I was happy Heather Cox Richardson had the time, passion, and knowledge to give us these notes. I believed that every American should read this book and refresh on why America is great and why we don’t need to make America great again. I didn’t do much public advocacy for my political leanings…I’ve said many times before my views on Trump. I am an independent that leans conservative…but that has only earned me the title of RINO from my friends in the red states. So, instead of writing my own thoughts on FB, I simply pointed to Richardson’s Blog….because she says it all. And much better than I could….however, now it’s post election and I am finally writing this book review. I feel that as valuable of a book this was before the election, it is now not worth the paper it was printed on. As promising as a treatise on why Trumpism is a clear and present danger to Democracy in America, America doesn’t agree with Richardson. Donald J. Trump was elected President of the United States on Nov 5, 2024. Did Democracy win? Or did Democracy just suffer a five finger death punch? Are we now in a freefall racing toward the arrival of Fascism? Maybe, maybe not. One thing is certain, we fucked around, now we are gonna find out. I don’t find the lessons for Richardson’s book that compelling anymore. Rather, they are simply the bloviating opinions of the self righteous, hand selected from a litany of many other stories from history. In hindsight I should have known I was deep inside the echo chamber. Most of the progressive pundits agree with stalwarts like John Stewart exclaiming, the polls don’t know shit. Clearly hindsight is 20/20.
I read this book six months before the 2024 election. I was thinking smart books like this are important to get out there in the world. My assessment at that time was that Richardson has put together a very nice collection of tales from the history books that brings us to where we are now, seemingly, on the brink of losing our Democracy to lunatics who want an authoritarian government. Most of us don’t have the time to look through American history and find those important facts…the ones we learned in school but have forgotten about. Or we just remember the wave top details…more like parables in the Old Testament, then the really rich stories from history where we actually have a preponderance of the facts. Unlike the Biblical parables where we don’t know exactly. Certain facts about American history that we have thought to be inviolate should be black and white…like the Bill of Rights and Checks and Balances. Those things about our democracy that were copied by other democracies where we, the United States of America, lived out the white picket fence dream with the promise of truth, justice, and the American way…without actually having to have a real superhero. Our Constitution with our system of government was the super hero. We were the beacon on the hill. Three branches of government to ensure the checks and balances necessary to prevent the reigns of tyranny from usurping the will of the people. The envy of the world. This is the stuff of American history. The trials and tribulations are always present, but the retention of our American Republic and way of life was always the outcome.
Richardson opens her book with, “We are at a crossroads..” Meaning, a decision is at hand. Take the blue pill and return to the peaceful sanctity and normalcy of the progressive life the country has created since the true awakening of the 60’s. Peace, love, and understanding along with the first female in the White House. Take the red pill and see how far down the rabbit hole those disenfranchised by the progressive agenda are willing to take the Country to make us “Great Again”. She ends the book with describing the looming election as a test, and places the fate of our American society back into her readers' own hands. The election is up to us. Now we get to choose. Except, her readers already knew their choice. Her readers are not the ones who got to decide. The ones who decided, didn’t read her book or her numerous blogs, nor did they read the things I have written. Case in point, I posted one of Richardson’s blogs on my FB account. What I got back from my Trumpian friends who commented revealed very quickly that they didn’t even read what I had posted.
What’s abundantly clear is that the Americans who voted for Trump don't read Heather Cox Richardson. This is why the book is worthless. I don’t need to read this book. I wasn’t voting for Trump before I read it. So it was a waste of time. Perhaps I should have been spending that time convincing a few of my friends that they are idiots for voting for this criminal. Yet they also knew this…so it’s clear…the majority of Americans were ready to take the red pill. We knew this since January 6, 2021. They had already swallowed it, they were just waiting four years for it to kick in. And now it has, with a vengeance. So as I write this book review, what of anything Richardson has written is worth reporting on? Why do we think we are the keepers of liberty and justice and that the red voters just fucked us. Could it be…something different? Richardson tells us how it all fell apart. The slow slide towards authoritarianism began in 1930 when FDR rose to power, and stayed by the way--authoritarian style--for a few more years. Hating business, in a capitalist society, all the while. But what she means is how it fell apart for us. It didn’t appear that it fell apart for those disgusted by the progressive agenda foisted upon us by the far left. Why did we think, of course, we need to elect a female president? We need to show the world we truly believe. That, our great country is not made up completely of the basket of deplorables described by Hillary Clinton before she lost to Trump in 2016, but a diverse collection of everyone who believes in freedom. We can’t keep saying those on the right are sexist, racist, bigots who cling to their bibles and guns. We have to address why a careful reading of Richardson's history of America is completely wrong and not worth reading. Why did the majority of the Country not vote for Richardson's awakening democracy?
I am not afraid of the future. I have not suffered the same anxiety many of my liberal friends and family have suffered. Instead of fearing for the future I have tried to look at it from those jubilant in the Red states. Jubilant that they, in fact, have saved democracy from us. Those that truly believe Trump and his cronies will Make America Great Again. Believing in that red wave of hope…means believing in my friends who are happy and excited about the future. I can embrace that…and it makes me happy to do so. It makes me happy for them. I can also embrace the coming restrictions of business, which of course, upon which capitalism thrives, being lifted. While I may be an independent moderate, I am 1000% a capitalist. Capitalism is truly the only system of society with a chance at keeping us civilized. What we are headed for, in the best case scenario, is not toward Fascism but a version of capitalism where the robber barons of the late 1800s rape and pillage the land and the people…included my blue collar friends who voted them in, in a effort to enrich themselves. This would be the exact opposite of socialism that these same friends loath, against their own self interests. In these very big companies…such as anything Musk, and everything Amazon, the growing prospect of Unions is now very real. It’s no wonder Musk aligned with Trump early…and Jeff Bezos, that sell out coward, demonstrates where his true loyalties lie…deep within their own pockets. I hope the coming unionization will crush them and crush them soon.
This is where Richardson fails. She does not see, or she doesn’t realize, that our democracy is tied hook, line, and sinker to capitalism. Thus reporting on the aspects of why the governance of our country is correctly structured, that structure is forever linked to capitalism. Capitalism is the true keeper of the flame of why we have legislation and a judicial system. Business is the business of America. It needs a framework in which to thrive but it also needs boundaries to keep it somewhat in check. She should read a few more books on the history of business in the United States and perhaps this wouldn’t have been a true blind spot for her.
The government is an illusion. The country will continue to prosper, notwithstanding the prospect or war. Half the country has a surge of energy and will ride the wave of happiness for a while. Capitalists will capitalize and the economy will boom. We will ride this wave of prosperity upwards…as will the new robber barons...into a much greater division of wealth between the haves and the have nots. This will continue, ultimately, until the country can build the infrastructure that makes energy ubiquitous. Once energy is ubiquitous, it will also be free. Once free energy arrives politics will cease to be necessary. Human’s will still seek power, but governance will be more like the power bestowed about the leadership of a homeowners association. Humorous, but mostly Karen's, and mostly annoying.
Six months ago I gave Richardson, 4 Stars for this hopeful read. Now, finding it all inconsequential I can’t give it more than 2 stars. Who would ever go back and read it now.
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