Having perspective is as important in politics as it is in life. It’s a theme we touch upon often in American Dreaming. Understanding what America gets wrong, but also what it gets right, how the US relates to societies throughout history and around the globe, and how much worse things can be are crucial to accurately assessing the present and rationally thinking about politics.
As the White House changes hands yet again, and we enter the deepest wave of populism in living memory, we see the effect perspective can have on a nation. In a country like the US, ascendent populism, anti-institutionalism, anti-intellectualism, and an appetite for disruption and tear-downs cannot grow from the soil of perspective or optimism. A decisive number of Americans are convinced that society is collapsing around them, or soon will. Popularity, however, doesn’t necessarily make something true. Truth isn’t a democracy. And yet, it has become so. How can people be persuaded to shift their perspective when every avenue of argument and every source of inconvenient information that might change their minds gains no purchase in a post-truth landscape?
I brought this idea to my friend and contributor Johan Pregmo, and we got to talking. It wasn’t long before we saw that there was an article to be written here, perhaps one we could co-author. But the longer we spoke, a more wide-ranging and multi-faceted conversation unfolded — one that, we felt, may be better explored in audio than in a written essay.
I may occasionally post audio of this sort moving forward, but American Dreaming will always remain, first and foremost, a written publication. In any event, I hope you enjoy the conversation!
— Jamie
Subscribe now and never miss a new post. You can also support the work on Patreon. Please consider sharing this article on your social networks, and hit the like button so more people can discover it. You can reach me at @AmericnDreaming on Twitter, @jamie-paul.bsky.social on Bluesky, or at AmericanDreaming08@Gmail.com.
Share this post