Thread by @ClaireBerlinski

So, chapter 8 is called "The High Cost of Cheap Labor." NB: There are only four chapters left. So far, he hasn't expressed any clear view about politics at all. He hasn't said what he thinks the most important political principles to be;

he hasn't explained why he's a Democrat; he hasn't explained what he thinks most urgently needs fixing in America or why he's the man to do the fixing (he has hinted that it might be mass incarceration);

he hasn't even in passing noted that Donald Trump is in the White House, and for this to be so, our country is probably rotten to the core and thus in need of, at least, a serious diagnosis--to say nothing of a cure.

He hasn't noted that if he should win,

he would inherit a country so divided as to be near-ungovernable.

It seems odd that he doesn't seem to think he needs a clear plan or a strategy to deal with that.

He's said nothing about foreign policy, not a word. No China, no NATO, no JCPOA, nada. Nothing about climate change. Nothing about the debt. Nothing about how he plans to prosecute the eight-odd wars we're now fighting, officially and unofficially.

He hasn't explained his economic philosophy, or his understanding of the Constitution, or where he stands on free trade.

He's either left all the heavy stuff for the last four chapters,

or maybe he hasn't thought much about the job he's applying for.

Or maybe he doesn't want to burden us with the details.

But it seems strange to me. I mean, it's nice hearing about his relationship with his father,

But he's offering to be my President, not my son.

Anyway, let's see what he has to say in this chapter.

He becomes a vegan, but before this has a last blowout at IHOP, where he meets a down-on-her-luck waitress with a heart of gold named Natasha.

She's a symbol of all that's wrong and exploitative in the service industry. Life full of hard knocks. Someone gets shot at the IHOP: terrible for tips. Works herself to the bone, but still can't make ends meet. She's a struggling mother with no family leave.

Even Afghanistan and the Democratic Republic of Congo, Cory writes, offer government-sponsored paid family leave.

(I checked. He's right about DRC. I was surprised.)

And that's the end of the chapter.

Which still leaves me with a lot of questions about the Cory presidency. He'll either have to do some heavy labor in chapters 9-12, or I'll finish this book no wiser than I started.

But at least it's better than Kamala.
To be continued ...