Ed Burmila
Auteur van Chaotic Neutral: How the Democrats Lost their Soul in the Center
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Starting with its rise under FDR, Burmila analyzes how the Democratic Party retained power for many years, yet in recent decades has both lost elections, moved to the "center" and failed to deliver on promises to voters even when in power.
In Chaotic Neutral: How the Democrats Lost Their Soul in the Center Ed Burmila uses historical examples, incisive analysis, and engaging (if sometimes accurately profane) writing to show just how inept the Democratic party has become.
I admit to being one of those to the left of the party, well to the left. This book supports the stance many have that the Democratic party of today is the Republican party of the 50s, and frankly isn't that far removed from Nixon's brand of conservatism. It wouldn't be so bad if this weren't a de facto two-party system, but it is, which means we have a party of openly anti-democracy sentiments and a party that is conservative and moving steadily further to the right. This does not bode well for most people in the country.
The history here, from FDR to Biden, is presented with an eye toward understanding the bigger picture. For instance, at what point does doing the "safest" thing for a short-term goal become counterproductive for the long-term life of the party and potentially of the country? I'm not saying that the Democrats are the future of the country, but there needs to be representation across the range of people in the country, not two parties that each support the well-off while at best paying lip service to those struggling to survive.
Perhaps the most frustrating parts of the book aren't the many missed opportunities of the past that might have made for a healthier democracy and a better society. Instead, it is the analysis of the past couple of decades, the things that feel like the here and now. This creates not just frustration but borders on a sense of hopelessness. In our personal lives we usually try to do some genuine reflection, what have we done wrong, what can we do better. We might lament the things others did that impeded our success, but ultimately we look at what we need to do different. The Democratic party has resolutely avoided doing this, preferring to only look at what others did (those stupid voters, that evil GOP, the traitors within our own party) but never looking at how to change to better survive (theoretically by representing the people).
I wholeheartedly agree with the assessments about the outside things that have kept the Democrats, and the country, from succeeding and growing stronger. But those are really small compared to what the Democrats could do internally, and thus project externally, to counter their decline. Take a freakin' stand for something!!!
This book will reward, and likely sadden, any reader who wants to know why there is not a party that actually makes substantive improvements to their life. While GOP readers will enjoy the criticisms of the Democrats they will be upset by the assessments of much of the GOP. Readers who are Democrats will likely fall into two camps, those who think Burmila is overstating the case (in other words, those who are almost GOP but not quite) and those who will be relieved to see evidence that what they have been thinking about the Democratic Party isn't simply in their mind. But everyone should read this so they will have a more informed position when they have to make a stand, and make no mistake, this country is coming to the point where a stand will have to be made, electoral or otherwise.
Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.… (meer)
I admit to being one of those to the left of the party, well to the left. This book supports the stance many have that the Democratic party of today is the Republican party of the 50s, and frankly isn't that far removed from Nixon's brand of conservatism. It wouldn't be so bad if this weren't a de facto two-party system, but it is, which means we have a party of openly anti-democracy sentiments and a party that is conservative and moving steadily further to the right. This does not bode well for most people in the country.
The history here, from FDR to Biden, is presented with an eye toward understanding the bigger picture. For instance, at what point does doing the "safest" thing for a short-term goal become counterproductive for the long-term life of the party and potentially of the country? I'm not saying that the Democrats are the future of the country, but there needs to be representation across the range of people in the country, not two parties that each support the well-off while at best paying lip service to those struggling to survive.
Perhaps the most frustrating parts of the book aren't the many missed opportunities of the past that might have made for a healthier democracy and a better society. Instead, it is the analysis of the past couple of decades, the things that feel like the here and now. This creates not just frustration but borders on a sense of hopelessness. In our personal lives we usually try to do some genuine reflection, what have we done wrong, what can we do better. We might lament the things others did that impeded our success, but ultimately we look at what we need to do different. The Democratic party has resolutely avoided doing this, preferring to only look at what others did (those stupid voters, that evil GOP, the traitors within our own party) but never looking at how to change to better survive (theoretically by representing the people).
I wholeheartedly agree with the assessments about the outside things that have kept the Democrats, and the country, from succeeding and growing stronger. But those are really small compared to what the Democrats could do internally, and thus project externally, to counter their decline. Take a freakin' stand for something!!!
This book will reward, and likely sadden, any reader who wants to know why there is not a party that actually makes substantive improvements to their life. While GOP readers will enjoy the criticisms of the Democrats they will be upset by the assessments of much of the GOP. Readers who are Democrats will likely fall into two camps, those who think Burmila is overstating the case (in other words, those who are almost GOP but not quite) and those who will be relieved to see evidence that what they have been thinking about the Democratic Party isn't simply in their mind. But everyone should read this so they will have a more informed position when they have to make a stand, and make no mistake, this country is coming to the point where a stand will have to be made, electoral or otherwise.
Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.… (meer)
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As the title implies, Chaotic Neutral is Burmila's historical examination of the Democratic Party, and how over time a commitment to centralism and bipartisanship has led to...less then ideal results be it electorally, legislatively, politically, you name it. Burmila's analysis of the Democrats' history is sensible and presents a concise narrative of how past ideological choices have led to the present political landscape. What is perhaps the biggest selling point of the book is the delivery of said analysis. Bermila's sarcastic, sometimes profane, sometime borderline mean spirited asides and one liners, are often hilarious (especially the footnotes), and make what would otherwise depressive/angering breakdown of the Democrats failures and decent into fecklessness into something digestible, agreeable, thought provoking, and again funny. I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the decision making process of the modern Democrat party (I also recommend drinking heavily to any person interested in reading into that subject).… (meer)