Even before the economic divide, there might be mental issues at play, but the article goes there only very briefly, when mentioning identity. I don't know this Turchin guy, but you can't always explain everything with just numbers. Did he really say that people are deemed "deplorables" due to economic or education status, as this blog implies? I'm sure anyone can think of plenty of people with multiple degrees and millions in the bank who are horrible humans, sociopaths, inveterate narcissists or any combination of those.