*For a list of all the articles in this series and other political articles, please go here: https://cityuntangled.com/category/politics/.

This article will be the last one in this series to help me relax and edit past articles, mostly to fix grammatical and spelling errors. I will probably shift into publishing more fictional or lighthearted content but will also publish political articles.

The main concerning theme that came up for me while writing this series was that Americans are engaging in self-aggrandizement by devaluing other people at both local and national levels. The previous article in this series, https://cityuntangled.com/2025/10/26/political-tension-06-lonely-tribe-of-heroes/, is based on this theme.

I think this type of behavior stems from multiple causes. A few I can think of are: Income inequality, competition for resources and status, “elite overproduction” (Too many educated people versus not enough jobs), the lack of a unifying identity, an increasingly complex society, and a distracted and self-absorbed population dependent on the Internet.

As a U.S. born Korean-American who lived in both South Korea and the U.S., my impression for a long-time was that the U.S. is a much more stable nation than South Korea. After all, Korea (Before the U.S.-Soviet alliance split it into North and South in 1945) had a strict caste system for millennia, and after the split, both halves experienced brutal dictatorships. My impression changed when South Koreans successfully overcame the attempted self-coup on December 3, 2024 by President Yoon and imprisoned him for life (https://apnews.com/article/south-korea-yoon-suk-yeol-martial-law-verdict-rebellion-5d5f5c3a82590dc805b41b905f5bbca1). It also struck me that for all its corruptions and struggles, South Korea still has a national health insurance for everyone, Supreme Court judges with finite terms, and no Electoral College. South Korea may be a younger democracy than the U.S., but its people as a whole seem to take democratic principles more seriously. They are willing to organize together and put their lives on the line to protest what they see as a fundamental wrong.

Another theme that came up for me is that democracy is functional only as long as it is accessible and interesting to a large group of people. Increasing complexity and fun distractions run counter to people’s ability and willingness to engage in civics. And that disconnect opens up governments more easily to exploitation by people with strong self-serving agendas.

A part of me is a bit cynical about the world ahead. It seems different forces are converging within the United States and the global stage to create a harsh storm, both metaphorically and physically. I will leave readers with an assorted set of links to writing and speech by others. All of them are controversial as they cover topics like social divisions, authoritarianism, and race. I have an Atlantic Monthly subscription, so some of the links are gift links that bypass the paywall but expire in 14 days.

Links to Other Writing

1. “How America Gave Up on Its Own History”: https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/2026/07/american-history-common-narrative/687301/?gift=o41GrTKrFFNMVgLFAMZUPZIcfb6O5hvrJEX1_zpxqU8&utm_source=copy-link&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=share
2. “Defeating the Villain Won’t Fix the Town”: https://peoplevsthemachine.substack.com/p/defeating-the-villain-wont-revitalize
3. “Survey: Four in Ten Americans Are Susceptible to Authoritarianism, But Most Still Reject Political Violence”: https://prri.org/press-release/survey-four-in-ten-americans-are-susceptible-to-authoritarianism-but-most-still-reject-political-violence/
4. “The Experts Somehow Overlooked Authoritarians on the Left”: https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/09/psychological-dimensions-left-wing-authoritarianism/620185/?gift=o41GrTKrFFNMVgLFAMZUPdDELJ0aFYM84iLH9lc-npA&utm_source=copy-link&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=share
5. 2016 Oscars openings monologue by comedian Chris Rock: Video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kqhVNZgZGqQ and transcript (Might have some typos) at https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/oscars/la-et-transcript-chris-rock-opening-monologue-20160228-story.html
6. On the U.S.’s Chinese Exclusion Acts of 1882: https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/chinese-exclusion-act