Year of American Discontent: Essays on Crises of Division, Disinformation and Dysfunction in 2020

By Kris Murthy

"Year of American Discontent" is a collection of articles that examines the four crises that plagued America in 2020. In a tumultuous year, America was brought to a critical crisis point. This book consolidates some of these articles to help readers gain a broader perspective of the current issues, differentiate between subjective and objective information, find common ground with others who have radically different points of view, and contribute to the promising multi-cultural living in America.

The articles in this collection were previous posted in Kris Murthy's Blog: murthysmusings.com. Murthy addresses the following issues with thoughtful commentary and detailed analysis:

-First, there is the "Creeping Crisis" of racial injustice. Many Americans are under the illusion that the Civil Rights laws of the 1960's had solved the problem of racial discrimination. However, racial divisions and mistrust remain.

-Second. America is influenced by politics of extremism. America is taken over by the politics of the extremes of both the left and right.

-Third is the "Slow Burn Crisis" of disinformation. The print and visual news media have become subjective participants in opinion journalism.

-Finally, there is the "Current Crisis" of dysfunction. There is gross inefficiency in all our public institutions. Federal, State, Local and quasi-governmental agencies fail to deliver services efficiently to the population.

This book provides objective, non-partisan, and original commentary on the events of 2020. The issues are also viewed in their historic context. This is a must-read for all who endured the chaos of 2020 and are hopeful to be a part of the collective change to remedy these issues.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: Jul 28, 2021
• ISBN: 9781098388966

Book preview

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Copyright © 2021 by Kris Murthy

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher, except by reviewers, who may quote brief passages in a review.

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Murthy’s Musings

11904 Renwood Lane

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www.murthysmusings.com

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Print ISBNL: 978-1-09838-895-9

eBook ISBN: 978-1-09838-896-6

Printed in the United States of America

To

My Eternal Soulmate

REVATHY MURTHY

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments

Endorsements

Introduction

Part I

Creeping Crisis 1 – Racism

1) Detoxing Our Ingrained Prejudices

2) The Race Thing

3) Get In Good Trouble

4) Georgia On My Mind

Part II

Creeping Crisis 2 – Division By Extremism

1) Ghosts Of The Judicial Past

2) Make America Shine Again

3) Cancer Culture

4) Bullets, Ballots, Aliens, And Unborn

Part III

Slow Burn Crisis - Disinformation

1) #Breaking News

2) Fit To Print Or Print To Fit

3) Friends, Democrats And Republicans, Lend Me Your Senses

Part IV

Current Crisis – Dysfunction

1) Quo Vadis Covid–19?

2) Genie Out Of A Ping Pong Ball

3) A Billion Here And Billion There……

Part V

Over The Rainbow

1) Walk In The Other Person’s Moccasins

2) Looking At The Bright Side

3) New Immigrant Ethnicity

Acknowledgments

I want to acknowledge the following individuals for their valuable assistance in publishing this book.

I am thankful to Sarah E. Brown, PhD of Steve Harrison’s Get Published Now Coaching Group, for guiding me through every step of the book writing and publishing process. The Get Published Now group members provided timely inputs on the various steps of the book development and taught me the art of publishing this book.

Valerie Costa of Costa Creative Services helped me with editing. Sandhya Murthy took the photo shot for the author’s Bio. Eddie Santiago, and Matthew Glassman were first readers and provided incisive comments.

I appreciate the encouraging endorsements received from Vinod K. Jain, PhD., and Rushern L. Baker, III, Former County Executive of Prince Georges County, Maryland.

The part played by my wife, my family, relatives, and friends in this journey cannot be easily measured.

This book owes its origin to the positive responses and appreciation received from numerous readers of my posts in the Blog:

www.murthysmusings.com.

Endorsements

Kris Murthy’s YEAR OF AMERICAN DISCONTENT is an important book capturing the dynamic changes that occurred during the social, political, and racial uprising which happened during the worldwide pandemic of 2020.

Kris brings the 2020 social and justice awareness movement into historic perspective by taking the reader through the history of social, political, and racial injustice in America.

YEAR OF AMERICAN DISCONTENT, in a very readable manner, lays the foundation for why we as a country should have seen the Crises coming.

This is an important book that will not only inform the reader but will provide a road map for the necessary difficult conversation that America must have with itself if we are to heal and move forward.

—RUSHERN L. BAKER, III, FORMER COUNTY EXECUTIVE, PRINCE GEORGES COUNTY, MARYLAND

Kris Murthy’s YEAR OF AMERICAN DISCONTENT, that started out as a blog in mid-2020 at the height of the Covid-19 health crises, is in effect a memoir blending his upbringing in British India with education at some top universities in the world and a successful career as an urban planner, educator, and business owner in the United States. He starts out by identifying the four crises he sees America facing- racial injustice, extremism, disinformation, and dysfunction- and offers deep insights based on his own life experiences encapsulated in dozens of episodes. He has a great understanding of current affairs and, in Part V, chapter on Looking at the Brightside Murthy offers gems of advice for anyone interested in exploring possible solutions to the crises America faces.

—VINOD K. JAIN, Ph.D., FULBRIGHT SCHOLAR, FORMER BUSINESS SCHOOL PROFESSOR, AND PUBLISHED AUTHOR. His opinion pieces have appeared in Baltimore Sun, The Washington Post, Mensa Bulletin, and Economic Times and Mint (India’s No. 1 and No. 2 business dailies)

Introduction

What is holding America back?

We are the wealthiest nation on Earth.

Our advances in science