The End of October

by Lawrence Wright

Fear was the growth hormone that had transformed America into a security state following 9/11. Now it was sustained by inertia and greed, and Washington was the capital of all that.

Fear

All the virtues—loyalty, patriotism, courage, honesty, faith, compassion, you name it—are just social constructs, patches to cover the naked barbarism that is at our core. In

Barbarism