Why America's Broken Politics Are Going Backwards

I’m Umair Haque, and this is The Issue: an independent, nonpartisan, subscriber-supported publication. Our job is to give you the freshest, deepest, no-holds-barred insight about the biggest issues—the ones that matter most.

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Today's Read: 12 Minutes.

Quick Links & Fresh Thinking

  1. Fossil fuels being subsidised at rate of $13m a minute, says IMF. (Guardian)
  2. The consequences of shopping at Walmart. (Time)
  3. As Maui fires raged, seniors had to fend for themsleves. (WaPo)
  4. Carbon emissions cost world 4 times as much as 10 years ago. (PhysOrg)
  5. The biggest losers of a Zuckerberg-Musk cage fight? The rest of us. (G&M)

Today's Issue. America. Politics. Modernity. Regress. Breakdown.

Invade Mexico! Climate change is a hoax! Family values! Turbo capitalism! Burn more fossil fuels! Raise your hand if you support an indicted Donald Trump! Last night was the GOP debate. A smoking, screeching car crash of a spectacle—chronicle, perhaps—about how democracies degenerate.

Today, we're going to talk about why American politics are so broken, what made Europe and Canada rise, and what a healthy, functioning politics is. We'll dive deep into the difference between negative and positive politics—and why they make the difference between a vibrant prosperous future, and an authoritarian dystopia.