Spoke with a fairly broad cross-section of people outside my social bubble yesterday and today. Business is bad, and for many the worst it has ever been. We're talkin' no bonuses. We're talkin' laying off great employees. Kids of middle school, high school, and college age are beyond nihilist and zombie-like. Between tariffs and AI, there is no vision for any future in which they're going to feel like productive members of society.
Epstein wasn't a big topic, but it was bigger than Charlie Kirk and "political violence." The DC national guard story, even as it was developing yesterday, failed to evoke strong emotions. In fact, there is more outrage about the government's response (collective punishment) than there is over the incident itself.