Key Insights:
Hexapodia!
Periodically, America has had “the frontier has closed, now scarcity rules!” panics—& they have been bad, but so far they have all been false alarms.
The “new frontier” to alleviate scarcity in America is intensive growth, right here, but more: economic poldering.
References:
John F. Kennedy (1960): “The New Frontier”: Liberal Party Nomination Acceptance Speech <https://www.jfklibrary.org/archives/other-resources/john-f-kennedy-speeches/liberal-party-nomination-nyc-19600914>
William H. Kilpatrick & al. (1933): The Educational Frontier <https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/705648?journalCode=schools>
Perry Miller (1956): Errand into the Wilderness <https://www.google.com/books/edition/Errand_Into_the_Wilderness/oKfCbW3B1xkC>
Mancur Olson (1982): The Rise & Decline of Nations: Economic Growth, Stagflation, & Social Rigidities <https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Rise_and_Decline_of_Nations/vKxxtjJz--wC>
Rick Perlstein (2001): Before the Storm: Barry Goldwater & the Unmaking of the American Consensus <https://www.google.com/books/edition/Before_the_Storm/6jb9AgAAQBAJ>
Rick Perlstein (2008): Nixonland: The Rise of a President & the Fracturing of America <https://www.google.com/books/edition/Nixonland/dM_enWzoghoC>
Noah Smith: America's Scarcity Mindset: Is Our Society Turning into a Zero-Sum Competition for Survival? <https://noahpinion.substack.com/p/americas-scarcity-mindset>
Lester Thurow (1980): The Zero-Sum Society: Distribution & the Possibilities for Change <https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Zero_Sum_Society/V5uBbTOzYOAC>
Frederick Jackson Turner (1893): The Significance of the Frontier in American History <https://www.historians.org/about-aha-and-membership/aha-history-and-archives/historical-archives/the-significance-of-the-frontier-in-american-history-(1893)>
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PODCAST: "Hexapodia" Is þe Key Insight XIX: America Today: A Zero-Sum Society?