August 2021

by Will Stephenson,

[Letter from Washington]

The Enemy Within

Why the Democrats don’t need Joe Manchin

by Andrew Cockburn,

[Letter from the United States]

Home Country

What does it mean to be Latino?

by Héctor Tobar,

Harper’s Magazine welcomes reader response.

Email us about articles in the magazine.

[Harper’s Index]

Portion of those roles filled by Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson : 1/3

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage by which a U.S. conservative is more likely to want to travel to the past than to the future : 7

[Harper’s Index]

By which a U.S. liberal is more likely to want to travel to the future : 70

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of Americans who say their personality has changed over the course of the pandemic : 86

[Harper’s Index]

Number of new words that Larousse is adding to its French dictionary this year : 170

[Harper’s Index]

Estimated percentage by which the COVID-19 death toll in the United States exceeds the reported figures : 55

[Harper’s Index]

Chance that an American has a “great deal” or “quite a lot” of trust in the CDC : 1 in 2

[Harper’s Index]

Number of individuals responsible for three quarters of the anti-vaccine content on Facebook : 12

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of U.S. employers requiring that their workers get the COVID-19 vaccine : 4

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of countries in which China’s image has improved since the beginning of the pandemic : 56

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of adults worldwide who believe the United States is a “threat to democracy” in their country : 44

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage by which the frequency of power failures in the United States has increased since 2015 : 146

[Harper’s Index]

Estimated amount of stimulus money that went to fossil-fuel companies under the CARES Act : $8,240,000,000

[Harper’s Index]

Projected rank of 2021 among the years with the largest spikes in U.S. carbon emissions : 1

[Harper’s Index]

Estimated area, in square miles, of lost natural forest that has been regrown around the world since 2000 : 227,414

[Harper’s Index]

Of permanent tree-cover loss over that same period : 583,014

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage by which the Brazilian Amazon rainforest released more carbon than it trapped between 2010 and 2019 : 18

[Harper’s Index]

Number of the 100 cities most vulnerable to climate change worldwide that are in Asia : 99

[Harper’s Index]

Portion of cities worldwide that report lacking the financial resources to adapt to climate change : 1/4

[Harper’s Index]

Minimum number of major cities that have appointed chief heat officers to address rising temperatures : 3

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage change in the number of divorces in China after it imposed a mandatory thirty-day “cooling-off period” : –72

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of fathers working from home who say that doing so improved their mental health : 71

[Harper’s Index]

Estimated number of charter schools that have opened up in vacant retail properties this year : 200

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of new chain stores in the United States that are either a Dollar General, Family Dollar, or Dollar Tree : 39

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage change last year in the employment rate for new college graduates : –12

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of U.S. gig workers who say that the money they earn is an “essential” or “important” part of their finances : 56

[Harper’s Index]

Who have performed work for which they did not receive payment : 29

[Harper’s Index]

Minimum amount spent by U.S. businesses on corporate swag last year : $18,630,000,000

[Harper’s Index]

Estimated number of registered cryptocurrency lobbyists : 264

[Harper’s Index]

Estimated amount U.S. consumers reported losing in cryptocurrency scams between October 2020 and March 2021 : $80,000,000

[Harper’s Index]

In scams that involved people impersonating Elon Musk : $2,000,000

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of people of Asian descent in British Columbia who were the victim of a hate crime in the past year : 43

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of Americans who cannot name a single prominent Asian American : 42

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of top-grossing films released between 2007 and 2019 that featured an Asian or Pacific Islander in a leading role : 3

[Harper’s Index]

Portion of those roles filled by Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson : 1/3

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage by which a U.S. conservative is more likely to want to travel to the past than to the future : 7

[Harper’s Index]

By which a U.S. liberal is more likely to want to travel to the future : 70

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of Americans who say their personality has changed over the course of the pandemic : 86

[Harper’s Index]

Number of new words that Larousse is adding to its French dictionary this year : 170

[Harper’s Index]

Estimated percentage by which the COVID-19 death toll in the United States exceeds the reported figures : 55

[Harper’s Index]

Chance that an American has a “great deal” or “quite a lot” of trust in the CDC : 1 in 2

[Harper’s Index]

Number of individuals responsible for three quarters of the anti-vaccine content on Facebook : 12

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of U.S. employers requiring that their workers get the COVID-19 vaccine : 4

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of countries in which China’s image has improved since the beginning of the pandemic : 56

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of adults worldwide who believe the United States is a “threat to democracy” in their country : 44

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage by which the frequency of power failures in the United States has increased since 2015 : 146

[Harper’s Index]

Estimated amount of stimulus money that went to fossil-fuel companies under the CARES Act : $8,240,000,000

[Harper’s Index]

Projected rank of 2021 among the years with the largest spikes in U.S. carbon emissions : 1

[Harper’s Index]

Estimated area, in square miles, of lost natural forest that has been regrown around the world since 2000 : 227,414

[Harper’s Index]

Of permanent tree-cover loss over that same period : 583,014

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage by which the Brazilian Amazon rainforest released more carbon than it trapped between 2010 and 2019 : 18

[Harper’s Index]

Number of the 100 cities most vulnerable to climate change worldwide that are in Asia : 99

[Harper’s Index]

Portion of cities worldwide that report lacking the financial resources to adapt to climate change : 1/4

[Harper’s Index]

Minimum number of major cities that have appointed chief heat officers to address rising temperatures : 3

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage change in the number of divorces in China after it imposed a mandatory thirty-day “cooling-off period” : –72

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of fathers working from home who say that doing so improved their mental health : 71

[Harper’s Index]

Estimated number of charter schools that have opened up in vacant retail properties this year : 200

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of new chain stores in the United States that are either a Dollar General, Family Dollar, or Dollar Tree : 39

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage change last year in the employment rate for new college graduates : –12

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of U.S. gig workers who say that the money they earn is an “essential” or “important” part of their finances : 56

[Harper’s Index]

Who have performed work for which they did not receive payment : 29

[Harper’s Index]

Minimum amount spent by U.S. businesses on corporate swag last year : $18,630,000,000

[Harper’s Index]

Estimated number of registered cryptocurrency lobbyists : 264

[Harper’s Index]

Estimated amount U.S. consumers reported losing in cryptocurrency scams between October 2020 and March 2021 : $80,000,000

[Harper’s Index]

In scams that involved people impersonating Elon Musk : $2,000,000

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of people of Asian descent in British Columbia who were the victim of a hate crime in the past year : 43

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of Americans who cannot name a single prominent Asian American : 42

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of top-grossing films released between 2007 and 2019 that featured an Asian or Pacific Islander in a leading role : 3

[Harper’s Index]

Portion of those roles filled by Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson : 1/3

Readings

[Essay]

Fight or Flight

Photograph by Supranav Dash from the Lockdown series

Invisible Hand, a mixed-media artwork by Souleimane Barry, whose work was on view in March at the Also Known As Africa (AKAA) art and design fair, in Paris.

“Goalkeeper No. 4, 2014,” a photograph by Rodrigo Valenzuela, whose work was on view last month at Galería Patricia Ready, in Santiago, Chile. Valenzuela’s monograph Journeyman was published in March by Mousse Publishing.

A Passing Dance, a painting by Brittney Leeanne Williams, whose work was on view in April at Alexander Berggruen, in New York City.

Untitled (Dreams Deferred), a mixed-media artwork by Paul Anthony Smith, whose work was on view in April at Jack Shainman Gallery, in New York City.

Photograph by Supranav Dash from the Lockdown series, Kolkata, India, 2020 and 2021.

Photograph by Supranav Dash from the Lockdown series, Kolkata, India, 2020 and 2021.

Photograph by Supranav Dash from the Lockdown series

Photograph by Supranav Dash from the Lockdown series

Invisible Hand, a mixed-media artwork by Souleimane Barry, whose work was on view in March at the Also Known As Africa (AKAA) art and design fair, in Paris.

A Passing Dance, a painting by Brittney Leeanne Williams, whose work was on view in April at Alexander Berggruen, in New York City.

Untitled (Dreams Deferred), a mixed-media artwork by Paul Anthony Smith, whose work was on view in April at Jack Shainman Gallery, in New York City.