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Arne's picture

I find it reassuring to have some perspective on this tumult, by looking back at Andrew Jackson's presidency and at the mess of the 12 years or so before the Civil War. We are not yet close to the prospect of having a senator clubbed unconscious on the Senate floor. The echo chamber of D.C. and the media did not exist in the 1820s/1850s: it's very easy to lose your head and think we are in uncharted and enormously dangerous territory. For example, we hear so much about a "Muslim ban," but Muslims are not getting attacked by rampaging citizens, as Mormons were in the 1800s.

I think it would also help if people paid more attention to foreign events that seem to be under the radar, like Venezuela heading toward collapse, Islamic State apparently getting routed in Iraq, the recent South Korea election.

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