Excerpt
“America has formal democratic institutions, but they barely function. So it doesnt matter if, say, 80 percent of the population thinks we should have some kind of national health-care system. It doesnt even matter if the large majority regards this as a moral value. When commentators rave on about “moral values,” theyre talking about gay marriage, not the fact that decent health care for everyone is part of peoples moral values. And the reason those commentators dont care is that its not their interest. Theyre like me. They get fine health care. So its not an issue for them. But for the large majority of the population, its a serous issue, and its becoming even more so. When Medicaid is destroyed, as it probably will be, thats going to really harm people. But people are unorganized: theyre not in unions, theyre not in political associations, there are no political parties in which they participate. Theyre isolated. The genius of American politics has been to marginalize and isolate the population so it cant act in its collective interest.”