Max J. Skidmore considers the state of anti-poverty legislation and programs in the United States, as well as the general condition of American politics today. In the course of his essay, he reviews a number of relevant studies and describes the dark forces that are explicitly attacking programs that improve the lives of Americans. He discusses the imposition of “dark money” throughout the American political system that has replaced truth with lies and warped perceptions, and distorted the “will of the people.” Setting aside gentility and the natural tendency to want to avoid giving offense, he directs blame, and concludes that these “dark forces” have brought the country to a perilous position by having distorted and clouded “centrist” opinions. He demonstrates, nevertheless, that counterforces have emerged, and are becoming stronger. He recommends a course of action: citizens must become sensitive to “false equivalency” and other arguments that obscure reality. Moreover, however as counterintuitive as it appears, the dynamics of American politics demand a frankly partisan approach with straight-ticket voting.

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照亮黑暗政治：一篇论文和评论

Max J. Skidmore 考虑了美国反贫困立法和计划的状况，以及当今美国政治的总体状况。在他的文章中，他回顾了许多相关研究，并描述了明确攻击改善美国人生活的计划的黑暗势力。他讨论了在整个美国政治体系中强加的“黑钱”，用谎言和扭曲的观念取代了真相，并扭曲了“人民的意志”。撇开文雅和想要避免冒犯的自然倾向，他直接指责，并得出结论，这些“黑暗势力”通过歪曲和蒙蔽“中间派”意见，将国家置于危险的境地。然而，他表明反作用力已经出现，并且正在变得越来越强大。他建议采取行动：公民必须对“虚假等效”和其他模糊现实的论点变得敏感。此外，尽管看起来有悖常理，但美国政治的动态要求采用直票投票的坦率党派方法。