institutions that rely on vetting out the best talent ?—? colleges, companies, banks ?—? use signals of reality, as opposed to reality itself, to determine who makes the cut.

Hence the phenomenon of Virtue Signaling.