You can read David Brooks’s column on the need for incremental change
here.
David talks about record low trust in American institutions. The Pew Research Centre recently came out with a
report indicating that most Americans have lost confidence in their government and elected officials, making it harder to solve the country’s problems
David talks about the violence that came from the French, Chinese, and Russian revolutions.
Here are 4 violent revolutions that changed the course of human history.
Chris laments the neoliberal project for creating a global oligarchic class, whereby eight families own as much wealth as 50% of the world's population. The world's 500 richest people
added $1.2 trillion to their collective net worth in 2019. The wealthiest 0.1% of Americans now hold a larger share of wealth at any point since 1929.
Chris blames the neoliberalism of Bill Clinton for the ills facing Americans today.
Here is a look at how this political approach became vilified in the American lexicon.
David cites political scientist Robert Putnam’s
comparison of the present-day unrest to the progressive era of the 1890’s. Like today, there was a big economic transition, high inequality, great migration, technological change and corrupt politics.
Both David and Chris talk about the Green New Deal, from different perspectives. Presented by freshman congressman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the Green New Deal is a
climate proposal that aims to tackle climate change with sweeping political, social, and institutional changes.
The Hong Kong protest movement referenced in the debate
calls for stronger democratic institutions in Hong Kong, free from Beijing’s influence.