&gt; Trump and Sanders are manifestations of a long-term trend ... 2008<p>8 years is a long-term trend now?<p>My impression over the past 30+ years being in US (and reading up on history) is that there is a clear downward trend in terms of &#x27;quality&#x27; across the board, whether in &#x27;establishment&#x27;, or &#x27;fringe&#x27;. For example, for black radicals we had people like Malcolm X, and then we ended up with Sharpton. Out goes JFK, in comes Billy from Arkansas. Out with Nixon, in with Reagan. If this is a collective bottom-up phenomena, then clearly &#x27;we&#x27; are giving ourselves the collective finger.