8 Comments
User's avatar
Shadow Rebbe's avatar

This was a pleasure to read. I appreciate the intersection of literature/art and politics in a way that feels enlightening on both.

Expand full comment
Virginia Heffernan's avatar

Lovely and complex and surprising, Anna. So glad you’re doing this & can’t wait to read more.

Expand full comment
Anna Gát ✨'s avatar

You are the undisputed BEST. Thank you for reading!

Expand full comment
DJ's avatar
2dEdited

Mitch McConnell’s unwillingness to bar Trump from office via the second impeachment will be the first sentence of his final-form Wikipedia entry.

Edit: I bring this up because it was the point of maximum leverage for political elites in the collective action problem. But McConnell proved what Trump knows in his bones - the political class, particularly the GOP, is made up of weak men.

As Gary Kasparov says, an autocrat never asks why; he one asks why not.

Expand full comment
PAtwater's avatar

I believe he liked Clay the great compromiser. In a way that’s a fitting first line of an echoe of antebellum America

Expand full comment
Jess Apgar's avatar

I could read an entire book about this topic - loved the way you shaped the analysis! The entropy funnel model for limited options as time goes on was fascinating. Really well done, Anna. Looking forward to more long form!

Expand full comment
Anna Gát ✨'s avatar

Thanks so much! Can’t wait to share more ideas soon 💥

Expand full comment
Rajesh Achanta's avatar

Glad to see the move to longform & love the way you framed this essay. It's a coincidence I turned to movies & culture to analyse the current moment also recently: https://rajeshachanta.substack.com/p/how-do-you-solve-a-problem-like-maria

Expand full comment