If you’re in the DC area, I’m going to be hosting a book talk for Daniel Schlozman and Sam Rosenfeld about their new book “The Hollow Parties: The Many Pasts and Disordered Present of American Party Politics.” I wrote about it last year after I read the manuscript, and it’s the best book on politics I’ve read in several years. We’ll be at Johns Hopkins’ DC building, 555 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, on May 7 from 5:30 to 7:00pm in Room 422. I’ll ask them some questions, we’ll get some questions from the audience, and hopefully everyone will learn something. Official event flier here. I hope to see you there!
People who are living in the United States of America in 2024 are living in what is indisputably one of the richest countries on the planet, at a time of unprecedented global prosperity.
And yet, even in a mass culture that’s increasingly consumed by questions of privilege, you rarely hear expressions of gratitude for the reality of that basic good fortune. It’s more common to hear expressions of apocalyptic levels of alarm about living in “a world on fire” or through a series of “unprecedented” traumas. This kind of relentless negativity reflects a kaleidoscopic series of political lenses. Those on the right, of course, want to emphasize the negative right now for partisan reasons. Many on the left also want to emphasize the negative, but to build the case for radical change. Meanwhile, in the sensible center, I think it’s considered cringe (and politically opportunistic) to tell the masses that they are wrong about anything. If the people are upset, only knee-jerk partisanship could be your reason for suggesting they should maybe take a chill pill.
But I think most upper and middle class Americans should, in fact, take a step back.