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OUR OWN WORST ENEMY by Tom Nichols

OUR OWN WORST ENEMY

The Assault From Within on Modern Democracy

by Tom Nichols

Pub Date: Aug. 19th, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-19-751887-8
Publisher: Oxford Univ.

Why the future of democracy is in peril.

Nichols, a columnist for USA Today, contributing writing at the Atlantic, and professor at the U.S. Naval War College, joins other recent political analysts in decrying the weakening of democracy, laying the blame on Americans’ lack of engagement in political life, ignorance of issues, and failure to contribute to the common good. “When we disengage from society and ignore our civic obligations, we are bad citizens,” he writes. The American voter exemplifies a “politics of narrow self-interest” blended with “general cynicism” about government, politicians, and even their fellow Americans. The author’s assessment of the general political landscape is more persuasive than his analysis that disengagement stems from the “peace, affluence, and technological progress” which has afforded most people too much leisure, making them materialistic and narcissistic. With nothing to challenge them, they long “for a great struggle that could give drama and deeper meaning.” This yearning for conflict leads to anger, nostalgia, and social revenge—all sentiments fomented by the populist right. When enough people are “continually angry, entitled, and conspiracy-addled,” Nichols writes, “civic life becomes impossible.” As an example of what a narcissistic community looks like, the author offers a portrait of Chiaramonte, a village in southern Italy that was documented in the 1950s. Widely distrusting politicians and the clergy, the residents cared only for themselves and their families—a tribalism that Nichols sees increasingly in the U.S. Nichols attests to having faith in the durability of liberal democracy, suggesting several ways to revive citizenship: parties should “remain grounded in identifiable principles” instead of being “megaphones for the most vocal activists within them”; young people should be required to fulfill a “summer of service” in the military; and electoral and constitutional reform should include statehood for Puerto Rico and D.C., expanding the House. “In a liberal democracy,” he writes, “citizens are masters of their fate.”

A strong argument for civic reengagement.