@adamgreenfield @alxd still have that book (which I picked up at a speaking event with Stan) sitting on my to-read pile. I fully expect it to frustrate me, and your review only suggests that my expectations are properly calibrated.

I did hear the man himself explain his world-view — and I don’t share it! I suspect some combination of age and class position explain the gap. There’s this whole crop of writers, 10-30 years older than me (Stan is a bonafide Boomer) who seem to share many of my values, but have more faith in institutions (and less faith in regular folk) than me.