Food for thought for the progressive side of the aisle.
What’s the matter with the Democratic Party? Burmila explores a slate of problems, from poor messaging to ideological inconstancy.
“If you have yet to conclude that the Republican Party is a malignancy that needs to be destroyed rather than appeased or reasoned with, this is the wrong book for you.” So writes the author in an opening gambit to a discussion that finds fault—sometimes a touch excessively, but with cause—with what he regards as the appeasing tactics of Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, who were both too eager to compromise during their presidencies. A larger problem is that while the Democrats are asking to steer the ship of state, they’re not offering persuasive arguments for why they should be trusted to do the job. The Republicans, courtesy of Newt Gingrich, Mitch McConnell, and their ilk, have developed a “scorched earth approach to politics” that in essence says “shove off” to anyone not a true believer. On the other hand, Obama contorted himself to enlist both left and right in a struggle in which one side had no interest in compromise. His successors at nearly every level of electoral politics, Burmila argues, have yet to seize on successes, however partial, and to improve on half victories like the Affordable Care Act, which, he notes, did not reform health care nearly as much as it could have. What to do? Burmila admits that he is stronger on pinpointing problems than coming up with solutions, but some of his fixes make eminent sense, including finding true remedies for the economic struggles of working people rather than kowtowing to the wealthy elite. Otherwise—and Burmila suggests this is the likelier outcome—the Republicans will win, about which he writes, “On the plus side, you might be dead before some of the worst parts happen. See? There’s always a positive.”
Food for thought for the progressive side of the aisle.Pub Date: Sept. 20, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-64503-002-7
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Bold Type Books
Review Posted Online: Aug. 9, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2022
An accessible, informative journey through complex issues during turbulent times.
Immersion journalism in the form of a graphic narrative following a Syrian family on their immigration to America.
Originally published as a 22-part series in the New York Times that garnered a Pulitzer for editorial cartooning, the story of the Aldabaan family—first in exile in Jordan and then in New Haven, Connecticut—holds together well as a full-length book. Halpern and Sloan, who spent more than three years with the Aldabaans, movingly explore the family’s significant obstacles, paying special attention to teenage son Naji, whose desire for the ideal of the American dream was the strongest. While not minimizing the harshness of the repression that led them to journey to the U.S.—or the challenges they encountered after they arrived—the focus on the day-by-day adjustment of a typical teenager makes the narrative refreshingly tangible and free of political polemic. Still, the family arrived at New York’s JFK airport during extraordinarily political times: Nov. 8, 2016, the day that Donald Trump was elected. The plan had been for the entire extended family to move, but some had traveled while others awaited approval, a process that was hampered by Trump’s travel ban. The Aldabaans encountered the daunting odds that many immigrants face: find shelter and employment, become self-sustaining quickly, learn English, and adjust to a new culture and climate (Naji learned to shovel snow, which he had never seen). They also received anonymous death threats, and Naji wanted to buy a gun for protection. He asked himself, “Was this the great future you were talking about back in Jordan?” Yet with the assistance of selfless volunteers and a community of fellow immigrants, the Aldabaans persevered. The epilogue provides explanatory context and where-are-they-now accounts, and Sloan’s streamlined, uncluttered illustrations nicely complement the text, consistently emphasizing the humanity of each person.
An accessible, informative journey through complex issues during turbulent times.Pub Date: Sept. 8, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-250-30559-6
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Metropolitan/Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: Aug. 17, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2020
Deliberately provocative, with much for left-inclined activists to ponder.
A wide-ranging critique of leftist politics as not being left enough.
Continuing his examination of progressive reform movements begun with The Cult of Smart, Marxist analyst deBoer takes on a left wing that, like all political movements, is subject to “the inertia of established systems.” The great moment for the left, he suggests, ought to have been the summer of 2020, when the murder of George Floyd and the accumulated crimes of Donald Trump should have led to more than a minor upheaval. In Minneapolis, he writes, first came the call from the city council to abolish the police, then make reforms, then cut the budget; the grace note was “an increase in funding to the very department it had recently set about to dissolve.” What happened? The author answers with the observation that it is largely those who can afford it who populate the ranks of the progressive movement, and they find other things to do after a while, even as those who stand to benefit most from progressive reform “lack the cultural capital and economic stability to have a presence in our national media and politics.” The resulting “elite capture” explains why the Democratic Party is so ineffectual in truly representing minority and working-class constituents. Dispirited, deBoer writes, “no great American revolution is coming in the early twenty-first century.” Accommodation to gradualism was once counted heresy among doctrinaire Marxists, but deBoer holds that it’s likely the only truly available path toward even small-scale gains. Meanwhile, he scourges nonprofits for diluting the tax base. It would be better, he argues, to tax those who can afford it rather than allowing deductible donations and “reducing the availability of public funds for public uses.” Usefully, the author also argues that identity politics centering on difference will never build a left movement, which instead must find common cause against conservatism and fascism.
Deliberately provocative, with much for left-inclined activists to ponder.Pub Date: Sept. 5, 2023
ISBN: 9781668016015
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: June 28, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2023
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