The pontificating class has handed down their received wisdom identifying the source of the outsider political power wielded by Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump… the American People Are Angry. Well, duh. The more perceptive among us have noticed the rain is yellow for a while, but others are just coming around. The Right Wing is only now realizing they’ve been duped for years; that most of the agenda they’ve been promised has never been possible in the real world, and certainly not in a Republic with enumerated rights. They’re flocking to Trump, who lacks the shame to quit pretending. Much of the Left may take a while to come around. They’ve been forced to define themselves as “Not the Right” for so long that the implosion of the Republican party seems like a victory in itself, but the victors should beware. Without a clear and realistic vision of where they want the country to go, they risk becoming the next useful but disillusioned shills…
“Listen, Liberal”
by Thomas Frank
(click the image to go to the Powells.com website for the book)
From the bestselling author of “What’s the Matter With Kansas”, “Listen, Liberal” is a scathing look at the standard-bearers of liberal politics—a book that asks: what’s the matter with Democrats?
It is a widespread belief among liberals that if only Democrats can continue to dominate national elections, if only those awful Republicans are beaten into submission, the country will be on the right course.
But this is to fundamentally misunderstand the modern Democratic Party. Drawing on years of research and first-hand reporting, Frank points out that the Democrats have done little to advance traditional liberal goals: expanding opportunity, fighting for social justice, and ensuring that workers get a fair deal. Indeed, they have scarcely dented the free-market consensus at all. This is not for lack of opportunity: Democrats have occupied the White House for sixteen of the last twenty-four years, and yet the decline of the middle class has only accelerated. Wall Street gets its bailouts, wages keep falling, and the free-trade deals keep coming.
With his trademark sardonic wit and lacerating logic, Frank lays bare the essence of the Democratic Party’s philosophy and how it has changed over the years. A form of corporate and cultural elitism has largely eclipsed the party’s old working-class commitment, he finds. For certain favored groups, this has meant prosperity. But for the nation as a whole, it is a one-way ticket into the abyss of inequality. In this critical election year, Frank recalls the Democrats to their historic goals-the only way to reverse the ever-deepening rift between the rich and the poor in America.
About the Author
Thomas Frank is the author of Pity the Billionaire, The Wrecking Crew, and What’s the Matter with Kansas? A former columnist for The Wall Street Journal and Harper’s, Frank is the founding editor of The Baffler and writes regularly for Salon. He lives outside Washington, D.C.
Click here for an interview with Thomas Frank on BillMoyers.com
BOOK SPOTLIGHT BONUS:
Here’s an article we ran across that should be of particular interest and deep disappointment to our Book Spotlighters… “Many College Students are ‘Book Virgins’”, meaning they’ve never read an full, adult-level book by the time they’ve reached college. Terrifying.
