Two Americas

It’s a bright, cold Sunday morning with snow on the ground. The kids have evacuated the house at the crack of dawn to take advantage of the snow before it melts. With any luck, none of them will break any bones. I started to do some holiday shopping — online, of course — and got stuck. There is no other company or brand that elicits such complicated, contradictory feelings for me as Amazon. In so many ways, it is an essential utility for our life — and in so many ways, what’s wrong with the country.

Is the more powerful force in American politics greed? The pandemic has exacerbated these long running…