The folks who want to be left alone are the ones who actually get most of the work done, but they’re still mocked as drones or beavers or trolls. That’s bad enough, but now technology is helping the extroverts in their long twilight campaign against actually concentrating on anything.

Kevin Drum

Categorized in : Long Twilight Technology

In other words, in the same way that mass incarceration surged because of a real thing, it's finally starting to ebb because of a real thing: the actual, concrete decline in violent crime that started in the early 90s and which appears to be permanent. America is simply a safer place than it used to be, and looks set to stay that way.

real america looks

The fallout from the Supreme Court halfway killing Obamacare would likely be more serious than conservatives believe...Even their own base, which has been told relentlessly that Obamacare represents the end of the America they love, might start to demand a fix once it becomes clear just what they’re missing - and what all those blue states with their own exchanges are getting.

obamacare blue believe

There's no liberal equivalent of Donald Trump. by Kevin Drum

There's no liberal equivalent of Donald Trump.

trump

[Ronald]Reagan and[George W.] Bush were far more radical than oth... by Kevin Drum

[Ronald]Reagan and[George W.] Bush were far more radical than other presidents.

radical president

Donald Trump lied about criticizing Mark Zuckerberg.Ben Carson lied about Mannatech.Carli Fiorina lied about the size of the tax code.Marco Rubio flatly refused to answer a question ("discredited attacks from Democrats") that I guess he didn't think he could just lie about. This is quite a debate.

zuckerberg lying thinking

You have to buy off interest groups, compromise your ideals, and... by Kevin Drum

You have to buy off interest groups, compromise your ideals, and settle for half loaves...

groups compromise half

Promising a revolution that’s simply not feasible really does have the potential to create cynicism when a couple of years go by and it hasn’t happened.

couple doe years

If you don’t want your followers to give up in disgust, your inspiration needs to be in the service of goals that are at least attainable.

giving-up inspiration goal

I hate the idea that we might lose even a few talented future leaders because they fell for Bernie Sanders's spiel and then got discouraged when it didn't pan out.

hate leader ideas

If you want to make a difference in America, you need to be prepared for a very long, very frustrating slog.

differences long america

Open office plans, cell phones, constant notifications: these are all things that fight against sustained attention on a task. For some people and some tasks, that doesn’t matter. But for a lot of important work, it matters a lot.

phones cells fighting

Smart hiring managers in the modern world should be asking, “How long can you concentrate on a task before you have to take a break?” I wonder how many of them do?

smart tasks long

The plain fact is that recent college grads aren’t in massive pain. They suffered during the Great Recession like everyone else, but all told, they probably suffered a little less than most other groups.

groups pain college

Rising inequality is a cultural and economic cancer on a lot of d... by Kevin Drum

Rising inequality is a cultural and economic cancer on a lot of different levels.

rising cancer different

My fear is that having been promised a revolution, Bernie Sanders supporters will become disgusted and cynical when Hillary Clinton and the establishment win yet again and the revolution doesn't happen.

cynical revolution winning

In America, the economy is simply nowhere near bad enough to serve as the base of any kind of serious political revolution.

political-revolution serious america

It’s certainly true that it’s easier to be patient about change when you’re not personally suffering...

be-patient patient suffering

The media should be embarrassed and humiliated and keep its mouth... by Kevin Drum

The media should be embarrassed and humiliated and keep its mouth shut and just listen for a while.

media should mouths

The media here is the opposition party. They don't understand this country. They still do not understand why Donald Trump is the president of the United States.

media party country

We had Hillary Clinton try and do a reset. We had Hillary Clinton give Russia 20 percent of the uranium in our country. You know what uranium is, right? This thing called nuclear weapons, like lots of things, are done with uranium, including some bad things.

russia giving country