Rising Above the Slop

Rising Above the Slop Americans are not hopeful about their democracy. Imagining a future more free and equal than the past feels difficult; imagining twenty-first-century Americans authoring such a future feels nearly impossible. The atrophied democratic imagination is, of course, connected to broader trends in our culture. It’s obvious that some cultural practices can sustain democratic hope, while others—scrolling, posting, mindless shopping, disappearing into virtual worlds—leave it to de...