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n_ck's review against another edition
medium-paced
2.0
A fairly disappointing airport read. I don’t come from the same political tradition as Klein but I respect his perspective enough to read him. He just does an awfully piss poor job of answering his titular question. Polarization, in Klein’s view, has its roots in the collapse of the new deal coalition with the civil rights act that delivered the white south to the GOP and liberal republicans to the Democrats. That created a whitelash and a series of perverse incentives in politics parties, media organizations and voting habits that resulted in ossified political identities and negative partisanship. Klein’s focus on incentives over personalities is helpful to understand ongoing dynamics in American politics but it’s ultimately parochial. Why is there polarization in other countries Ezra? How far does the hand of the defeated dixicrats reach?
He realizes his mistake in the last few pages of an afterword added a year after original publication when he notes education polarization plays an important role in what he was trying to describe. This opens the door to a more useful explanation asking how changes in training, the labour market and industrial composition have interacted with growing inequality to produce identities and attitudes in cities and rural areas. But doing this would sacrifice his institutional lens. If we have to talk about the economy and capitalist stagnation, then that means Kleins institutional fixes for fair play and good government would come to grief as they fail to deal with the challenges at their root - in capitalism. We can’t have that!
He realizes his mistake in the last few pages of an afterword added a year after original publication when he notes education polarization plays an important role in what he was trying to describe. This opens the door to a more useful explanation asking how changes in training, the labour market and industrial composition have interacted with growing inequality to produce identities and attitudes in cities and rural areas. But doing this would sacrifice his institutional lens. If we have to talk about the economy and capitalist stagnation, then that means Kleins institutional fixes for fair play and good government would come to grief as they fail to deal with the challenges at their root - in capitalism. We can’t have that!
shoelessmama's review against another edition
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
I like Klein's voice, he speaks in a way that works for me. His tone has the right amount of emotion without going overboard and becoming overly opinion led. I like when authors share a point I took for granted and explain where it is right and where it is flawed. This book was paradigm shifting for me in a few minor ways, which is something I look for in non-fiction. I feel like he is thorough and fair. He is upfront about his personal beliefs but acknowledges the merits of arguments that are not his own. He pointed out things that I had felt but hadn't pinpointed the underlying reasons. This book is five years old but I still found it's themes valuable and pertinent as well as oddly calming.
liviburke1's review against another edition
challenging
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.5
This book is an incredible reflection and education on how our political system became polarized and how we as individuals contribute to it. I loved the quotes from people like Obama and the insights from the other books. My only complaint is that I wish the final chapter was longer. The points about the different approaches to depolarization were really interesting and I would have loved more.
blanchebloom's review against another edition
4.0
Some SUPER great and interesting facts- but difficult to get through. It was on the dry side, but the information it presented made it worth the read. If I could give it 3.5 stars I would- I bumped up to 4 because I believe this book is a super important read, but it was difficult for me to push through and stay focused.
alexdpar's review against another edition
challenging
dark
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
4.75
This has to be one of the most transformational political books I have ever listened to. And by listen, I mean LISTEN. There is a whole other side to the audiobook that conveys almost an additional seriousness and emphasis on all the various pieces. While I don’t think the book offers anything new - a lot of this research has existed for a while - the author is able to provide a unique compilation of these sources with a voice of concern, humor, and experience.
What I truly love is that he is not shy from really tackling how most people feel. The average individual is caught up in their own narratives and wants to blame the other side. But they are tired of the two party system, believe politics to be broken, but also feel that politics both impacts them at the highest of levels and yet do not reap prosperity or see any change election after election. And instead of countering those argument, Klein embraces them. He acknowledges his own biases, agrees with the brokenness of the two party system, and doesn’t tell people they are wrong for feeling as though they do not benefit from or are impacted by electoral outcomes.
And he doesn’t ask the reader to seek rigorous or massive change. Just to understand that partisanship can be a tool for engaging in politics, and that we need to engage at the local and state level too, because that is where our lives are impacted most.
Federal politics is a game and we are just pieces - it uses us for its own end. Recognizing that allows us to begin accomplishing the above and recognizing that there is a way to truly come back from these deeply fractured times.