Suicide of the West by; Jonah Goldberg

(How the rebirth of Tribalism, Populism, Nationalism, and Identity Politics is Destroying American Democracy) This is a very well researched book that attempts to explain where we are as a Nation and how if we do not come together for the common good we could lose this greatest of all nations. Throughout all of human history until the 1700’s except for those at the top, the standard of living amounted to survival. With the advent of the Magna Carte and especially the great achievement of the founders creating our Constitution together with the Bill of Rights, our country and others who followed began recognizing that the citizens had rights and that Government was created to assure those rights. With the freedom to achieve and receive the benefits of that achievement progress in all endeavors grew exponentially. The Appendix at the end includes charts covering many areas which show how technological progress has progressed. Where once we believed that population explosion would have us all starving, the record shows that agriculture and meat production have increased by new and better methods. In 2012 85% of the world population has access to electricity. Life expectancy grew to 72 years by 2015; Communication has grown exponentially with Americans owning 106 cell phones per100 persons in 2014. Add to that; Facebook, Twitter, Skype. We can contact anyone without knowing where they are. He credits Capitalism for this remarkable progress. He is concerned about the trend of Americans believing that Socialism is the answer. He asks us to pause to re-evaluate the many blessings nearly all can enjoy today. We just want to argue and fight over differences of opinion, all the while living decent lives. His premise is that we are all born as barbarians and only thru nurturing and learning how to relate to others do we become responsible children and adults. In the beginning all humans had was the tribe or group they were born into. This grew to include villages, towns and countries. He fears we are retreating into smaller groups like tribalism and developing a we versus them mentality. For those of you who are never Trumpers, you will enjoy his assessment of our current President. In a few words in his opinion Trump governs from his gut feelings and doesn’t countenance disagreement with his thoughts. Thinking back over my own life, I too was in a hurry to accomplish whatever goals I was pursuing. I did always ask those around me to aid in decision making but once consensus was achieved, it was full speed ahead. I believe that is how our President is conducting himself. There are many areas of concern which he is addressing some of which he has felt had been wrong from years ago. He is in a hurry to make his mark. Four years is a short period of time in politics as we all know. He covers a wide range of subjects such as; Pop Culture, Godzilla, Rock and Roll and the Romantic Spirit, The Shadow government meaning those bureaucrats who have power no matter who in in elected positions, The birth of the living Constitution and the Death of Liberty. His conclusion is that we risk losing it all if we don’t find a way to come together and find unity of spirit. He quotes a poll conducted by the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania in 2017. It reports that more than one out of three couldn’t name a single right listed in the First Amendment. Only one in four Americans, 26 percent, could name all three branches of government. That’s down from 38 percent in 2011! A third of Americans can’t name a single branch of government. I believe this is tragic; something must be done to teach our children the basics of our rights under our Constitution. You will not be bored reading this excellent book. You will learn a lot and have some of your thoughts verified. I found it at our Public Library. I was on a waiting list for a month before being notified it was my turn. Jack B. Walters October 3, 2018