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Takeover: How the Left's Quest for Social Justice Corrupted Liberalism
How did liberals get to be the way they are today?
That’s the question many Americans have been asking—particularly after the ascent of Barack Obama, the most left-wing president in American history. At last, historians Donald T. Critchlow and W. J. Rorabaugh supply the answer.
The authors show that it is a mistake to see the Obama administration’s sweeping agenda as a single man’s vision. Equally flawed, they reveal, is the now-common argument that today’s liberalism is simply a continuation of the progressivism that Woodrow Wilson embodied a century ago. Today’s Left has embraced a more radical vision for transformative change: to remake nearly every aspect of American life.
Takeover completely reshapes our understanding of America’s current political situation. This bold revisionist history delineates the sharp break in the history of modern liberalism that began in the 1960s, when new-style progressive activists left behind their protest rallies to infiltrate the establishment.
Critchlow and Rorabaugh reveal:
How Obama almost certainly could not have become president if 1970s progressive activists had not rewritten the Democratic Party’s presidential nominating rules
How radical leaders pioneered the use of the courts to impose their agenda From Roe v. Wade to Dr. Kevorkian
How partial-birth abortion became “the right to choose” and euthanasia became “the right to die with dignity”
The inside story of liberals’ decades-long struggle to nationalize health care
How today’s environmentalism reflects the Left’s anti-corporate, anti-consumption ethos
The progressive paradox: how elites gain more control even as they employ the rhetoric of “choice” and “power to the people”
Critchlow and Rorabaugh masterfully connect the dots in America’s recent history, showing the close links among such seemingly unrelated causes as radical environmentalism, nationalized health care, class warfare, abortion rights, feminism, caps on energy use, assisted suicide, and sex education. Takeover will forever change how you view liberalism and the political debate in America.
That’s the question many Americans have been asking—particularly after the ascent of Barack Obama, the most left-wing president in American history. At last, historians Donald T. Critchlow and W. J. Rorabaugh supply the answer.
The authors show that it is a mistake to see the Obama administration’s sweeping agenda as a single man’s vision. Equally flawed, they reveal, is the now-common argument that today’s liberalism is simply a continuation of the progressivism that Woodrow Wilson embodied a century ago. Today’s Left has embraced a more radical vision for transformative change: to remake nearly every aspect of American life.
Takeover completely reshapes our understanding of America’s current political situation. This bold revisionist history delineates the sharp break in the history of modern liberalism that began in the 1960s, when new-style progressive activists left behind their protest rallies to infiltrate the establishment.
Critchlow and Rorabaugh reveal:
How Obama almost certainly could not have become president if 1970s progressive activists had not rewritten the Democratic Party’s presidential nominating rules
How radical leaders pioneered the use of the courts to impose their agenda From Roe v. Wade to Dr. Kevorkian
How partial-birth abortion became “the right to choose” and euthanasia became “the right to die with dignity”
The inside story of liberals’ decades-long struggle to nationalize health care
How today’s environmentalism reflects the Left’s anti-corporate, anti-consumption ethos
The progressive paradox: how elites gain more control even as they employ the rhetoric of “choice” and “power to the people”
Critchlow and Rorabaugh masterfully connect the dots in America’s recent history, showing the close links among such seemingly unrelated causes as radical environmentalism, nationalized health care, class warfare, abortion rights, feminism, caps on energy use, assisted suicide, and sex education. Takeover will forever change how you view liberalism and the political debate in America.
272 pages, Hardcover
First published August 15, 2012
31 people want to read
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
January 8, 2014
Interesting history with a long recitation of names and events that morphed the generous impulses of the Progressives of TR and Wilson to the radicals of the 60's leading us to the Presidency of Obama. I expected to enjoy this book more than I did. At some points I felt like I was reading an intellectual Glenn Beck documenting conspiracies.
I am very concerned about the degree to which and the speed that we are losing our freedoms. The left seeks to have government control of every aspect of my life - for my own good mind you (Yeah right!). The Right seeks to have advantages established for the ruling class with little regard for helping the less fortunate get a leg up.
If you are interested in the way modern progressives are trying to run your life, you will enjoy this book.
I am very concerned about the degree to which and the speed that we are losing our freedoms. The left seeks to have government control of every aspect of my life - for my own good mind you (Yeah right!). The Right seeks to have advantages established for the ruling class with little regard for helping the less fortunate get a leg up.
If you are interested in the way modern progressives are trying to run your life, you will enjoy this book.
Displaying 1 of 1 review