I think the rebellion against the digital takeover is what has been fueling an increase in the popularity of fountain pens. I've been using them for many many years, but it seems like just in the past 5 or so they have really exploded in popularity.

I completely agree with you about leaders. I do kind of wish the opposition had a strong leader to go against Trump. As of now they are just bending over and taking it without a fight. Maybe that fuels my reminiscing about LBJ. But ideally I would prefer leaders who actually lead and not fight with or bully each other.