The Navigator, Saturday, August 16, 2025

Trump's troubles, Americans' stalled mobility, the Putin puzzle, deep sea activism, fake culture wars, ChatGPT-5's glitch, beach stories—and more

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Aug 16, 2025

“Our contemporaries in America,” the French political philosopher and historian Alexis de Tocqueville wrote in 1840, in the second volume of Democracy in America, “are constantly excited by two conflicting passions; they want to be led, and they wish to remain free.”

Tocqueville had faith that Americans could keep the two in balance. At the same time, he warned against a slide into “democratic despotism.” The people, he wrote, might someday vote to cede their power and place the government “in the hands of an irresponsible person or body of persons.”

Having witnessed the rise of American democracy, Tocqueville also seems now to have foretold its decline.

Fast forward to now. “Everyone who realizes with proper alarm that this is a deeply dangerous moment in American life must think hard about where we are,” says David Remnick, the editor of The New Yorker. “Both major parties are broken. The Republicans, having given themselves over to a cultish obedience to an authoritarian, are morally broken. The Democrats, having failed to respond convincingly to the economic troubles of working people, are politically broken.

“Yet an America in retreat from liberal democracy, a precious yet vulnerable inheritance, would be a calamity,” he added, and the indifference some of us might feel “would be a form of surrender.”

One of the great spirits of modern times, Reminick says—the Czech playwright and dissident Vaclav Havel—wrote in Summer Meditations: “There is only one thing I will not concede: that it might be meaningless to strive in a good cause.” During the long Soviet domination of his country, Havel fought valiantly for liberal democracy, inspiring in others acts of protest and resilience. He was imprisoned for that, but years later, Havel was elected President—and together with a people challenged by years of autocracy, led his country out of a long, dark time.

We Americans are living in a dark time now, one of increasing fragmentation and polarization. But this, too, can change, Remnick says.

It happened elsewhere. It can happen here.

Trump’s Unforgivable Sin (The Atlantic)

Voters have proved willing to tolerate corruption but there’s one thing the latest poll numbers suggest they won’t ignore.

Nobody’s Buying Homes, Nobody’s Switching Jobs—and America’s Mobility is Stalling (The Wall Street Journal)

The paralysis has economic consequences for everyone. Growing families can’t upgrade, empty-nesters can’t downsize, and when people can’t move for a job offer, they often earn less.

Just how much has DOGE exaggerated its numbers? Now we have the receipts (Politico)

A Politico analysis of DOGE data reveals the organization saved less than 5% of its claimed savings from nearly 10,100 contract terminations. Despite the administration’s claims, the $1.4 billion saved will not lower the federal deficit unless Congress steps in. Instead, the money has been returned to agencies mandated by law to spend it.

The Culture War Over Nothing (The Atlantic)

Is anyone actually mad about sorority-rush dances?

Tiny ocean organisms that could help the climate in a big way (Grist)

Scientists are exploring whether encouraging the growth of phytoplankton could draw down more atmospheric carbon—without unintended side effects in oceanic ecosystems.

What happens to public media now? (The New Yorker)

Republican-backed funding cuts go way beyond NPR and PBS. Radio and TV stations from Alaska to the Allegheny Mountains may never be the same.

The Awkward Adolescence of a Media Revolution (The Atlantic)

Truth is still alive on social media, but it’s not easy to find.

A YouTube livestream of deep sea creatures transfixes Argentina and sparks calls for re-funding science (The Associated Press)

A video feed of life 13,000 feet undersea is attracting more than 1.6 million views a day on youTube, dominating TV newscasts and even sparking a national conversation. It’s not just good media going viral. It’s also a reflection of public protest against Argentina’s cuts in science spending.

WATCH

Tom Cruise turns down Trump for Kennedy Center Honor (The Washington Post)

Trump, the self-appointed host of the Kennedy Center’s December award ceremony, said he rejected multiple nominees for this year’s honorees because “they’ve been too woke.” He wanted Cruise, but the actor declined Trump’s offer of a Lifetime Achievement Award offer due to “scheduling conflicts.”

The latest ChatGPT is supposed to be ‘PhD level’ smart ‘but it can’t even label a map’ (CNN)

Sam Altman, the artificial intelligence hype master, is in damage-control mode.

‘Made in the USA’ is a struggling brand (Fast Company)

New data shows that shoppers are putting cost over country.

OPINION VIDEO: Two decades of Putin Playing the West (The New York Times)

For more than 20 years, Western leaders have played right into Putin’s hands—and have given a shake.