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Helpful criticism is about making the world better. Unhelpful criticism is about making yourself feel better.

You can scoff at linking the rise of Trump to income inequality alone. And you should. These things are always layers of complexity deep. But it’s a key part of what drives people to think, “I don’t live in the world I expected. That pisses me off. So screw this. And screw you! I’m going to fight for something totally different, because this – what... See more

But they’re symptomatic of the bigger thing that’s happened since the early 1980s: The economy works better for some people than others. Success isn’t as meritocratic as it used to be and, when success is granted, is rewarded with higher gains than in previous eras.

8. The Big Stretch. Rising incomes among a small group of Americans led to that group breaking away in lifestyle. They bought bigger homes, nicer cars, went to expensive schools, and took fancy vacations.

Take that mentality and raise it to the power of Facebook, Instagram, and cable news – where people are more keenly aware of how other people live than ever before. It’s gasoline on a flame. Benedict Evans says, “The more the Internet exposes people to new points of view, the angrier people get that different views exist.” That’s a big shift from t... See more

9. Once a paradigm is in place it is very hard to turn it around.

10. The Tea Party, Occupy Wall Street, Brexit, and the rise of Donald Trump each represents a group shouting, “Stop the ride, I want off.”

6. Things start cracking.

5. Debt rose tremendously. But so did incomes, so the impact wasn’t a big deal.

7. The boom resumes, but it’s different than before. Between 1993 and 2012, the top 1 percent saw their incomes grow 86.1 percent, while the bottom 99 percent saw just 6.6 percent growth.