James Fallows is a longtime correspondent for The Atlantic magazine. He has reported for the magazine from around the world since the late 1970s, including extended assignments in China, Japan, and Southeast Asia, and within the United States in Texas, Washington state, and California. He has written 12 books and won the American Book Award, the National Magazine Award, and a documentary Emmy. He has also done extensive commentary on National Public Radio.
San Bernardino, California, is poor, and has a high unemployment rate, and is affected by drought, and is in bankruptcy court. But its real problem is something else.
In the next few installments I will be talking about two cities in inland Southern California that have some things in common but have headed in very different directions, and…