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Perhaps the best way to visualize the phenomenon is to think of what happens when you try to direct a fluid flow of great force into a very small opening. Some water will be passed through the tube. But an equal amount will spray out in random torrents at the place of input.

Those interested primarily in esthetics can, and will, make the case that the torrents of water shooting from the place of the undersized opening are quite beautiful, especially when the light of the afternoon sun shines through them.

However, no serious engineer would ever say that arranging water flows in this fashion is the most efficient way to direct the water to where you want it to go.

We are a Baroque society.

The flow of ideas into our public square is heavily mediated by an implied demand to accept certain core assumptions. Among these are the beliefs that a) nothing can challenge the unregulated market when it comes to providing the best quality of life for the most amount of people b) the world is replete with military and insurgent actors bent on “taking us down” and c) what is good for Israel is good for the US.