Spoiler alert: The state of the union is divided. We’re divided politically, we’re divided geographically, we’re even divided on the internet. But one divide is probably the biggest drivers of all the others. We’re divided economically. Eduardo Porter in the NYT: Tech Is Splitting the U.S. Work Force in Two. “Automation is splitting the American labor force into two worlds. There is a small island of highly educated professionals making good wages at corporations like Intel or Boeing, which reap hundreds of thousands of dollars in profit per employee. That island sits in the middle of a sea of less educated workers who are stuck at businesses like hotels, restaurants and nursing homes that generate much smaller profits per employee and stay viable primarily by keeping wages low.”

+ The split is global. The split is national. The split is local. “We could be paying mortgages on entire houses in Denver or Austin. But we are here. Our friends (what’s left of them) and family are here; my job network is here. Two fully employed middle-class women in their 30s splitting bills on Venmo and figuring out how to most diplomatically accuse the other of eating more of the peanut butter. This is normal in the Bay Area. Only programmers live alone. Only rich programmers own houses.” Diana Helmuth in Curbed: If San Francisco is so great, why is everyone I love leaving?

+ WaPo’s Matt Viser on the profound shift in public mood when it comes to taxes.