High-class kitsch may well be "perfect" in its form and and composition: the academic painters were often masters of their craft. Thus, the accusation that a work of kitsch is based not on lack of for or aesthetic merit but on the presence of a particularly provocative emotional content. (The best art, by contrast, eschews emotional content altogether.)

The dollar is currently the principal reserve currency in the world.

There has been talk in Europe about American hegemony being somehow based upon the use of the dollar in the world. I just don't see that connection at all.

Trust is a skill, one that is an aspect of virtually all human practices, cultures, and relationships.

Building trust begins with an appreciation and understanding of trust, but it also requires practice and practices.

High kitsch, whatever else may be said of it, cannot be openly dismissed as cheap.

Trust is almost always conditional, focused, qualified, and therefore limited.