So how does this end well? I mean, really?

[starroute]

37. That depends on how you define "end" and how you define "well"

My expectation is that we're in for a roller coaster ride over the next 5 to 10 years -- a period of social upheaval, extreme polarization, and changes in attitudes and circumstances that are presently unimaginable.

Once it's over and things calm down again, everything will be different -- and probably in many ways better. We may actually be doing something meaningful about climate change, for example.

But there are also certain imponderables. One is how much damage will have been done along the way. Another is whether the United States will be able to adapt gracefully to what will be a very different world or whether it will rip itself apart in the name of its own exceptionalism.

That's what I see as the job of folks like us here at DU -- not to prevent the changes, but to make sure they happen as smoothly as possible in what is bound to be a very difficult time. I know a lot of us have been half-consciously preparing for that. I hope we're up to the task.