#5SmartReads is a Webby-honored weekly news digest that amplifies underreported news and underrepresented perspectives. My goal is to help you stay informed without being overwhelmed, and to embrace nuance and reflection over picking a side.
Rhetoric, Violence, and Civil War: The Balkanization of America? (Foreign Policy Research Institute) American War is a book I’ve been thinking about a lot lately (having read it 8 years ago). It details the second Civil War in a fairly present day America, with a successful secession effort by the southeastern states from the union. Back then, I felt that Omar El Akkad’s fictional future was entirely possible. As we live in the second Trump term, I see it as inevitable, but different than he writes it. Rather than a secession along our first Civil War’s lines, I see Balkanization as the more likely path. But first, a quick vocabulary lesson. Balkanization is the process by which a state, region, or area fragments into smaller, often hostile, independent states, driven by ethnic, religious, cultural, or political differences (observed in the civil wars of former Yugoslavia and the breakup of the Soviet Union over 30 years ago). Historians have been cautiously warning us of the potential of Balkanization in our country since the first Trump term (this piece was published in 2018). The past 8 months in the United States mirrors what happened in Eastern Europe—inflammatory rhetoric from the president and vice president is the new norm, the deliberate breaking of our executive branch’s institutions, and states’ governments acting in direct opposition to the current administration (issuing their own vaccine guidance and availability in opposition to RFK Jr’s CDC guidance, for example). I recommend reading this article as a primer of what Balkanization is, and to contrast the recent history with our current present. The stability that Hamilton writes of has greatly eroded. Will we remain united by the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence? Or will a new America emerge? I could see three new nations formed—a Western States, a Northeastern States, and a Northern States emerge from our current divisions. Time will tell. And I think they will tell sooner rather than later. How America got hooked on supplements (Vox) The biopharma market is a nearly $2T market. The wellness industry (of which unregulated supplements make up a large section of) is nearly $6.3T. This is not to say I’m against supplements. I take a probiotic in the morning and magnesium at night, as recommended by my physician. I also use protein powders and take creatine. I also take levothyroxine to manage my hypothyroidism, lamotrigine for bipolar 2 disorder, and tirzepatide (more about living with all of that here). My medications have undergone rigorous clinical trials to confirm their equivalence to the innovator drugs. The manufacturing facilities (both the active drug substance and the finished drug product) are routinely inspected by the FDA. These drugs have cost millions of dollars to develop, their development fails more than succeeds, and are developed primarily by scientists whose goal is to help heal, not harm.
My levothyroxine and lamotrigine prescriptions cost me $8 for a 90 day supply. My magnesium and probiotic cost $100 for a month's supply. The math isn’t mathing, and this is one reason it’s not:
There are just over 20,000 different prescription drugs available in the United States right now. This is a really smart deep dive on the supplements industry (the accompanying podcast episode is an even deeper dive). It’ll change how you look at the supplements shelf in the grocery store or pharmacy, and I hope it prompts a longer conversation with your doctor on what supplements would best support your personal health needs and goals.
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water, war, and resting well
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