Richard Wright

Men can starve from a lack of self-realization as much as they can from a lack of bread.

—Richard Wright, Native Son

Reading The Cultural Cold War’s discussion of intellectual battles between the Communist and Non-Communist Left in the 1940s I’m wondering this morning where best to look for similar intellectual debate of today. Arguments about campaign finance reform and transnational trade deals seem like technical discussions. Newspapers of record commonly quote Twitter and Facebook posts in their coverage of the 2016 US presidential race. In 2016 would Arthur Schlesinger go viral on YouTube? I’m not so sure.

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