Punkonomics (@DearBalak)

When I say ‘Image’ what do people think of? Photographs? Television? The kind of image I want to discuss is the image that people cultivate for themselves in order to be, well, worshiped.

Consider a Kardashian. I won’t talk about my personal opinion of them, but a person close to me is a fan of their show, which ‘documents’ their lives. In this show, each of the stars is ‘A Something’. One of them is the mean one, one of them is the dumb one, one of them is the promiscuous one. This trend can be seen across most types of media, and even in day to day lives.

You might wonder, aren’t I just talking about personalities? What if that’s what they’re actually like?

While that may be true, I have another example. Youtubers. You might not keep up with them too much, but you probably know the template…

America is currently a nation divided. We’ve had our differences in the past, but usually, everything’s worked out alright. That’s because we were on top. I won’t say we aren’t still the most powerful nation on Earth, because by many measures, we are. What we need to realize is that while we might still be the most powerful, we may not still be a nation.

The problem many people seem to have is accepting that ‘Nation’ doesn’t mean the same thing it did last October. Whichever side of the debate over Trump you support (and I intend to remain firmly neutral), you have to accept that he is a major player not just in American politics, but in international business. Protocol would have him sever those connections, but that just isn’t something that one can just do. He’s had business with people the world over. That isn’t something…