New York Magazine - USA (2019-11-25)

10s

Were the

november25–december8, 2019 | newyork 31

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as the decade began, there were rea­

sons to be optimistic: America had elected

its first black president, and the world

hadn’t cascaded into total financial collapse. Obama­

care, for all its flaws, was passed, and then came the

Iran deal and the Paris climate accords. Sure, there

were danger signs: the anger of the tea party, the slow

hollowing out of legacy news media, a troubling

sense that somehow the bankers got away with it.

But then maybe the immediacy of social media gave

some hope, at least if you listened to the chatter of the

bright young kids in the Bay Area trying to build a

new kind of unmediated citizenship. Maybe every­

day celebrity, post­gatekeeper, would change the

world for the better. Some of that happened. But we

also ended up with the alt­right and Donald Trump,

inequality, impeachment, and debilitating fomo.

How did we get here? Throughout the past weeks,

we had long talks over multiple sessions with

six people who helped shape the decade—and

were shaped by it—to hear what they’ve learned.