The Atlantic

Letters: ‘Our Constitution Is Fundamentally Not Up to the Challenges We Face Today’

Readers discuss why the U.S. may not be well equipped to solve long-term problems.
Source: Saul Loeb / AFP / Getty

Why the U.S. Can’t Solve Big Problems

The recent U.S. government report on the immense economic and human costs of climate change, Julian E. Zelizer argued last month, will likely be met by inaction on the part of the federal government. “The unfortunate reality,” he wrote,

You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.

More from The Atlantic

The Atlantic8 min readAmerican Government
The Return of the John Birch Society
Michael Smart chuckled as he thought back to their banishment. Truthfully he couldn’t say for sure what the problem had been, why it was that in 2012, the John Birch Society—the far-right organization historically steeped in conspiracism and oppositi
The Atlantic17 min read
How America Became Addicted to Therapy
A few months ago, as I was absent-mindedly mending a pillow, I thought, I should quit therapy. Then I quickly suppressed the heresy. Among many people I know, therapy is like regular exercise or taking vitamin D: something a sensible person does rout
The Atlantic7 min readAmerican Government
The Americans Who Need Chaos
This is Work in Progress, a newsletter about work, technology, and how to solve some of America’s biggest problems. Sign up here. Several years ago, the political scientist Michael Bang Petersen, who is based in Denmark, wanted to understand why peop

Related Books & Audiobooks