Does that sound like 2016? In many ways, yes. But there are profound differences, too.

For one thing, in 1968 both parties still had control over their nomination process. There was no way Wallace could ever have won the Republican nomination, as Trump is on the verge of doing.

In 1968, the American middle class was still on the tail end of some very good years. Today, the white working class has not benefited from the slow but steady economic growth that has characterized the Obama era. Certain groups have. But many policies, like the health insurance reform Obama began — and the next president (even Trump) will likely finish — may take years of trial and error before people begin to feel more security from them. And neither the Republican nor the Democratic Party has a plausible platform for economic prosperity. The Democrats seem to use a lot of trendy buzzwords and hope that Americans begin to assess their condition more accurately. The Republicans are still focused on supply-side tax cuts.

In 1968, the media was monolithic. It carried influence, it arbitrated between right and wrong, and it conferred legitimacy. Today, the media is anarchic, afraid of its own shadow, and it carries, and repeats to us, the stuff that makes us mad without giving us a real way to do anything about it, aside from expressing that anger at someone else online. Creative hashtags won’t heal American divisions.