There was the #BattleInSeattle and then #911. Rush Limbaugh & Dr. Laura. Indymedia dot org and Democracy Now, not CNN or NBC. I learned the term #PrisonIndustrialComplex and felt it, along with homelessness, was the deepest scourge on mandkind—a literal continuation of slavery. I was 20 and filled with anxiety and doom that I learned to manage over time. To many of us, the world has always been a horror show.

I’m not in any way downplaying what’s going on now. In fact, I’m trying to make sense of the trajectory of leftist thought. Remember how disgusted we were at the idea of globalization and neoliberal trade agreements circa 2000?