Derek Thompson

Whereas with church, if you have a lot of people

who at least somewhat believe in a higher power and believe in the strictures of Catholicism or Protestantism or some non-denominational thing that sounds like, you know, some band, thrive, praise, enhance.

Well, again, it's the strength of the vertical that will explain the strength of the horizontal.

And as I'm working on these ideas and trying to build out my theories of the antisocial century, I think this is something that I really want to remember and hold on to, which is...

I talk to people who are trying to plan communities and revitalize community.

And this is an idea I'm going to remember.

If you don't have that central spine of purpose, this is not going to last.

If your only purpose is just let's get together, that's not going to last.

You need that higher purpose.

You need that vertical spine in order to build a truly strong horizontal community.

I love that thought.

Ryan Burge, this was really educational for me.

Thank you so much

Today, thinking about the long-term consequences of the Iran war, what do the following things have in common?

The death of the Soviet Union, the rise of the modern Republican Party, and Nintendo.

The answer is an energy crisis.

In October 1973, Arab members of OPEC launched an oil embargo against the U.S.

and its allies.

Within months, the price of a barrel of crude quadrupled.

In the U.S., the immediate effects that you surely know from looking at photographs or having lived through it were gas lines and a national speed limit.