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

by John K. Wilson

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.

Genres: Politics, Nonfiction

288 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 2000

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.

John K. Wilson is the author of seven books, including Trump Unveiled: Exposing the Bigoted Billionaire, Barack Obama: This Improbable Quest, Newt Gingrich: Capitol Crimes and Misdemeanors, Patriotic Correctness: Academic Freedom and Its Enemies, and The Most Dangerous Man in America: Rush Limbaugh’s Assault on Reason. He is the co-editor of AcademeBlog.org and the editor of Illinois Academe. He has a Ph.D. in education from Illinois State University, and is the co-organizer of the Chicago Book Expo and the Evanston Literary Festival.

Reviews

[Erin Christman · Rating 2 out of 5]

Outdated and broad. There are no real "tactics" here, just a general call to support progressive ideals. The author seems to think that if people just hear about progressive ideals, they'll magically get inspired and overturn conservative influence in DC. At one point he actually writes that progressives don't talk enough about corporate welfare, and that if we just remind people racism still exists, they'll support affirmative action. Oh, and progressives shout give up the fight against partial birth abortion bans and focus on protecting abortion regulations that affect more women. Because that worked out well. This book was written in 2000, and seems hopelessly naive now. Every time the author started ranting about how it's easy to argue for cuts in defense spending because the Cold War is over, or how Clinton-a horrible, no good very bad centrist-would be considered one of our worst presidents if it weren't for his charisma, I thought, "Hoo, boy, does He next decade have some surprises to you." This book maybe have been useful 15 years ago, but not now.

[Bagio Prajitno · Rating 4 out of 5]

realy handy for leftists :)