#lit

The middle class, one of the great achievements in history, is becoming more of a relic than a reality. ↗

— Jon Meacham

#becoming #class #great #great achievements #history

Only the most unapologetic biblical fundamentalists, for instance, take every biblical injunction literally. If we all took all scripture at the same level of authority, then we would be more open to slavery, to the subjugation of women, to wider use of stoning. Jesus himself spoke out frequently against divorce in the strongest of terms. ↗

— Jon Meacham

#authority #divorce #every #frequently #fundamentalists

The perennial conviction that those who work hard and play by the rules will be rewarded with a more comfortable present and a stronger future for their children faces assault from just about every direction. That great enemy of democratic capitalism, economic inequality, is real and growing. ↗

— Jon Meacham

#assault #capitalism #children #comfortable #conviction

Environmental concern is a little like dieting or paying off credit-card debt - an episodically terrific idea that burns brightly and then seems to fade when we realize there's a reason we need to diet or pay down our debt. The reason is that it's really, really hard, and too many of us in too many spheres of life choose the easy over the hard. ↗

— Jon Meacham

#burns #choose #concern #debt #diet

Mysteries and thrillers are not the same things, though they are literary siblings. Roughly put, I would say the distinction is that mysteries emphasize motive and psychology whereas thrillers rely more heavily on action and plot. ↗

— Jon Meacham

#distinction #emphasize #heavily #i #literary

Once the cry and the cause of a generation of progressives to make America safer, fairer and cleaner, 'regulation' is now a dirty word in our politics. Even Democrats are quick to talk about cutting regulations; Republicans hate them with - how to put it? - evangelical fervor. ↗

— Jon Meacham

#america #cause #cleaner #cry #cutting

The Occupy Wall Street protests at last suggest that America's wealth gap is once again becoming an organizing political principle in the country. ↗

— Jon Meacham

#america #becoming #country #gap #last

If we are to achieve a richer culture, rich in contrasting values, we must recognize the whole gamut of human potentialities, and so weave a less arbitrary social fabric, one in which each diverse human gift will find a fitting place. ↗

— Margaret Mead

#arbitrary #contrasting #culture #diverse #each

I have learned as much in the last three years as in any other comparable period of my life, but with an added realisation of how little over a half century of study one has in fact managed to learn of the whole range of economic policy issues. ↗

— James Meade

#any #century #comparable #economic #economic policy

I feel extremely lucky, extremely grateful, and a little bittersweet, too. ↗

— Wentworth Miller

#extremely #feel #grateful #i #i feel