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  • The Atlantic

    We the People Are on Our Own

    And that’s not nearly as depressing as it sounds.
    by Shannon A. Mullen Jul 16, 2024 5 minutes
    Source: Illustration by The Atlantic. Source: Getty.

    My question at this point in the presidential election, when it’s so devastatingly clear that no current candidate has united our country, is not whether Donald Trump or Joe Biden can win. After an attempt on Trump’s life and amid forceful calls for the president to end his campaign, it feels impossible to believe that either man could bring us together, if any president ever really can. So what will it take for us to reconcile our own differences? I believe that too many of us have forgotten our agency, or forsaken it.

    I wish I could say I’m surprised that it’s come to this. The state of our politics was already alarming and exasperating. In general, so much is changing, without ceremony or mercy. Old traditions, industries, and technologies are giving way to new ones. Social norms are shifting. Our planet itself is becoming inhospitable as climate change accelerates.

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