In his October 15, 2018 column, Editor Mark Sappenfield heralds, “The triumph of gray,” with the thought, based on the Christian Science Monitor’s cover story this week that, “Perhaps the answer to growing concerns about capitalism is not in black or white — it is in the perpetual reconsideration and recalibration that reveals the symphony within the gray.”

He concludes with a reference to the Fallows and what they found and reported on in Our Towns. “In smaller towns, where a strong sense of community means everyone is an “us,” companies and the wealthy often act differently. From Holland, Mich., to Columbus, Miss., they invest in local schools and art and health. They spread wealth naturally and without compulsion. The answer to the challenges of capitalism, then, might simply be wrestling with how we can best expand the concentric circles of “us.”