Losing Our Way: An Intimate Portrait of a Troubled America

by Bob Herbert

From longtime New York Times columnist Bob Herbert comes a wrenching portrayal of ordinary Americans struggling for survival in a nation that has lost its way

In his eighteen years as an opinion columnist for The New York Times, Herbert championed the working poor and the middle class. After filing his last column in 2011, he set off on a journey across the country to report on Americans who were being left behind in an economy that has never fully recovered from the Great Recession. The portraits of those he encountered fuel his new book, Losing Our Way. Herbert’s combination of heartrending reporting and keen political analysis is the purest expression since the Occupy movement of the plight of the 99 percent.
     The individuals and families who are paying the price of America’s bad choices in recent decades form the book’s emotional center: an exhausted high school student in Brooklyn who works the overnight shift in a factory at minimum wage to help pay her family’s rent; a twenty-four-year-old soldier from Peachtree City, Georgia, who loses both legs in a misguided, mismanaged, seemingly endless war; a young woman, only recently engaged, who suffers devastating injuries in a tragic bridge collapse in Minneapolis; and a group of parents in Pittsburgh who courageously fight back against the politicians who decimated funding for their children’s schools.
     Herbert reminds us of a time in America when unemployment was low, wages and profits were high, and the nation’s wealth, by current standards, was distributed much more equitably. Today, the gap between the wealthy and everyone else has widened dramatically, the nation’s physical plant is crumbling, and the inability to find decent work is a plague on a generation. Herbert traces where we went wrong and spotlights the drastic and dangerous shift of political power from ordinary Americans to the corporate and financial elite. Hope for America, he argues, lies in a concerted push to redress that political imbalance. Searing and unforgettable, Losing Our Way ultimately inspires with its faith in ordinary citizens to take back their true political power and reclaim the American dream.


From the Hardcover edition.

Genres: Nonfiction, Politics, Economics, School, Social Justice, Sociology, Audiobook

304 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2014

Reviews

[♑︎♑︎♑︎ ♑︎♑︎♑︎ · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved Herbert's moral clarity. I love that he quit his prestigious perch as a New York Times columnist to research and to write this overwhelming call to action. I love that Herbert uses words like "lousy" when describing current US infrastructure planning--here is a public policy book that actually speaks to me as a US citizen with power to change things in my community, through my community service, and through my vote. I love the way he reminds me that investing in infrastructure--whether it be highways and bridges and clean water delivery systems, or public education--is just that, an investment, and not an expense.

I especially love the way Herbert reminds me on every page that in a democracy we individual citizens have a good deal of power, collectively, to change things...and that we get the government and the policies we deserve.

A grand wake up call, all the more important at this pivot in US power politics when Democrats have won the House resoundingly and may indeed be able to make "Infrastructure Week" finally happen.

[Susan (aka Just My Op) · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you are already depressed about the state of the United States, this book ain't gonna cheer you up. And if you have your head in the sand or just don't know about some of these things, this book will open your eyes in ways you may not want to know.

Despite that, this is a very good book, and should be read for anyone who wants to know more about where we stand.

Don't think anyone is going to get off easy; there is plenty of blame to go around. Corporations are at fault. Government is at fault, and not just one party. And we are at fault.

Of those three, I think the author gave the easiest ride to individuals, to those people who bought things they couldn't afford and had no savings when things went south.

If someone has been out of a job for two years, has a undriveable car and no air conditioning, and already has four kids, is it really wise to have a fifth child? People have to take some responsibility for their own lives, too.

Our failing infrastructure, our war quagmire, the sad state of our education system, are all covered. The loss of power of the middle class and the power of wealth and corporations in running the country is exposed.

Turning things around is not going to be easy but is also not impossible.

All of this is written in a fast moving style, so it is a fascinating book to read. There are lots of notes and documentation – the author isn't puling this stuff out of his hat.

Despite the depressing subject, this is well worth reading. 4.5 out of 5 stars.

I was given an advance copy of this book for review.

[RYCJ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Most engaging was the emotional pitch of the stories. Many tugged at the heartstrings, working especially hard on the psyche. The Pittsburgh Opera event fueled by Corbett's deep education budget cuts is a good example; what in fact led me wanting to see the logic explored, Corbett's point-by-point reasons for purportedly trimming the budget down so drastically. Given the steep population drop… due to such reasons as many people no longer being able to afford having children, I wondered if low student enrollment inspired the extreme budget cuts? Most striking about the totality of the 'education' argument however, was the irony of arguing to maintain a system where its very adversaries are by-products of the system at the heart of the debate. Really interesting... as interesting as the case Stiglitz presented for how America lost its way.

Overall the writing is very passionate.

[Walter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bob Herbert's Losing Our Way is an important, masterful work - an earnest, heartfelt contribution really - to our societal awareness, discourse and decision-making. It has a few glaring, jarring flaws, but it's so powerful that these diminish its importance only in a minor way. To put a finer point on it, if you read this and are not wounded, torn and spurred to action, you aren't human/humane....

What the author seeks to do is two things: first, to examine our polity and to describe how we have 'lost our way' through the prism of four aspects thereof (infrastructure, employment, education and [constant] war); and, second, to identify potential addresses thereto. To be frank, he is far more successful at the former than the latter. (Though this is a common reality in books of this type in my experience: it's seemingly easier to delineate the problems - done movingly and indelibly in this volume - than it is to identify, quantify and suggest how to implement solutions.)

Let me begin at the end: In the final chapter, the author sums up his solution in two words: direct action. Asserting that voting is no longer enough - though not making the case that it has actually been tried sufficiently - he urges mass engagement and advocacy, noting its effectiveness in our society in the last half-century in the form of the Civil Rights, feminist, et. al, movements. He then notes that a national-level grass roots leadership (class) has yet to be identified but posits that it will emerge as the advocacy efforts do. Perhaps. For me, this short shrift given to the proposed solution stands in stark contrast to the power of his analysis. Also in contrast to what precedes it, with respect to his proposal, he analyzes less and engages in wishful thinking (or, at least, unclarified thinking) more. Alternatively stated, what's odd is that he spends over 240 pages in (piercing and prescient) diagnosis and only 10 pages on the potential cure, even though, in the end, the latter is more important than the former, at least relative to achieving the change that he urges. Of my three wishes relative to this book, the first is that the author had dedicated more time and energy to detailing his vision of the correctives for the problems that he so movingly and indelibly illumines.

And there's the clue: I've used "movingly and indelibly" twice already in this review ... because that's what this book does - it paints a clear, heart-rending picture of our contemporary reality in this country that should help us to wake up to our predicament. It chronicles our problems as well as how they came to be in often amazing and bewildering (and depressing) clarity. And, most important, it puts human faces on these realities, making them relatable to us all ... and thereby ensnaring us all in the responsibility for their redress.

This book is so powerful that I don't want to be truthful about my experience of it, but here it is: at one point, as Mr. Herbert examines the total societal cost of our constant warmongering by relaying the experience of one of our (too many) wounded young veterans, I found myself fighting back tears (as I read on my commuter train) and wondering why we would allow anyone in our society to experience the inhumanity of war for such a paucity (or, in reality, absence) of benefit. It was absolutely crushing to read about this young man's preternaturally optimistic outlook on life even as he admitted that he was unclear about the aims of the war that so permanently affected (and, in reality, wrecked) his life. One cannot help but wonder why such earnestness and talent was subjected to a meaningless exercise in meatgrinding that continues still for those who were formerly under his command. Why are we subjecting the Dan Berschinskis of our country to the abject inhumanity in our world for what is, in effect, no reason? What should we say to the families of Private Yanney and Specialist Tom who paid the ultimate price, supposedly for our freedom? (And, as the author so rightly points out, what should we say to the hundreds of thousands of innocent victims in the countries where we've unsuccessfully pursued 'nation-building'?) How is anything that we're doing in these far off places making us more safe and/or more free? Clearly, it's not - as others like Matt Hoh, a dedicated and distinguished (and wounded) soldier who continued to serve via the Foreign Service, reluctantly came to conclude, only to be subjected to a cruel and craven campaign of discrediting when he voiced his concerns and objections to his superiors. Why are we so willing to sacrifice the young, 'regular folk' among us for egoistic and indeterminate ends? Why don't we care - first about sending our young to far off places for fantastic (i.e., non-reality-based) ends and second about supporting them truly, fully and holistically when they return? Like most Americans, I had wondered these things - and perhaps even given voice to them in private conversations - but it wasn't until this book that these questions/imperatives screamed at (and through) me so clearly, urgently, painfully and unrepentantly....

And that's what great writing does, it draws you in and makes you care while leaving you much better for the experience. Mr. Herbert's book is filled with passages of great writing ... and with occasional stumbles, two of which I'll detail here: First, in his treatment of the unemployment issue, the author often excoriates businesses for moving jobs overseas, etc., but doesn't address the economic realities for why they do so. Yes, it sucks for American workers who lose their jobs, but even a basic understanding of the realities of globalization makes it clear that this was and is inevitable - to lower costs and thus maintain and/or increase profits, production will always be shifted to places that offer lower manufacturing costs but acceptable quality. Thus, it would be much more meaningful and persuasive if he would criticize the companies and the policy makers with whom, he alleges, they collude for failing to offer alternatives to lost jobs, like retraining, etc. Implying that companies are immoral for moving their production overseas is both misguided and futile; arguing that, collectively, they have a responsibility to identify alternatives for their displaced workers is both reasonable and potentially actionable.

Mr. Herbert evidences a similar tendency toward righteous wishful thinking in his otherwise fine assessment of the public education dilemma in which we find ourselves after years of largely ineffective 'reform.' His analysis is, on the whole, trenchant, with one noticeable omission: when speaking of testing outcomes, he rarely references the starting point for comparison. For example, he rightly excoriates the poor performance of the burgeoning (for-profit) online charter school industry. Yet, he really doesn't share the 'control' or starting point information that would help solidify his conclusions. Yes, collectively, the performance of students in these schools has been abysmal, but, in fairness, how bad were the students with which they work to start? He never references this at all. (In all likelihood, the answer is that they were below average to start with and that their poor instruction via these online schools has worsened this sad reality ... but, truthfully, we can only infer this from the author's treatment.) So, my second wish for this book is that Mr. Herbert would have used more base case data to shore up his analysis, especially when it comes to supplying a statistical basis for his conclusions. Simply put, he seems to assume that we know these things - even though we most certainly don't, as his analysis makes perfectly clear - and then engages in a sort of righteously indignant condemnation without fully documenting his basis. In the end he gets to the right place, but I suspect that had he done so more carefully/fully, his analysis would carry even more weight.

OK, as so happens when one gets down into the weeds, it seems I may have wandered to far off of the path to my point(s). So, let me spell out my own conclusions clearly: First, this is a masterful work, "magisterial" to borrow a description that Cornel West uses, and deserves our full consideration and response. By so powerfully chronicling the choices that we've made - or allowed to be made on our behalf - in our society, Mr. Herbert issues a clarion call that we should heed. We have indeed lost our way, but, the author asserts after his moving and indelible analysis, we can find it again. His treatment of our reality will be an awakening to some, confirmation to others and an inspiration to a few. Let's hope this last group can motivate and engage the other two (as the author prescribes in his Epilogue).

Second, I wanted to use quotes to illustrate just how powerful the author's writing is, but I couldn't reduce the number that I wanted to include to a reasonable one, so I'm omitting them and instead offering a challenge: when you read the book, what are your top 10 most moving and indelible passages? I stopped counting after three dozen....

Third, if we were grading on a ten-point scale instead of Goodreads' five-point one, I would give this book a "9," deducting but a single point for the weaknesses noted above. More importantly, though, I can assure you that this book will stay with me, as it haunts me now even as I fail to do it justice in this review. There are just so many on-point, well-told stories that I'm riven with empathy for the people profiled even now. I'll likely never meet Mercedes Gorden Rudh, a survivor of the I-35 bridge collapse in Minneapolis, but I'll always remember her personal motto in the moment that "I am not going to die today." And I will also never meet Dan Berschinski or Matt Hoh, but I'll remember them every time I'm in a voting booth determining which candidates will best guide us to peace and prosperity. And I'll remember Jessie Ramey and her successful grass roots efforts to keep the rich and powerful (and mean-spirited) from ruining the education of her and our children. And I'll remember the compelling case that the author makes against the unconscionable - and growing - policy-driven, bought and paid for disparity of income and wealth in this country. ("To those at the top of the wealth and income pyramid, things were as they should be. The rich were getting a first-class return on their investment in politics" rings in my consciousness even now....) In sum, because of the author's sincerity, sense of urgency and clear compassion for and identification with his subjects, the impact of this book will linger and inform for years to come.

Accordingly, I recommend it to all who believe that we are called to address the reality that, "As private interests have come to wield more influence over public policy, with ever larger sums of money shaping elections and the policymaking process, our political system has become less responsive to those looking for a fair shot to improve their lives and move upward" (as the author's Demos colleagues concluded in a 2014 study). In sum, to inform the ways that we choose to go forward, we benefit from being mindful of Mr. Herbert's deep, persuasive and haunting analysis as well as his urging to mobilize in addition to voting.

And that's my third wish for this book, that more (if not all) of us read it....

[Todd Wright · Rating 2 out of 5]

A good old fashioned populist polemic. Herbert is upset about the state of America, and he is not shy about expressing it.

If you like books that are angry and poorly researched you must read this book. Herbert is happy to rely on cherry-picked research and the feelings of “ordinary citizens.” But he is able to back that up with anecdotes and his opinion.

President Obama and his staff were stooges who did not understand what they were doing. The same with President Bush. And most experts, do we want to live in a country ruled by technocrats?

Herbert picks the low hanging fruit, and concludes he knows how to manage the whole orchard. He constantly references the post-war boom in America and thinks it can be easily replicated today. He ignores the new reality of today’s world.

To be fair, it would be impossible to do a good job writing this book, Herbert want to analyze and solve problems relating to the economy, foreign policy, infrastructure, war and public education. All in terms that can be grasped by everyone.

Even though this book was published in 2014 it already seems dated, especially the “structural change” in the American economy that has created a permanent condition of high unemployment.

I doubt very much that Herbert supports President Trump but they rely on similar rhetoric.

[Rhonda Lomazow · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bob Herbert has written an intimate gut wrenching book about today's America.He introduces us to families who were living the American dream work hard buy a house some day retire.Instead with the economy crashing people are losing their jobs their homes food banks can barely keep up with the demand in the face of the new needy the shame of hardworking people applying for food stamps desperately looking for jobs.we meet a young soldier who loses his legs proudly makes miraculous recovery walks again &even enters Stanford for an MBA.He shows us a young woman horrifically hurt in a bridge collapse .who also recovers &struggles to resume her life but proudly does.We learn about the dangerous infrastructure of bridges.he shows us the problems with our education system .college graduates who move back home because there are no jobs.
This is the real America a true portrait an intimate overview of where we are today .

[Michael Hillman · Rating 5 out of 5]

A sobering look at the U.S. Today. Everyone should read it before our next election.

[Marty Mangold · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book expanded my understanding of our deep national problems, starting with Infrastructure (Bridges, Roads, Electric, Water, Sewer) and moving on to Poverty and Education. It's an encyclopedia of bad news, presented in unrelated vignettes. This book offers too much darkness with too little hope. The obligatory "suggestions" chapter seemed too little, too late.

The subtitle of "An Intimate Portrait" feels tacked on. The only intimacy I could see is every topic is presented with interviews, and every interview takes place over purchased meals, and we hear what each source was eating, and where. This tired cliche does not relieve the self-indulgent, unmitigated gloom.

I was cheered up a little, late in the book, by the words "Yet another harrowing problem," because this was the first, maybe only glimpse of a sympathetic writer.

His condemnation of an earlier Congress is one of the best lines in the book: "In light of those realities -- the aging, troubling infrastructure, the critical need to boost employment, and interest rates as low as they can go -- the unwillingness of government officials to embark on an intense, nationwide rebuilding program is breathtakingly short-sighted."

I optimistically accepted that we might still be in a great time to invest government money in infrastructure projects. That was my favorite part of the book, and I had to meet the author more than half-way.

[Kate Penner · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just a few quick notes: On everything but school reform (infrastructure, military, etc.), I would've given this book 4 stars. Herbert vilifies extreme data-driven instruction, teacher firings, school closures, online education, charter schools, and teaching to the test without acknowledging the issues that these tools were introduced to neutralize. Initially, he claims American public schools are really not that bad (and those who claim otherwise are the equivalent of Chicken Little), and later he points to poverty as the source of all our issues. . . that rather than focus on school metrics, poverty is what should be the focus, but fails to give evidence that this focus would yield any gains. He focuses on the failed projects of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Broad Foundation rather than their successes, and really skews his evidence harshly in favor of shooting down popular school reform efforts. Yes, taking any of these previously mentioned tactics to an extreme is a mistake, but he rarely acknowledges any instance where these have been successful in improving test scores or student outcomes (and there are some). Not even a mention of Geoffrey Canada's Harlem Children's Zone, which would have supported his claims on poverty.
He doesn't attempt to suggest prescriptions for the future until the end of the book, when he suggests citizen action should be focused on employment. As someone passionate about education reform, I believe there is strong evidence that our system is lacking in several respects and saying "education will fix itself when we end poverty" just doesn't cut it. I expected a more thoughtful and even-handed critique of the education reform landscape from him and was disappointed that I didn't get it. 3 stars.

[Kurt · Rating 4 out of 5]

I can't say that I enjoyed this book at all. It really made me angry the more I read. But the truth needs to be told about the problems that confront America right now. More books like this need to be written; and more importantly, more people need to read them.

The four major problems that author Bob Herbert identifies and describes are:

1) America's deteriorating and ill-maintained infrastructure.

2) The huge financial and human and future costs of waging two unnecessary wars.

3) Poverty and Inequality, including the huge unemployment and under-employment problem.

4) Greed-based reform of public schools and unwillingness to pay the true costs of properly educating our children.

Personally, I would add a fifth problem: The willful ignorance and apathy of the American public. This is a problem which I believe, if corrected, could have prevented or greatly alleviated, or quickly corrected the other problems. As mentioned previously, more people need to read books like this one. Likewise, more people need to stop letting propaganda "news" programs and talk shows take the place of reasoned thoughtfulness and personal and open-minded study and research. But, alas, I see no evidence that this is going to change anytime soon.

Although a little too much anecdotal evidence is presented (in my opinion), and (again, in my opinion) the author tries a little too hard to be very even-handed in meting out blame for the current mess we are in, this is really a great book. I would recommend it to everyone.

[Kacee Moreton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great insight into the root causes of the economic and social decline of our society. The focal points are the costs of our perpetual wars, collapse of infrastructure, poverty and income inequality, and the deterioration of educational standards. Our future and more importantly our children's futures have a grim prognosis if we don't change course.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

A powerful, must read book. There are persuasive counterpoints to some of Mr. Herbert's assertions, I'm sure, but his book is still a clear call to lift up all of our society, not just the fortunate few.

[Bookish Jen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve been a long-time fan of Bob Herbert. From 1993 to 2011 he was an opinion columnist for the New York Times, and when he left the paper I was heartbroken.

But lucky for me I read his book Losing Our Way: An Intimate Portrait of a Troubled America and it is the perfect read this election year, very timely and a healing balm for me after reading Donald Trump’s truly loathsome Crippled America.

Losing Our Way is divided into carefully crafted chapters, written in with the wisdom, thoughtfulness and compassion that made me such a fan of Herbert’s to begin with. They include:

-Falling Apart
-Falling Apart II
-Jobs and the Middle Class
-War and Its Aftermath
-Understanding the Costs of War
-Poverty and Inequality
-The Public Schools
-Poverty and Public Education
-War’s Madness Runs Deep
-Hurricane Sandy and Other Disasters
-Cashing In on Schools
-Mistreating the Troops
-Epilogue: Looking Ahead

In Losing Our Way, Herbert goes into great length discussing the various issues that plague our nation and how we got to this point. He does this by writing about four crucial elements that need fixing in our country. They include our falling apart infrastructure, our endless wars and the treatment of our troops and veterans, our education system and how it is not benefiting needs of our children, and how unemployment and under-employment is affecting working people of all kinds. Finally, he offers some ideas and opinions on how we, as a nation, can stop losing our way, and make America work for everyone.

Herbert begins Losing Our Way the crumbling of the I-35W Bridge in Minnesota back in 2007. Several people fell to their deaths, and one victim, Mercedes Gordon was almost one of them. She suffered a broken back and crushed legs, needing a great deal of medical intervention. Not surprisingly, the effects of her injuries plague her to this day. Sadly, the disintegration of the I-35W wasn’t an insolate incident, and expect more to come. Many of our bridges, streets, highways, power generators, sewer systems and other public facilities were initially built generations ago and need a great deal of repair, but are being neglected instead. Our infrastructure is also threatened by “acts of God,” which Herbert explains in his chapter on Hurricane Sandy and Other Disasters.

The fate of our troops and our returning veterans is also painfully conveyed throughout Losing Our Way. The costs of war aren’t only in huge amounts of money that have gone into fighting in both Iraq and Afghanistan. The costs also include our troops and civilians lost to the violence of war. And then there is the aftermath of serving America in our wars. Many of our war-weary veterans return with horrible injuries requiring continuous medical intervention and physical therapy. And then there are injuries that can’t be seen with the naked eye, most of them mental and emotional. Many of our veterans are dealing with PTSD, depression, and addiction. These stories are also brought to life by Herbert’s interviews with returning soldiers, and they will break your heart.

It’s no secret our public schools are in need of serious overhaul and improvement. However, instead of putting blame on the usual suspects-teachers, teacher unions, disinterested students and uncaring parents-Herbert focuses on some of the issues that plague students and their families like poverty, family strife, violence in the community, and how these conditions need to be attended to before students can work at a top notch level. Many teachers are absolutely treasures, but they are not miracle workers. Furthermore, thanks to concepts like “No Child Left Behind,” teachers are caught up in a web of “teaching to the test” instead of focusing on a student’s individual needs and making the classroom a truly engaging community where students love to learn and thrive.

But one aspect of modern education that truly made me angry while reading Losing Our Way is how big business and business leaders have made themselves “experts” on education and have tried to alter and dismantle the school system not realizing that education isn’t exactly the same as running a business. A couple of these people include Bill Gates and media executive Cathie Black. Bill Gates meant well, but his ideas fell flat. And Cathie Black was in way too over her head; she didn’t last very long and her condescending attitude towards teachers, students and parents were completely out of line and unprofessional.

And when it comes to the place of work and the state of the middle class, Herbert has his finger on the pulse of every American who has earned a paycheck. While working Jacks and Janes are dealing with unemployment and underemployment, stagnating wages, layoffs, outsourcing and other work woes, the 1% are getting huge bailouts, tax breaks and huge salaries that don’t reflect their actual output. Guess what, “trickle down” doesn’t work. Haven’t we learned this lesson by now?

Throughout Losing Our Way Herbert carefully explains how we got to this point, but in the end reminds us that not is all lost. We can, as a nation, find out way. And it relies on those of us in the 99% and goes beyond voting. WE need our voices heard, whether it is protesting, marching in the streets, working on causes that benefit all of us, getting in touch with our representatives and writing opinion pieces on everything from making taxes fairer to those of us who aren’t wealthy to how we treat our returning to veterans to how we can truly improve our schools. Change truly begins at the bottom, not the top. And I believe just by reading Herbert’s wonderfully written and thoroughly researched book, Losing Our Way, we can stir the sleeping giant that resides in all of us.

Losing Our Way is probably one of the most important books I have read this year. Heck, it’s probably one of the most important books I have read in my lifetime!

Originally published at the Book Self:
https://thebookselfblog.wordpress.com...

[Randolph Breschini · Rating 4 out of 5]

Geez...read this book and I feel like we've slowly slid into a deep canyon BUT the climb out is SO, SO STEEP and ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE...for years...education and schools, infrastructure, endless wars without a clear mission, declining jobs for the middle class, inequality, healthcare, etc. This book was written PRE-Trump...I feel now we as a nation are sliding EVEN faster into the deep, dark canyon...It is time to turn-around our nation...seriously...

[Robert S · Rating 4 out of 5]

"...the moral test of government is how that government treats those who are in the dawn of life, the children; those who are in the twilight of life, the elderly; those who are in the shadows of life; the sick, the needy and the handicapped. "
- Hubert H. Humphrey

[Nick · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read for a class. A little less aggressive than my normal preference for left wing polemics on the rot in America imposed by the ruling ideology of neoliberalism. I learned nothing but still good. Quick read.

[Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very concisely and movingly draws a picture of the major problems facing our country, many of which are never talked about.

[Kayla · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best explanation of "how we got here" I've seen.

[Gail · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bob Herbert was one of my favorite columnists when he was at the New York Times; I was very sad to see him leave in 2011. Since his departure, he has been researching and writing this book. He has spent his time well.

This is an exceptional narrative that describes the terrible path our country has taken in the last 50 years. He uses personal stories (thus, "intimate portrait") to show how our absorption with ourselves and the dominance of the financial elite has led us astray. We now have a country with unsafe or ineffective infrastructure, endless war, deteriorating public education, deepening poverty, and a generation of lost young people who are unemployed and deep in debt.

Many of us know the truths of the stories Bob tells. Some of us know how widespread the problems are. Almost all of us prefer to hide inside our own lives and pretend that none of this is reality or will impact us, especially if we currently have a job, financial resources, or are otherwise momentarily insulated from the risks that hover over the lives of most Americans.

So much of what you'll read here will make you angry, or sad, or disheartened. It is hard to imagine how we will tackle all that we have allowed to go wrong, especially with the dominance of the wealthy over our politics and the gridlock in government. Over and over it's apparent that like a sister issue -- Climate Change -- Americans prefer their American mythology or conservative/libertarian ideology over taking a good hard look at the facts.

We ignore this story at our peril. I, for one, am not hopeful that it is possible to make a difference. I think we are in far too deep on too many serious problems. And we are lulled by our devices and our fantasies and terrified of seeing the scope of things we must address. Regardless, this is a must-read book if you are at all concerned for your country's and family's future.

[Robert · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some truly sad stories of middle class Americans and their decline into bottom rung of our economy.

"For the middle class, the crisis was nothing short of existential."

About our school systems:
"There are astonishing amounts of money in play, and some of those deep pocket types are in it for the personal gain, for sure. But the motives and the aims vary. It's not just about profits. It's not simply a case of greedy people. For an awful lot of them, it's ideological. They're playing this game of education reform not because they are educators, not because they know anything about education, necessarily, but because they have an agenda. It might be political, or corporate, or anti-union, or they have an excessive belief in the wonders of technology, or they don't believe government can or should be running the schools", Jessie Ramey, a Pittsburgh activist.
Herbert is not a fan of charter schools and he goes after them. Very revealing.

He goes after our costs of war: "The US has been at war for nearly all of the twenty-first century."

"It is essential that ordinary, everyday Americans INTERVENE (my caps), because the changes that are required to get the country moving in a more equitable and economically sustainable direction will never be initiated by the banking and corporate elite or the politicians in their thrall"

Citizens United: "a milestone in the disempowerment of ordinary Americans", Joseph Stiglitz.

This book made me even more convinced that we have to elect Senator Bernie Sanders. I actually thought I was reading a Sanders for President speech.

I wonder if Bob Herbert is too establishment to give Senator Sanders a full throated endorsement.

[Bonnie Brody · Rating 2 out of 5]

Bob Herbert believes our country is in BIG trouble. According to him, the most dire problems that the United States faces are the country's infrastructure, the employment crisis and the disappearance of the middle class, the public school system, and funding "pointless and debilitating wars." In his own words, the "goal of this book is to get beyond the din of clueless politicians and nonstop talking heads and show what really happened, how we got into such a deep fix, and how we can get out of it."

Utilizing interviews with people who have been impacted by the above concerns, Mr. Herbert tries to make the case in his book that the United States, once a grand country, is having terrible problems in so many areas that it is in a true crisis. Besides personal interviews, he uses scattered information that supports his case.

The book is easy to read. However, it is quite repetitive and many things are gone over several times. While I agree with Mr. Herbert about some of his concerns, I have difficulty believing that the state of our nation is as awful as he states it is. His book reminded me of Barbara Ehrenreich's book, Nickel and Dimed. That book attempted to show that low wage workers could not make a sustainable living. While I agree with her in principle, the evidence she used did not convince me. I found myself feeling the same way with Mr. Herbert's book.

I found that Mr. Herbert was very good at pointing out the fixes we were in but there was not enough good information about ways to get ourselves out of them. Most of the book is about problems, not solutions.

[FM · Rating 4 out of 5]

This sober and thoughtful book is well worth reading as a wake-up call to our country. I loved Bob Herbert's columns and was sorry that he is no longer in the paper, but very happy that he wrote this book. Herbert documents a number of issues that we need to pay attention to in the U.S.: the state of our bridges, roads, and general infrastructure; how our veterans are treated (and often ignored); how education has become in thrall to for-profit "reformers;" and how good blue-collar jobs have disappeared leaving whole communities behind. He suggests that it's time for people in the US to speak up and insist that our concerns be addressed by policy-makers and others in power. He reminds us that there are two main sources of power: money and people. While ordinary citizens may not have as much money (since the top 1% owns 43% of the nation's wealth), we do have people. Herbert says, "the only viable option for ordinary Americans is the creative use of their own energy, intelligence, and superior numbers." We also need good leadership and powerful messaging to cut through the blather and instead pull together as communities that demand good jobs, safe places to live and work, and creative ideas to look ahead to the long term. We have been penny wise, and pound foolish, Herbert points out--instead, we can make the investments needed for our grandchildren to have a bright future. I enjoyed this book because it does end on a call to action and a reminder of all the great things we can do when we work together.

[Marc]

This was a depressing book. It is quite exhaustive in the detailing of how the cabal of moneyed elites have systematically deconstructed all aspects of governing in America that were created to enhance the middle class of the nation. Many of these changes are so entrenched that it would be difficult to overturn them (Citizens United; District Gerrymandering; State voting restrictions and many more).

These same moneyed folks have helped destroy the public schools by enforced state testing and drawing attention to scores, all the while cashing in with private schools that do worse by comparison. They also have found ways to bail out on the returning veterans, especially the expensive disabled vets, while constantly beating the drum for war, because of course a lot of moneyed elites make tons of money through arms.

Sadly, in today's context the same middle class (what's left of it) and especially those who would hope to enter the middle class have elected a toddler as their President in hopes that he would shake up the cabal and get the middle class jobs back to America. He emphasized this as his plan and promised it in his inaugural address. So far virtually none of his "fiats" so far have anything to do with this goal. He will inflict more damage to the folks that voted for him long before these dunderheads will realize that he too is a part of the elite.

In Canada, everyone thought we were rid of the same issues with the turfing of our own example of the middle class killer, Harper. Beware of his successor.

[Bill O'driscoll · Rating 4 out of 5]

Former NYT columnist digs deep into a well-defined set of problems facing the U.S. -- unmaintained infrastructure, unsupported public education, unjustifiable war -- and shows the human cost: deadly bridge collapses, students unable to reach their potential, soldiers maimed physically and psychologically. He gets both the close grain and the big picture about eminently solvable (or avoidable) problems that few of our so-called leaders seem ready to face. A couple particularly astute observations: One, that public education hasn't failed unless you're a student in a poor district (kids in rich districts are doing just fine). Another: our valorization of dismembered military servicepeople, however much they individually might deserve, has seemed in this aged of unshared military sacrifice (a vanishingly small percentage of the population constitutes our "warrior class") to merely normalize their deaths, their blown-apart bodies and minds. Herbert is not without hope: He points to grassroots movements, like one in Pittsburgh to get adequate funding for public schools, as potentially effective ways to address many of these problems.

[Louis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bob Herbert’s Losing Our Way: A Portrait of Troubled America attempts to explain what is behind the increasing sense of uneasiness so many Americans seem to have. In essence, why do so many people seem to think that something has gone wrong in the United States? Herbert’s looks an array of issues including: decaying infrastructure, income inequality, public education, mismanaged wars, and failure to care for veterans.

Many of the topics and issue covered in this book are not new to me. Furthermore, my main criticism of Herbert is his portrayal of the problems in a one-sided: i.e. evil corporations or government have sold the public a bill of goods. I agree that the public has been sold a bill of goods on certain issues. At the same time, the responsibility isn’t one-sided: i.e. voters, and the public in general, share a certain amount of blame. The problems Herbert describes will only be resolved when we have a sense of shared sacrifice and responsibility—as long as the prevailing mentality is “I got mine, screw everyone else” nothing will change.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Herbert brings a highly readable and thoughtful style to his lament of America’s crumbling infrastructure, the polarization of its wealth, the untold costs of its wars and the woeful condition of its public education system. The people we meet along the way illustrate his points very well and he brings in enough data to support his positions but not so much that it bogs down the narrative. The unfortunate people he chronicles are very likable and appear periodically to keep the book moving along nicely. This is a smooth and easy read.

I thought the epilogue was weak and didn’t maintain the excellent standards maintained throughout the earlier sections of the book, but that’s not a reason to skip this one. If you hate the New York Times that’s a reason to skip this book. The author regularly cites his experience there and the works of his former colleagues throughout the book to demonstrate his points.

The Working Poor (by David Shipler) (focused solely on the working poor) is also very good and provides a very similar reading experience.

[Ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very depressing, fact-filled volume by a veteran reporter about how the U.S. lost its way. Altho the culprits are the usual (increased concentration of wealth, failure to
replace infrastructure, anemic job growth and for poor wages, endless poorly planned & unnecessary wars, Herbert uses individual examples to highlight the results -- and what's necessary to move forward.

I am, admittedly, a liberal progressive who's long urged a government push to repair infrastructure which would revitalize the economy and produce good jobs. I've also been s proponent of reinstating the draft so that the public would care about these needless military disasters. But Herbert adds support with details such as only .5 percent of the population now serves in the military and a lengthy chronicle of the infrastructure disasters that are just the tip of the iceberg.

This is well-written and persuasive -- but, again, I'm obviously part of the target audience.

[Stacy Bearse · Rating 2 out of 5]

Based on reviews, I thought I would enjoy reading Herbert's book since our views on national issues tend to align. But I found LOSING OUR WAY a depressing experience. The book presents the sad stories of Americans who have suffered greatly in the past several decades. Herbert introduces us to individuals who are the victims of irrational wars, economic upheaval, a broken educational system, a rotting national infrastructure, natural disasters, and other contemporary maladies. He places the blame for most of the misfortune on ill-conceived policies developed by misguided politicians who are bought and paid for by special interests. In the epilogue "Looking Ahead" - just when I was praying for a ray of sunshine - the author discusses the Citizen's United decision, which only serves to amplify the role of special-interest money in our perverted electoral system. It's enough to make a concerned citizen drink. Make that a double, please.

[Pat · Rating 5 out of 5]

So I had borrowed this from the Library and it was almost due so I thought I'd take a quick look at it and now it's overdue because I couldn't just skim this, I had to read it all. It's a fascinating account of a lot of whats wrong in America these days, but told through the stories of the many good Americans who are suffering after Wall Street crashed the country. These are the soldiers, the teachers, the students and hard working people who can't seem to get ahead and are being left behind while the 1% takes all it can, at their expense. The stories are difficult, the people unforgettable, but unfortunately Mr. Herbert has plenty of stories of suffering and injustice to share but few concrete solutions. Democratic action, yes, but there isn't yet the leadership to shepherd this along. If you read this book, it will leave you feeling angry at the injustice and in particular the injustice against American military veterans. It's a sad story, but well told.

[Marcia Hartsock · Rating 4 out of 5]

"I really liked it" isn't exactly the correct phrase. I think it's an important book that I'm glad I read, and would recommend to others, including our Congress and those who aspire to be President. The author, a former opinion columnist for the NYTimes, spent several years traveling around the country interviewing people "who are paying the price of America's bad choices". The topics center around our soldiers, poverty and work, public education, and infrastructure over the last 20 years. The book begins with the collapse of the I-35 bridge in Minneapolis, of special interest to me because my sister lives in that city.
This isn't an 'opinion' book (until the epilogue) - it's a combination of personal stories and fact reporting plus twenty pages of footnotes at the end so you can check the sources.