Less and less faith

I think there was a dynamic toward more and more faith in the federal government for about a hundred years after the Civil War. The New Deal of the thirties, the federal troops to Montgomery in 1965, the achievements of the space program . . .

But even as the Great Society programs were being legislated during the sixties, the dynamic was starting to reverse. (Check out the current movie version of the Chicago 7 trial of 1969.)

As that faith erodes there are waves of reaction against the disaffection: Reaganism, Trumpism. But I believe it to be inexorable. The bunglings and outrages of 2020 have given it a renewed momentum:

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/nov/04/ok-america-so-what-the-hell-happens-now