mikerickson reviewed Socialist Awakening by John Judis
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4 stars
What starts out as a, "here's how Bernie can still win" bit of expired leftist copium soon becomes a cold splash of water to the face for those who need to hear it. Demographic trends are not destiny, and one can never rest on their laurels before the work is done.
This is a good primer on the different sub-types of socialism (of which this book covers nine by my count), with a focus on American politics, save for a single chapter that detours over to the UK to cover what the Labor Party has been up to between WWII through the early days of COVID. There is special care given to showing how socialist policies tend to fare well with the general public, but how once anyone actually says the dreaded S-word out loud, no one wants anything to do with it anymore.
Parts of this haven't aged well, …
What starts out as a, "here's how Bernie can still win" bit of expired leftist copium soon becomes a cold splash of water to the face for those who need to hear it. Demographic trends are not destiny, and one can never rest on their laurels before the work is done.
This is a good primer on the different sub-types of socialism (of which this book covers nine by my count), with a focus on American politics, save for a single chapter that detours over to the UK to cover what the Labor Party has been up to between WWII through the early days of COVID. There is special care given to showing how socialist policies tend to fare well with the general public, but how once anyone actually says the dreaded S-word out loud, no one wants anything to do with it anymore.
Parts of this haven't aged well, which is strange to say of a book not even five years old. There was a sense that the government's plan for handling the pandemic (or lack thereof) would further push the public into demanding a post-capitalism future with a state that was more willing and capable of providing for its citizens. A lot of faith was placed in Gen Z's voting trends and distaste for capitalism, but there was only one throwaway line I recall that suggested, hey, maybe watch out for a resurgence of neo-fascism!
If nothing else, the final closing chapter is a hard dose of reality that some people I know really need to take to heart: the average person doesn't care or have the time to study political theory. Demanding purity tests (the DSA refusing to endorse Biden in 2020 is highlighted here) and taking the most extreme positions on cultural issues alienates potential converts and distracts from the central economic goal of combating wealth inequality. If you want to be a relevant political movement, at some point you're going to have to but the treatises down and engage in actual politics.