This set of articles helps us to understand the stress and anger of typical Americans. Can we be optimistic? What ideas are being propagated through social media and historical media channels? Is the present-day GOP helpful or hurting the unification of the diversity of America? Why has white supremacy come so strongly into the public consciousness? 

These articles are thought-provoking, and we have found them not only of great interest but also of great value.

These articles are thought-provoking and we have found them not only of great interest but also of great value.

Bret Stephens NY Times

“Can We Still Be Optimistic About America?”

Bret Louis Stephens is a Pulitzer Prize-winning American conservative journalist, editor, and columnist. He began working as an opinion columnist for The New York Times in April 2017 and as a senior contributor to NBC News in June 2017.

“So why am I still optimistic when it comes to America?  Because while we are bent, our adversaries are brittle.  As we find ways to bend, they can only remain static or shatter.”


John Della Volpe NY Times

“Young Americans Are Stressed. They Are Angry. And They Can Swing Congress.”

John Della Volpe is the director of polling at the Harvard Kennedy School Institute of Politics, and the author of Fight: How Gen Z is Channeling Their Fear and Passion to Save America (St. Martin’s Press, January 2022).

“Millions of newly minted college graduates are about to enter a scorching job market, but many are still held back by feelings of hopelessness and depression.  Less than one in 10 Americans between 18- and 29-years-old describe ours as a ‘healthy democracy.”


Charles Sykes/the Bulwark

“Toxic Ideas Can Have Fatal Consequences”

Charles Jay Sykes is an American political commentator who is currently editor-in-chief of the website The Bulwark. From 1993 to 2016, Sykes hosted a conservative talk show in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Quoting Max Boot, “…Boot notes the enthusiasm of ultra-MAGA candidates for (replacement theory).  A number of Republican politicians, including Rep. Matt Gaetz (Fla.), Rep. Scott Perry (Pa.), and Sen. Ron Johnson (Wis.), have openly espoused the ‘great replacement’ theory….”


Nicholas Confessore and Karen Yourish NY Times

“A Fringe Conspiracy Theory, fostered Online, Is Refashioned by the GOP”

Nicholas Confessore is a Pulitzer Prize-winning political correspondent on the National Desk of The New York Times.  Karen Yourish is a graphics editor at The New York Times.

“No public figure has promoted replacement theory more loudly or relentlessly than the Fox host Tucker Carlson.”

“In just the past year, Republican luminaries like Newt Gingrich, the former House speaker and Georgia congressman, and Elsie Stefanik, the center-right New York congresswoman turned Trump acolyte (and third-ranking House Republican), have echoed replacement theory.”


Opinion | Hate and white supremacy are now fixtures of American conservatism – The Washington Post

Russian-American author Max Boot is Senior Fellow in National Security Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations and a contributor to The Washington Post.

“The Buffalo shooter’s views are mainstream on the right.”


David Leonhardt – The Morning – The New York Times

David Leonhardt is an American journalist working at The New York Times as an op-ed columnist.

“The Buffalo killings are part of a pattern:  Most extremist violence in the U.S. comes from the political right.’