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Articles by Thomas Dichter
A Brief History of American Impatience
Can we reclaim what’s lost? Spring in France, 1890, by Robert William Vonnoh. (Photo by Heritage Art/Heritage Images via Getty Images) Spring in France, 1890, by Robert William Vonnoh. (Photo by Heritage Art/Heritage Images via Getty Images) Turn any article into a podcast. Upgrade now to start listening. Members can share articles with friends & family to bypass the paywall. Every year, I stay for months in a rural French hamlet.
Utopias Don’t Work. Can You Still Live Deliberately?
The purism of communes and intentional communities has given way to a do-it-yourself lifestyle. Illustration by Noah Hickey/The Dispatch (Photo via Getty Images). Illustration by Noah Hickey/The Dispatch (Photo via Getty Images). Turn any article into a podcast. Upgrade now to start listening. Members can share articles with friends & family to bypass the paywall.
Does Presidential Character Matter?
George Washington, by Robert Edge Pine. (Courtesy of the National Portrait Gallery) Turn any article into a podcast. Upgrade now to start listening. Members can share articles with friends & family to bypass the paywall. In 2000, two psychologists researched the question of character.
On Being an American Expat
Is American identity portable? Illustration by Noah Hickey/The Dispatch (Photos by Thomas Dichter). Illustration by Noah Hickey/The Dispatch (Photos by Thomas Dichter). Turn any article into a podcast. Upgrade now to start listening. Members can share articles with friends & family to bypass the paywall. Decades ago, becoming an expat was an unsettling experience. To willingly leave behind one’s roots, one’s extended family, was not easy, nor was it a choice many people made.
Ossining, New York, in the ‘Unwoke’ 1950s
Editor’s Note: This is the fourth entry in a new Dispatch series titled “Where I’m From.” Every Saturday, a writer will share a meditation on his or her hometown—a bustling metropolis, distant desert outpost, quiet suburb, or somewhere in between—and what makes it unique. The goal? Highlight voices—and good writing—from every corner of these United States. The only time I and my fellow trombone players were noticed was during a parade.
A Brief History of Nation-Building
In 1912, Gen. Hubert Lyautey, an experienced colonial administrator, took office as the first resident general (aka governor) of the newly formed French Protectorate of Morocco. For 13 years until his retirement, he led an unusually thoughtful, even idealistic, approach to nation-building (in this case, “colonization”), based on respect for traditional social structures and leaders.
What Would Don Draper Say About Digital Advertising?
My father, Ernest Dichter, and other midcentury “Mad Men” such as David Ogilvy and Leo Burnett, have been largely forgotten. Nonetheless they held sway in the advertising industry from the late 1940s to well into the 1970s. My father’s work in those years—based on his training in Vienna as a Freudian psychologist—helped shift the ground under the advertising industry.
Why Americans Don’t ‘Eat the Rich’
In 2025, U.S. credit card debt reached $1.3 trillion. This is the equivalent of over $3,000 in debt for every man, woman, and child in the United States. Imagine a newborn baby named Louise Smith having $3,000 in debt, along with each of her three siblings and her two parents—the hypothetical Smith family’s total credit card debt would amount to $18,000. In the American economy, the outsized role of consumer credit and its accompanying debt is something relatively new.
The American God of Water
The other day, a neighbor came over for a visit. As she walked through the door, she slapped her forehead and said: “Oh my god, I forgot to hydrate.” Not quite at the level of “Oh my god, I left my 4-year old at the supermarket,” but close. Our obsession with drinking bottled water, like much else in the current wellness zeitgeist, seems to be a bit off the rails.
Can the Trump Administration Stop History?
A few years ago, I worked with a young woman whose American mother was the child of a lapsed Mormon and a Jew, and whose father was a Muslim from Morocco. She is married to a Hindu immigrant from India. “You are the future,” I said after I stopped marveling at her pedigree. The United States has consistently moved toward ever more intermixing: According to one measure, white people made up 84 percent of the United States in 1965; in 2023, it was 58.4 percent.
The Folly of the U.N.’s Anti-Poverty Goals
In 2015, the United Nations set out a wildly utopian set of 17 “sustainable development goals” to be achieved by 2030.
What’s Happening to the Peace Corps?
American power, like much else, exists on a spectrum. At one extreme of our foreign policy, there is pure force, the power of muscles and guns; somewhere toward the middle are various forms of diplomacy, from moral suasion to tit-for-tat deal-making. At the other extreme there is the power of friendships across cultures, the power of example, the power of teaching. This end of the spectrum—soft power in perhaps its purest form—is where the Peace Corps has lived since its founding.
The New Three Legs of Conservatism | Interview: Matt Lewis
Authoritarianism takes over the GOP. Published August 25, 2025 In Jamie Weinstein’s final Dispatch Interview Podcast, he invites Matt Lewis, podcaster and columnist for The Daily Beast, to grade President Donald Trump’s foreign policy, national security, and economic policy objectives. The Agenda: —The raid of John Bolton’s house —The new three legs of conservatism —D.C. crime and the national guard —California Gov.
La Vie en Commune
In 1919, Edith Wharton, the American writer who spent World War I living in France, published a tidy little book called French Ways and Their Meaning. Not surprisingly, some of her observations from that long century ago don’t hold up. The French “power of sustained effort” seems off in the face of today’s 35-hour week and monthlong August vacation.
Manipulating the Weather | Interview: Dr. David Keith
‘I don’t buy that climate is an existential threat.’ Published August 13, 2025 Dr. David Keith, professor of geophysical sciences at the University of Chicago and founder of Carbon Engineering, joins Jonah Goldbergto explain the controversy surrounding geoengineering. Together, he and Jonah brainstorm ways to decarbonize the economy, argue over the fine print of climate policy, and wonder if humanity can fix the planet without accidentally turning it into a giant Easy-Bake Oven.
A Letter From Greenland
Society & Culture An example of the ‘off the beaten path’ paradox. Published August 13, 2025 Scroll to the comments section Audio versions are only available to subscribers of The Dispatch. Join Today! to listen to this post. Looking for something new and different, something off the beaten path, this June my wife and I decided on Greenland. A mere year ago few ever thought of Greenland, or if they did, it remained a large blank space on their vague high school memory of the world map.
The Hidden Injuries of Poor Customer Service Original
On any given day, millions of Americans are subjected to poor customer service. You wait 15 minutes on hold and the line goes dead; a flight is delayed and no one bothers to explain or apologize; a hotel check-in agent can’t find your reservation and spends long minutes staring at the computer screen while you wonder what is going on; an appliance delivery results in a deep scratch in your newly finished floor and you are given a month-long run around by the company responsible.
Mr. Trump in the Middle East
As long as the checks clear. By , , and Published May 16, 2025 Michael Warren is joined by Jonah Goldberg and Grayson Logue to discuss the ongoing trade war with China and Trump’s newest aviation toy. The Agenda: —Scott Bessent or Peter Navarro? —What to make of the 90-day pause with China —Golden calf foreign policy —Trump meets with Qatar but skips Israel —Leaving America because of fascism?
How USAID Became a Humanitarian FedEx Original
For five decades I worked in more than 60 countries on four continents, designing, managing, and evaluating projects aimed at poverty reduction. And for those who’ve worked in foreign aid for as long as I have, it is not a surprise that the hand-wringing about the Trump administration’s attack on the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) focuses entirely on its humanitarian work, as if that is all that foreign aid is about.
Imprisoned but United | Thomas Dichter | INQUEST
In the fall of 1972, the men incarcerated at the state prison in Walpole, Massachusetts, organized themselves into a labor union, the National Prisoners Reform Association (NPRA). Soon after, in March 1973, MCI-Walpole’s guards went on strike to protest the appointment of a progressive state commissioner of correction, John O. Boone. The NPRA took over the prison and ran it peacefully for two months.
Frontex and the Complicated Path to EU Sovereignty
Control and security of borders is an essential aspect of modern statecraft. For the European Union, this requires the balancing of unparalleled commitments as a leader in human rights with practical realities about human movement and the rule of law. It is a pursuit that can and must be achieved if EU sovereignty is to remain intact. Frontex, the European Border and Coast Guard Agency, represents an emergent, evolving, and technologically capable answer to this demand.
Held to Ransom: Colonial Pipeline and the Vulnerabilities of Critical Infrastructure
It should be making officials in the White House tremble. Critical infrastructure supplying 45% of the East Coast’s diesel, gasoline, and jet fuel, left at the mercy of a ransomware operation executed on May 6. In the process, 100 GB of data of Colonial Pipeline was seized and encrypted on computers and servers. The next day, those behind the operation demanded a ransom, or the material would be leaked. The consequences are telling.
Imperiled Progress: 50 Years of Stagnation for Least Developed Countries
Fifty years ago, the United Nations compiled a list of least developed countries (LDCs). The list is updated each year and, sadly, it hasn’t changed much since 1971. Of the quarter of the world’s nations on the list, almost half of them have been on it since the beginning, with 89% on the list for 30 years or more.
A Path to Citizenship for DACA Recipients
Imagine a second Trump presidency. Now imagine you are an undocumented immigrant. At any moment, you could be separated from your family. If you’re a Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipient, you’ve already exposed yourself to the United States government. At any moment, you could be deported. Without a citizenship path, these are but a small drop in the ocean of issues that DACA recipients and their families face.
Ike, Where Are You Now?
President Eisenhower’s farewell address of January 17, 1961 is remembered, if at all, for coining the term military-industrial complex and for his warning about it. “In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.
Call Centers Return To The U.S. -- More Companies Get The Link Between Customer Service And Profit
You’ve got a problem with a bill, a reservation, a defective product. The company’s website doesn’t help, so you call the toll-free number to try to sort it out. After the usual “Please listen carefully because our menu has changed,” and the “press 1,2,3,4,5…” dance, you finally get someone and immediately realize that the person you’re speaking to is in the Philippines or India. Your heart sinks, along with your hope that you can resolve your issue.
Foreign Aid Drift - Whatever Happened To Development Aid?
Gourcy/ Burkina Faso Getty President Truman’s inaugural address of January 20,1949, laid out four points in his foreign policy vision. The last point (since referred to as “Point Four”) initiated what has become America’s foreign aid program: “Fourth, we must embark on a bold new program for making the benefits of our scientific advances and industrial progress available for the improvement and growth of underdeveloped areas.
Income Inequality Or Spending Inequality, Which Tells Us More?
When it comes to the gap between the world’s rich and poor nations income inequality doesn’t quite capture the enormity of the problem. Looking at what people spend rather than what they make does more to show why the gap between the rich and the poor is likely to remain a wide one for a long time to come.
The Intrusiveness Of Internet Advertising: The Not So Hidden Persuaders.
In 1957 Vance Packard published The Hidden Persuaders. The book sold over a million copies. Its sensationalist claim was that a small group of ad men (later Mad Men) had devised nefarious techniques to get Americans to buy things, including subliminal messages transmitted faster than the eye can see but which penetrated the viewer’s subconscious. Packard’s chief villain was my father, Ernest Dichter, who was referenced fifty times in the book.
Trained Incapacity: The Risk Avoidance Of U.S. Philanthropies' Global Giving Is Bad For The World
After many frustrating years working in non-profit organizations that were unable to address the root causes of the developing country problems they set out to solve, I got lucky, or thought I did. I was hired as an officer of a respected foundation.
A Solution To The Immigration Crisis: A Peace Corps In Reverse?
[caption photocredit="Getty" photocredit="Getty"]Getty Illegal immigration is one result of the failure of the world's poorest countries to develop. People voting with their feet to get to richer countries and ahead in their lives has become a daunting and costly problem. Walls can keep people out but they cannot change the conditions that make them want to leave their countries.
Is Universal Financial Inclusion For The Third World's Poor Achievable?
Financial Inclusion is the current term for the movement to provide the third world's poor with access to formal financial services such as savings, loans and money transfers. The terminology reflects the latest expansion of what began as the microcredit movement in the late 1970s when it was widely believed that access to credit would lift people out of poverty. Today about 70% of adults worldwide are "banked," in contrast to 40% in the third world.
Why It's Hard To Get Angry at Amazon
Outraged attractive Indian female employee talking by phone, arguing with client or customer, actively gesticulating, businesswoman having serious conversation on smartphone, solve business problemGetty Bad customer service is a common bane of our time. Despite the hoopla put out by virtually every company about how much they care about you, including the protestations about how "your call is very important to us," more and more people see through it.
Blockchain For Social Impact? Be Careful What You Wish For
Blockchain technology's potential for social good has become a hot topic for many philanthropists, social entrepreneurs and related non-profits. The Blockchain for Social Impact Coalition (BSIC) with over 50 member organizations, held a conference in June, and Ethereal know, like, trust words made from metallic letterpress on dark jeans backgroundGetty will be sponsoring another major conference in New York in May 2019.
Why Is Sticking To It So Hard?
2019 budget word abstract in vintage letterpress wood type with a cup of coffee. GETTY The Washington Post wrote recently about a woman who has been selling her services at $185 per hour to help folks match what they make with what they spend. Of course she sells software to help people do this.
A New Year's Resolution To Manage Your Finances: Why Is Sticking To It So Hard?
2019 budget word abstract in vintage letterpress wood type with a cup of coffeeGetty The Washington Post wrote recently about a woman who has been selling her services at $185 per hour to help folks match what they make with what they spend. Of course she sells software to help people do this.
What Can We Learn about Privacy from the French and Their Shutters?
World News /23 Dec 2018 Shutters are an active part of daily life in rural France (where we live half of each year). People open and close them religiously. They swing open their shutters fully at 6:30 on a summer morning, partially close them around 11:00, fully close them by 2 pm, and open everything up again around 7 pm, until at bedtime when they completely close them for the night.
Impact Investing As A Poverty Solution: The Case For Patient Pessimism
Slum overlooking affluent area of cityGetty The growing impact investment industry (II for short here) is entering hype territory, a sign that less is going on than meets the eye. The language of II promotion is buoyant, breathless, boosterish, and in some cases un-believable. "We have helped create 30,000 jobs and improved 96 million lives," says one private equity firm that invests in emerging markets (Bamboo Capital Partners).
Letter from Ethiopia
World News /04 Oct 2018 Ethiopia, despite its recent troubles, has been a rising African star for some time. World Bank and other statistics cite the country as an African standout, experiencing in some years 10% growth, with millions leaving poverty. Even Joseph Stiglitz, the Nobel Prize-winning economist who is not known for a sanguine view of the world, has been optimistic about Ethiopia.
Was Malthus Right?
Thomas Malthus, whose most famous work The Principle of Population was published in 1798, did not believe that society’s improvement is inevitable. Indeed when things do improve, he thought, the resultant population increase becomes an obstacle to further progress. In short, as he put it, the power of population growth is greater than the power of the earth to produce the means of subsistence. Was he right? Yes and no.
Opinion: Is it right to expect a career in development?
When the development aid field took off in the late 1950s and early 1960s with the independence of many former colonies, Western experts who went to help “underdeveloped” countries, as they were called, were borrowed from professions such as civil engineering, agronomy, economics, law, public health and medicine. They were not “international development professionals.” In fact you couldn’t get such a degree at the time.
For aid professionals, it's self-interest vs. country ownership
Patrick Fine, CEO of FHI 360 — a $600 million dollar organization and one of the U.S. Agency for International Development’s top 40 vendors — recently wrote a piece for Devex titled “Why we shouldn’t be working ourselves out of a job.” He refers to the view “that if we just do a good job, then prosperous, well-governed communities will quickly take root and eliminate the need for further assistance.” And he goes on to say that “ending poverty is not simply a matter of following the blueprint...
Russia’s coming economic storm
It could be worse than the financial crisis by Shweta Singh / March 20, 2015 / Leave a comment Oil is Russia’s key growth driver. © The Conduqtor Russia faces a perfect storm. Oil is the country’s key growth driver and the price has collapsed. Geopolitical risks abound and there are huge risks to Russia’s external funding which is already under pressure from a stronger US dollar and potentially higher US interest rates.
World thinkers 2015: the results
With nearly 3,000 votes cast, the results of Prospect’s world thinkers 2015 poll are now in. Voters came to the Prospect website in large numbers through Twitter and Facebook, and from many countries around the world. The top 10 of last year’s poll was dominated by thinkers—including the winner, economist and philosopher Amartya Sen—whose work focused on the social, political and environmental challenges posed by economic growth in the developing world.
Budget 2015: Osborne has robbed Labour of its best lines
The two Eds have been left with a lot of extra work to do. © PA/PA Wire/Press Association Images With the opinion polls locked, the Conservative party was looking today to George Osborne, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, to deliver it an electoral victory. It was, as expected, a decidedly political Budget and if the stalemate breaks in the polls, that Conservative boost will no doubt be attributed to it. That, however, would be an error.
General Election 2015: what the Budget didn’t tell you
The promise of no gimmicks or give-aways in George Osborne’s last Budget before the election was greeted with widespread disbelief. But there were no pre-election rabbits to be plucked out of the hat. On the contrary. The Chancellor seemed to find virtue in a “steady-as-she-goes-and-you-will-benefit” strategy, which is how his party aims to fight the election—casting Labour as the party which will take incalculable risks and torch the last few years of hard work.
Big Question: what should our armed forces do?
A debate has opened up in recent weeks about the amount Britain’s government should spend on defence—Conservative MPs and members of the British and American armed forces have queued up to demand that David Cameron commit to keep Britain’s military budget at 2 per cent of GDP, in line with Nato targets. Cameron has so far neither committed to the demands nor ruled them out. Others think Britain ought to spend less, freeing up valuable resources in a time of austerity.
Afghanistan is not a lost cause
Afghanistan is more stable than for decades—but we'll have to pay to keep it that way by David Loyn / February 19, 2015 / Leave a comment Published in March 2015 issue of Prospect Magazine Families relax in the Gardens of Babur, Kabul in April 2012.
Half-life: The Divided Life of Bruno Pontecorvo, Physicist or Spy
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Join us for the launch of the latest book by Frank Close, the Oxford physicist and award-winning, bestselling author. Half-life explores the story of Bruno Pontecorvo, one of the most brilliant physicists of his generation. Pontecorvo worked on the British arm of the Manhattan Project, the Allied programme to develop a nuclear weapon, and made huge breakthroughs in the way Uranium is detected—and then, suddenly, Pontecorvo vanished. Later, it became clear that he had defected to the Soviet Union.
By Philip Collins Verified, Anatole Kaletsky, Peter Kellner Verified, Joanna Kavenna, Thomas Dichter
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Prospect Magazine
Verified
Could the SNP do a deal with the Tories?
Into the most uncertain general election any of us can remember, the Scottish electorate may be about to throw a wild card: a phalanx of Scottish National Party (SNP) MPs. If the polls are to be believed, they might be critical to forming the next government. The effects could, however, be paradoxical, and SNP voters might not get what they expect. Labour has dominated Scottish politics for two generations. As late as 1979, the Conservatives got nearly one third of the votes and seats in Scotland.
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