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American Breakdown: Why We No Longer Trust Our Leaders and Institutions and How We Can Rebuild Confidence
From the former editor-in-chief of the Wall Street Journal , a must-read account of how America suffers from a “trust deficit” that has weakened its cornerstone institutions and divided our society.
AMERICAN BREAKDOWN dissects how, in the space of a generation, the pillars that sustained the once-dominant superpower have been dangerously eroded. From government to business, from media to medicine—the strength and security of the American experiment have been weakened by a widening gap between the elites who control these institutions and the public.
At the root of this breakdown is a precipitous fall in Americans’ trust in their political, business and cultural leaders. As Baker writes, “This pathology of distrust across American society is eating the country away from the inside.” Millions of Americans say they have little faith in their country's future, and no longer seem to have trust in their leaders, in their important social and civil institutions, even in their common values and ideals, or ultimately in each other.
America in fact hasn’t failed. Americans have been failed—misled by inept and deceitful political leaders, deserted by predatory and cynical corporate chiefs, and, above all, betrayed by a cultural elite that has exploited the very freedom this country provided in order to destroy it.
AMERICAN BREAKDOWN is a deep analysis and thought-provoking account that explores the ways in which Americans have been let down and offers solutions for how we rebuild trust and reclaim purpose for a better future.
AMERICAN BREAKDOWN dissects how, in the space of a generation, the pillars that sustained the once-dominant superpower have been dangerously eroded. From government to business, from media to medicine—the strength and security of the American experiment have been weakened by a widening gap between the elites who control these institutions and the public.
At the root of this breakdown is a precipitous fall in Americans’ trust in their political, business and cultural leaders. As Baker writes, “This pathology of distrust across American society is eating the country away from the inside.” Millions of Americans say they have little faith in their country's future, and no longer seem to have trust in their leaders, in their important social and civil institutions, even in their common values and ideals, or ultimately in each other.
America in fact hasn’t failed. Americans have been failed—misled by inept and deceitful political leaders, deserted by predatory and cynical corporate chiefs, and, above all, betrayed by a cultural elite that has exploited the very freedom this country provided in order to destroy it.
AMERICAN BREAKDOWN is a deep analysis and thought-provoking account that explores the ways in which Americans have been let down and offers solutions for how we rebuild trust and reclaim purpose for a better future.
288 pages, Hardcover
Published September 12, 2023
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
December 19, 2023
An uneven examination of the breakdown in trust in public institutions, through an explicitly partisan lens. In some ways, that's valuable - I've read a lot of introspection on "what's wrong with America" in the last few years, which has quite often had some degree of liberal slant (since, as Baker points out, the journalistic and academic establishments increasingly do skew liberal), so having something written with a conservative slant is a nice point of comparison. And it's especially interesting to see where things overlap -- hyperpartisanship (including political "sorting"), social media, income inequality (especially the enrichment of the super-1% Davos-going crowd) all get a share of the blame, just as they would in a left-of-center analysis. Even Donald Trump comes in for some blame, as you might expect from a traditional-Wall-Street-Republican kind of person -- though obviously a lot less than one would find in a liberal work (and in certain chapters, such as the one on loss of trust in the medical establishment, a lot less than I personally think he deserves, but to each their own).
Where it differs, of course, is that Baker's conclusion for the loss of trust in American institutions is largely that progressive ideology has taken them over and corrupted them. In particular, DEI initiatives seem to be a bugbear of Baker's, which he blames for a panoply of ills including the massive increase in college costs (which he seems to think is mostly because universities are employing hordes of expensive DEI officers). In this vein he quotes Vivek Ramaswamy several times in his chapter on American corporations, which very nearly made me quit reading the book -- Ramaswamy's showing in the current Republican primaries really takes the credibility of anyone currently citing him as an authority out at the knees.
Sometimes, the obsession with blaming "woke-ism" causes Baker to tie himself into knots -- for instance, remember how I said the Davos set comes in for some criticism earlier, as an example of bipartisanship? Well, it's not so simple - the corporate elites are losing Americans' trust not because of tax-dodging or class conflict, but because they're pushing their woke agenda of "climate justice" and "diversity, equity, and inclusion" (scare quotes Baker's) on the world. Later, he complains that elite universities are increasingly a club for just the children of the elite thanks to legacy admissions (aside: I don't think that's a recent phenomenon), but points out that thankfully the donor-class alumni are pushing back against their alma maters on the subject of cancel culture and freedom of speech on campus. So which is it: are the elites pushing their woke agenda, or fighting the woke agenda?
Ultimately I think my frustration with this book comes down to this: aside from the few generally-agreed-upon topics like hyperpartisanship, most of what he talks about are things that have made conservatives lose trust in leaders and institutions, and the causes are things that progressives are doing. The book's subtitle including the words "American" and "we" makes it seem like Baker intends to examine American society as a whole, not simply the conservative coalition. Perhaps this is no accident -- the loss of trust in institutions is, as I understand it, more of a phenomenon among conservatives, so there may just be more meat on the bone there (and the subtitle's "we" does just mean Baker and his fellow Republicans, not the whole population as I thought). But aside from the perfunctory shots at Trump's constant "falsehoods" (note: in Baker's wording, Trump tells "falsehoods", not "lies" -- the only ones he attributes that word to is medical professionals during Covid) the conservative establishment is apparently blameless for any loss in trust in institutions. And Baker's solutions largely come down to telling corporations (especially tech companies), the news media, colleges (and college students), and doctors "stop pushing all this woke shit and then people will trust you again."
It all comes down to a little bit of ... I don't know, lack of self-awareness? Baker rightly attacks hyperpartisanship for breaking down societal trust, but in the vast majority of the rest of the book makes hyper-partisan arguments blaming "the other side" for the rest of it. Makes for a frustrating read.
Thanks to NetGalley and Twelve Books for the ARC.
Where it differs, of course, is that Baker's conclusion for the loss of trust in American institutions is largely that progressive ideology has taken them over and corrupted them. In particular, DEI initiatives seem to be a bugbear of Baker's, which he blames for a panoply of ills including the massive increase in college costs (which he seems to think is mostly because universities are employing hordes of expensive DEI officers). In this vein he quotes Vivek Ramaswamy several times in his chapter on American corporations, which very nearly made me quit reading the book -- Ramaswamy's showing in the current Republican primaries really takes the credibility of anyone currently citing him as an authority out at the knees.
Sometimes, the obsession with blaming "woke-ism" causes Baker to tie himself into knots -- for instance, remember how I said the Davos set comes in for some criticism earlier, as an example of bipartisanship? Well, it's not so simple - the corporate elites are losing Americans' trust not because of tax-dodging or class conflict, but because they're pushing their woke agenda of "climate justice" and "diversity, equity, and inclusion" (scare quotes Baker's) on the world. Later, he complains that elite universities are increasingly a club for just the children of the elite thanks to legacy admissions (aside: I don't think that's a recent phenomenon), but points out that thankfully the donor-class alumni are pushing back against their alma maters on the subject of cancel culture and freedom of speech on campus. So which is it: are the elites pushing their woke agenda, or fighting the woke agenda?
Ultimately I think my frustration with this book comes down to this: aside from the few generally-agreed-upon topics like hyperpartisanship, most of what he talks about are things that have made conservatives lose trust in leaders and institutions, and the causes are things that progressives are doing. The book's subtitle including the words "American" and "we" makes it seem like Baker intends to examine American society as a whole, not simply the conservative coalition. Perhaps this is no accident -- the loss of trust in institutions is, as I understand it, more of a phenomenon among conservatives, so there may just be more meat on the bone there (and the subtitle's "we" does just mean Baker and his fellow Republicans, not the whole population as I thought). But aside from the perfunctory shots at Trump's constant "falsehoods" (note: in Baker's wording, Trump tells "falsehoods", not "lies" -- the only ones he attributes that word to is medical professionals during Covid) the conservative establishment is apparently blameless for any loss in trust in institutions. And Baker's solutions largely come down to telling corporations (especially tech companies), the news media, colleges (and college students), and doctors "stop pushing all this woke shit and then people will trust you again."
It all comes down to a little bit of ... I don't know, lack of self-awareness? Baker rightly attacks hyperpartisanship for breaking down societal trust, but in the vast majority of the rest of the book makes hyper-partisan arguments blaming "the other side" for the rest of it. Makes for a frustrating read.
Thanks to NetGalley and Twelve Books for the ARC.
Read
February 8, 2024This is supposed to be about how people don't trust our leaders but it's so biased that I can't take it seriously. For instance, calling journalists "Maoists" is not only inaccurate but deliberately inflammatory. And a lot of the things that Baker claim led to distrust aren't even new things, and his sources are really iffy, such as Vivek Ramaswamy.
Then there are complaints against "wokeism." Honestly, I considered myself conservative until a few years ago, but this is nonsense. We won't build trust by lying about everyone who doesn't agree with us.
Thanks to NetGalley for letting me read this
Then there are complaints against "wokeism." Honestly, I considered myself conservative until a few years ago, but this is nonsense. We won't build trust by lying about everyone who doesn't agree with us.
Thanks to NetGalley for letting me read this
October 7, 2023
If you're interested, as we all should be, in what is ailing America today, its politics and its people, this book is an excellent place to start. Baker does a great job of describing America's debilitating pathologies, though his proposed remedies do not offer a miracle cure. For all our sakes, let's hope this patient is not terminal.
September 17, 2023
The promise of this book was only half realized. Baker, who is an editor of the WSJ, does a superb analysis of the diminished levels of trust in virtually all areas of society. He raises some interesting questions about how, for example, the American public has become so polarized in our politics. He presents some interesting numbers - in the last five presidential elections in the 20th Century there were several where one side got cleaned. In the first five of the 21st century there was only one run away election. The consequences are that when a side gets whooped they are driven to reassess their thinking. But when you have a close election - the losers think they can win it back in the mid-terms. The design of districts in the house also seems to encourage the fringes to compete.
There are also chapters on higher education and business, government and a host of other areas. Politicians have evolved into performance artists - OAC and Matt Gaetz are the poster children. And many of the leaders in our system seem more incentivized to hold on to their positions.
Baker argues, I think correctly that our declines in trust are based on three things - Hyper political partisanship, Technocratic failures, the mediocre state of political performance. We've endlessly cycled on a series of issues where the American people can see a solution (whether it be abortion, immigration or even dealing with climate issues) and the political system keeps trying to avoid the response. The technocratic failures beginning with several major financial blowups and moving through things like responses to COVID have been huge.
Baker suggests that one way to move forward is to resolve back to the principle of subsidiarity - moving decisions down closer to where people are. But I would have appreciated a couple of more substantive suggestions. He proposed implementing a jungle primary to reduce hyper partisanship - my reading of where those have been tried is that they were not as effective as he suggests they are.
Baker is fundamentally an optimist and recounts the sixties (in both the 19th and 20th Century) as periods where divisions were huge so he nods to suggest that we can come out of this malaise.
There are also chapters on higher education and business, government and a host of other areas. Politicians have evolved into performance artists - OAC and Matt Gaetz are the poster children. And many of the leaders in our system seem more incentivized to hold on to their positions.
Baker argues, I think correctly that our declines in trust are based on three things - Hyper political partisanship, Technocratic failures, the mediocre state of political performance. We've endlessly cycled on a series of issues where the American people can see a solution (whether it be abortion, immigration or even dealing with climate issues) and the political system keeps trying to avoid the response. The technocratic failures beginning with several major financial blowups and moving through things like responses to COVID have been huge.
Baker suggests that one way to move forward is to resolve back to the principle of subsidiarity - moving decisions down closer to where people are. But I would have appreciated a couple of more substantive suggestions. He proposed implementing a jungle primary to reduce hyper partisanship - my reading of where those have been tried is that they were not as effective as he suggests they are.
Baker is fundamentally an optimist and recounts the sixties (in both the 19th and 20th Century) as periods where divisions were huge so he nods to suggest that we can come out of this malaise.
June 5, 2024
Gerard Baker does an excellent job of looking at why and how we went from a country that believed in the virtue and greatness of America after WWII, to one which is mired in distrust. Baker looks at government, business, media, medicine and politics to try to understand why “This pathology of distrust across American society is eating the country away from the inside.” This didn’t happen overnight, but rather slowly as we have been misled over decades by politicians, government, and a cultural elite who looks down on those who are not one of them.
Baker cites many opinion surveys from the 1950s through Vietnam and up to 2020 which demonstrate how much our faith in those in positions of power, whom we rely on to have America’s best interest at heart, really don’t. Having grown up during the Vietnam era, I know full well the lies that were told to us during the 1960s.
None of this distrust is a revelation to me but Baker does make an excellent case for what many of us already feel. While the last chapter deals with rebuilding trust in America, I honestly don’t know if that is possible given how far over the edge we are right now. I hope I’m wrong.
Interesting read.
Baker cites many opinion surveys from the 1950s through Vietnam and up to 2020 which demonstrate how much our faith in those in positions of power, whom we rely on to have America’s best interest at heart, really don’t. Having grown up during the Vietnam era, I know full well the lies that were told to us during the 1960s.
None of this distrust is a revelation to me but Baker does make an excellent case for what many of us already feel. While the last chapter deals with rebuilding trust in America, I honestly don’t know if that is possible given how far over the edge we are right now. I hope I’m wrong.
Interesting read.
July 17, 2024
This is a fantastic book that should be read by all, especially our young citizens. We no longer have trust in our political leaders, political parties, big corporations and educational institutions. You will understand why and how this has happened. It also provides a path to restoring our trust. There are a few books which I will keep to read again. This is ONE.
November 27, 2024
Basically a good read. How to fix lost trust, Media and Education need to change
November 6, 2025
My thoughts are very similar to Simms' review. I think this is a useful perspective, but the subtitle could accurately be "A Conservative's Opinion on Why Conservatives No Longer Trust..."
In fact I found it a bit ironic how Baker heaped praise on himself for resisting the temptation to introduce editorial bias into Wall Street Journal reporting on Trump in a book that is full of clear biases.
Nevertheless I think even biased analyses on this topic are valuable because no doubt a great many people in America see things similarly. It almost doesn't matter if some of the assumptions and assertions are flawed, because just the fact that many people believe similarly helps the reader understand that perspective. I challenged myself to finish the book for this reason.
Now to be clear, I definitely am not convinced by many of Baker's arguments and assertions. Most of the analysis is based on weak evidence or just Baker's observations, and there are many huge leaps from survey results to causal relationships. I would love to see what actual research says about some of these topics, but you won't find any of that here.
In fact I found it a bit ironic how Baker heaped praise on himself for resisting the temptation to introduce editorial bias into Wall Street Journal reporting on Trump in a book that is full of clear biases.
Nevertheless I think even biased analyses on this topic are valuable because no doubt a great many people in America see things similarly. It almost doesn't matter if some of the assumptions and assertions are flawed, because just the fact that many people believe similarly helps the reader understand that perspective. I challenged myself to finish the book for this reason.
Now to be clear, I definitely am not convinced by many of Baker's arguments and assertions. Most of the analysis is based on weak evidence or just Baker's observations, and there are many huge leaps from survey results to causal relationships. I would love to see what actual research says about some of these topics, but you won't find any of that here.
February 22, 2025
I couldn’t help see this as a follow-on (30 years later) of Thomas Sowell’s, “The Vision of the Anointed.” As usual, Sowell’s prescience is astoundingly accurate. We are living with the logical outcomes of the “anointed’s” self-righteous nonsense. This book was as fair a treatment of the state of our culture as I could expect from anyone. Some I agreed with; some I didn't. And while one of the things I agreed with was his proposed "solutions" at the end, they sound awfully naive in light of the current state of our cultural divide. But at least the ridiculously illogical positions and actions of the “woke” Left get called out for what they are. That alone is worth the price of admission.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews