Source: Unpopular Front
by John Ganz
“As I’m sure you’re all very tired of being reminded, the title of my book, which covers the period roughly between 1989 and 1993, is When the Clock Broke. It’s a reference to a speech by one of the principal figures in the narrative, Murray Rothbard, but I thought it also captured the uncanny sense that, as a country, we seemed stuck dealing with many of the same issues that arose in that brief era. It also gestured at Francis Fukuyama’s famous End of History thesis, but suggested a mechanical breakdown of history instead of a triumphant denouement. … If you look at all [Donald Trump’s] impulses and instincts, you can trace them back to this particular period …. It makes sense why Trump would want to return to the time before he seemed vulnerable at all, before his businesses collapsed, and before his very nasty divorce with Ivana splashed across the tabloids.” (08/21/25)