Here's a quick survey for some pre-election reading. These four pieces provide a range of thought-provoking subject matter.
My first two recommendations discuss perspectives on living in America during the Trump years. Mira Kamdar's "Why I'm Glad I Left America" was featured October 14 in The Atlantic. "This Election is Going to Reveal Who America Really Is" by Umair Haque features a different kind of international vantage point. Haque's rundown of various views of America and Americans can be found in Eudaemonia on Medium.com.
For those who wonder just how many more have died in 2020 compared to normal recent years, regardless of "official" Covid-19 numbers, I recommend "US sees 20% more deaths than expected this year" by Naomi Thomas and Lauren Mascarenhas, featured October 12 on CNN.com. This column debunks much of the "overcount" nonsense promulgated by tweets from Sarah Sanders and others.
Finally, I want to point out a Washington Post piece, "New research explores authoritarian mindset of Trump's core supporters." The author is Christopher Ingraham, and it was published October 12. Those who most fear authoritarianism are often quite devoted to it. This column discusses the why.
For people who want to experience a full continuum of tones and approaches to the undemocratic mess that is the 2020 U.S. election, I give a shout out to two different shows available on YouTube. Both the David Pakman show and Keith Olbermann's are enormously entertaining with wildly different presentations. I recommend both, as it's hard to predict which contributes more to one's sanity in these trying anti-science times.
Bob Dietz
October 29, 2020
