How the Left Can Win Arguments and Influence People: A Tactical Manual for Pragmatic Progressives - Hardcover

Wilson, John K.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0814793622 ISBN 13: 9780814793626

Publisher: NYU Press, 2000

Synopsis

If we were to rely on what the pundits and politicians tell us, we would have to conclude that America is a deeply conservative nation. Americans, we hear constantly, detest government, demand lower taxes and the end of welfare, and favor the death penalty, prayer in school, and an absolute faith in the free market.
And yet Americans believe deeply in progressive ideas. In fact, progressivism has long been a powerful force in the American psyche. Consider that a mere generation ago the struggle for environmentally sound policies, for women's rights, and for racial equality were fringe movements. Today, open opposition to these core ideals would be political suicide.
Drawing on this wellspring of American progressivist tradition, John K. Wilson has penned an informal handbook for the pragmatic progressive. Wilson insists that the left must become more savvy in its rhetoric and stop preaching only to the converted. Progressives need to attack the tangible realities of the corporate welfare state, while explicitly acknowledging that "socialism is," as Wilson writes, "deader than Lenin."
Rather than attacking a "right-wing conspiracy," Wilson argues that the left needs one, too. Tracing how well-funded conservative pressure groups have wielded their influence and transformed the national agenda, Wilson outlines a similar approach for the left. Along the way, he exposes the faultlines of our poll- and money-driven form of politics, explodes the myth of "the liberal media," and demands that the left explicitly change its image.
Irreverent, practical, and urgently argued, How The Left Can Win Arguments and Influence People charts a way to translate progressive ideals into reality and reassert the core principles of the American left on the national stage.

About this title

About the Author

John K. Wilson is the author of The Myth of Political Correctness: The Conservative Attack on Higher Education and Newt Gingrich: Capitol Crimes and Misdemeanors.

Reviews

Through a "tactical radicalism" consisting of new rhetoric and a more purposeful political agenda, the Left could beat the Right at its own game and put an end to the ascendancy of conservatism, argues Wilson (The Myth of Political Correctness). Americans largely agree with progressive goals, he says, as he discusses issues such as taxes, education, welfare, labor, school prayer, and affirmative action. A "big-tent left capable of mobilizing all its people," he writes, will allow progressive values to topple today's corporate dominance of our politics. While Wilson's points often seem facile will more letters to the editor really make such a large difference? his energy, optimism, and humor will cheer those who agree with him, particularly younger readers, whom he refers to hopefully as "Generation Left." An optional purchase. Robert F. Nardini, Chichester, NH
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Forget about the "vast right-wing conspiracy": Wilson, who has previously written The Myth of Political Correctness (1995) and Newt Gingrich (1996), thinks the Left ought to have a conspiracy of its own. Most Americans, he maintains, already share many of the Left's beliefs; the problem is for progressives to articulate these issues in ways those Americans will recognize and support. Wilson devotes roughly half his book to analyzing the roots of the Left's problems: the death of socialism and the failure of centrism; the politics of money; polls; the globalization wars; and the myth of the liberal media. Then he defines his target audience--"pragmatic progressives"--and suggests responses to more than a dozen issues, from tax cuts, crime, and the culture wars to labor, defense, the environment, and Social Security. Wilson writes entertainingly and is never afraid to take on the actions of practicing politicians; his chapters include sidebars with practical advice on things readers can do, from writing a letter to the editor to organizing on college campuses to oppose sweatshop labor. Mary Carroll
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Edition details

• Publisher: NYU Press
• Publication date: 2000
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0814793622
• ISBN 13: 9780814793626
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 288