The Secret History of the World #6: Manchurian Candidates

We know that it is hapless puppets who run the world, and we’d like to believe that the evil puppet-masters have a plan. But they have died out, and the puppets are out of control.

Like most people, I first heard of JD Vance when I read his memoir Hillbilly Elegy, which I liked. I was struck by how similar it was to Barack Obama’s memoir Dreams From My Father. Their difference was white and black, but both never knew their fathers, both had undependable demanding mothers, and both were saved by loving grandparents. Both believed t…