I don’t disagree with the diagnosis. The next question is, what is its cause? The cure follows from that.

I submit that a sick society is one lacking in justice. Therefore the cure is an increase in justice.

This country is especially vulnerable because we think we know what justice is. Any citizen of the U.S. can come close to getting it right, thinking justice has something to do with liberty and equality (in varying proportions).

My studies (within academia and outside it) have taught me that the ethic of justice is mutual respect (of a basic kind — taking one another into account). Mutual respect follows from equality, as in “Equality Is All We Need;” beyond that is “Real Justice” (both here in Medium).

A society governed by mutual respect would maximize liberty as a practical matter. It would have a democratic political process. (Mutual respect is the ethic that has governed political democracy from the start.) The economy can be directly governed by mutual respect, with astonishing outcomes for society: “For Crying Out Loud, ACCEPT That A SOLUTION Actually EXISTS” (also here in Medium).