“since men are equal and thus have the same wish for happiness, and since there is not enough wealth to satisfy them all to the same extent, they necessarily fight against each other and want power to secure the future enjoyment of what they have at present.”
― Escape from Freedom
― Escape from Freedom
“I hate that 74 million of my compatriots voted to keep in power our worst president, who convinced most of them that the election was stolen. The stab in the back will fester in their minds for years, a threat to the rest of us. But it’s too easy to be riveted to that disturbing number and forget the 81 million who voted him out.”
― Last Best Hope: America in Crisis and Renewal
― Last Best Hope: America in Crisis and Renewal
“Although mass responses to extremist appeals matter, what matters more is whether political elites, and especially parties, serve as filters. Put simply, political parties are democracy’s gatekeepers.”
― How Democracies Die
― How Democracies Die
“A while back the Wall Street Journal ran an essay about a place “where hatred trumps bread,” where a manipulative ruling class has for decades exploited an impoverished people while simultaneously fostering in them a culture of victimization that steers this people’s fury back persistently toward a shadowy, cosmopolitan Other. In this tragic land unassuageable cultural grievances are elevated inexplicably over solid material ones, and basic economic self-interest is eclipsed by juicy myths of national authenticity and righteousness wronged.”
― What's the Matter With Kansas?: How Conservatives Won the Heart of America
― What's the Matter With Kansas?: How Conservatives Won the Heart of America
“The trick never ages; the illusion never wears off. Vote to stop abortion; receive a rollback in capital gains taxes. Vote to make our country strong again; receive deindustrialization. Vote to screw those politically correct college professors; receive electricity deregulation. Vote to get government off our backs; receive conglomeration and monopoly everywhere from media to meatpacking. Vote to stand tall against terrorists; receive Social Security privatization. Vote to strike a blow against elitism; receive a social order in which wealth is more concentrated than ever before in our lifetimes, in which workers have been stripped of power and CEOs are rewarded in a manner beyond imagining.”
― What's the Matter With Kansas?: How Conservatives Won the Heart of America
― What's the Matter With Kansas?: How Conservatives Won the Heart of America
Dave’s 2025 Year in Books
Take a look at Dave’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.
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