Neither Donald H. Layton, nor anyone other typical human that this writer has met or heard about, is able to see into the future with total clarity or certainty. That is to say that Layton’s first installment of a research article for the Furman Center, shared in Part I and unpacked with added facts, evidence, and analysis in Part II, could not have known some of the facts that will be presented herein that were published after his interesting article. Research data looks back. The lessons good research may have can then be applied to better understand the present and potentially prepare for the future.
We live in an era of increasing distrust and disappointment with U.S. institutions. Congress, much of the ‘mainstream’ or ‘mass’ media, politicians, and corporations routinely have more distrust than trust, according to surveys by Gallup or others. The view of this writer and publication is that …