I& #39;m quite disconcerted by these epic think pieces in the liberal US media about how shocked -- shocked! -- the writer are to discover there& #39;s a failing state around here. I mean, really? Where have you been living and what have you been reading? Surely not any of these books: 1/

Nickel and Dimes, Evicted, The Color of Law, We Live in the Shadow, The Working Poor, The Rights of the People. 2/

Power for Profit, Piketty& #39;s "Capital," Winners Take All, The Big Short. 3/

The list is very long, and these are not obscure academic books. They were all front and centre on the display tables at the entrance of your local bookshop -- independent or franchise. Really, there& #39;s no excuse for this blindness. Sorry to scold, but honestly..! 4/

Not to mention the homeless camps in L.A. and San Francisco, the well-publicized fact that 40% of NYC public school children are food insecure. Good grief. 5/