We're supposed to cheer. But many of us find the glorified spectacles dispiriting rather than uplifting. In the national discourse, America's leading politicians tout global supremacy and higher market share as ultimate virtues. Dissenting voices are mostly regarded as suspect. Ten years ago there were 66 billionaires and 31.5 million people living below the poverty line in this country.
Economic inequality is rampant in America.
The top 1 percent of households has more wealth than the entire bottom 95 percent combined. They have nothing to tide them over in case of a health crisis or unemployment, much less save for college or retirement. The questions that journalists pose to elected officials and candidates rarely confront such economic realities. Instead, the repeated queries have a prefab quality that matches the slightly zombie-like verbiage of most politicians. Faced with a nonstop swirl of media coverage, it's tempting to succumb to chronic cynicism.