Amesbury Public Library

Suicide of the west, how the rebirth of tribalism, populism, nationalism, and identity politics is destroying American democracy, Jonah Goldberg

eng

Includes bibliographical references (pages 381-435) and index

charts

index present

non fiction

Suicide of the west

bibliography

973135836

Jonah Goldberg

how the rebirth of tribalism, populism, nationalism, and identity politics is destroying American democracy

Only once in the last 250,000 years did humans lift themselves out of their natural environment of poverty. It happened in eighteenth-century England, and it was an accident. The emergence of freedom and prosperity was nothing short of a miracle. The radical ideas that made the miracle possible were written not just into the Constitution, but in our hearts, laying the groundwork for our uniquely prosperous society. But now the principles of liberty and the rule of law are under attack-- from left and right. Goldberg shows how we must renew our sense of gratitude, and rediscover the ideals and habits of the heart that led us out of the bloody muck of the past-- or back to the muck we will go

Introduction: Stumbling upon a miracle -- Human nature: Our inner tribesman -- Corrupting the miracle: When human nature strikes back -- The State: A myth agreed upon -- The birth of capitalism: A glorious accident -- The eternal battle: Reason versus the search for meaning -- The American miracle: They put it in writing -- The elites: Aristocrats unchained -- The progressive era: The birth of the living constitution and the death of liberty -- The administrative state: The shadow government -- Tribalism today: Nationalism, populism, and identity politics -- Pop culture politics: Godzilla, rock & roll, and the romantic spirit -- The family's losing war against barbarism -- The Trumpian era: The perils of populism -- Things fall apart: The American experiment at risk -- Conclusion: Decline is a choice