Okay, I promised some bashing, but in the end, I think I'm going to have a more nuanced opinion.
Jonah Goldberg — Suicide of the West: How the Rebirth of Tribalism, Populism, Nationalism, and Identity Politics Is Destroying American Democracy
Disclaimer: I don't know how this book ended up in my reading list, and I didn't know anything about it or the author. It wasn't hard to figure out soon after I've started reading, though. Still, some parts of it were quite interesting, particularly concerning the history of the USA, and for someone like me with near-zero knowledge of US politics, it certainly filled some gaps. But at times it's really tiresome, especially when the author straight insults the reader in case they disagree with him. Also note that I'm obviously biased here, so I may be misrepresenting.
The premise is roughly this: the human nature is inherently tribal. We haven't lived in a civilized society long enough to evolve out of it, and it takes hard work to suppress this nature. The birth of capitalism brought unprecedented progress and wealth to humankind: even the poorest people today have a higher standard of living than the rich of the past. Furthermore, combined with the unique American conditions, it gave birth to a true democracy, based on the principles of (economic) liberty and equality. And the pursuit of profits is key to tolerance. Of course, you may point out that it took quite a while before this "equality" actually lead to abolition of slavery and emancipation of women, but these things take time.
However, people haven't been appreciating this "Miracle". They have been reframing the U.S. past as a "system of oppression, exploitation, and white privilege". The progressives have been diminishing the role of traditional institutions, growing an administrative apparatus that's outside democratic vote and balances, and pursuing "identity politics". All this leads to return of tribal instincts, distrust of democracy, and growth of populism, and eventually the victory of Donald Trump whose goals do not really align with the principles of the Republican party.
So far for my summary. At least some of the points do make sense, even if I don't agree with the conclusions. Certainly the book can help picturing the political situation from the perspective of a conservative. But you can also see a lot of bias and selectivity.
There's a lot of praise of capitalism, but the only negative side briefly mentioned is that its "creative destruction" can unsettle communities. You hear about universities discriminating against "Asians, Jews, and whites" on the principle of diversity. Fortunately, the author decides to spare us from "all of the controversies over transgender bathrooms, bakers being
forced to make cakes for same-sex weddings, forcing the Marines to accept women, and the like". There's quite a list of how the administration grew under Democrats, but the periods of Republican governance are silently skipped.
Is it worth reading? Well, if you can stand it, then I suppose it's got some value. Perhaps I'm becoming more conservative after all.
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