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The optimistic leftist : why the 21st century will be better than you think / Ruy Teixeira.

By: Material type: TextTextPublisher: New York : St. Martin's Press, 2017Copyright date: ©2017Edition: First editionDescription: xiii, 256 pages ; 22 cmContent type:
  • text
Media type:
  • unmediated
Carrier type:
  • volume
ISBN:
  • 9781250089663
  • 1250089662
Subject(s):
Contents:
Preface: Against pessimism -- Introduction: Welcoming the future -- The left in history: how and where has the left succeeded? -- The postindustrial progressive coalition -- From capitalism's Piketty problem to the opportunity state -- The optimistic leftist -- The left's 21st century.
Summary: "The left is likely to dominate the 21st century, and there is little the right can do about this except adapt. This seems counter-intuitive in light of the modest success the left has enjoyed since the great financial crisis of 2008-09. Though Democrats have done well in recent presidential elections, progressives have found themselves unable to move their most important policies forward, suffering through an endless series of battles with a determined and extreme Republican party. This has only been exacerbated by stunning Republican gains in recent congressional elections. But this short-sighted perspective overemphasizes the role of crisis and underestimates the role of long-term fundamental change. Ruy Teixeira's The Optimistic Leftist takes a look at the structural and economic shifts remaking advanced societies and shows that the left is in a far better position to advance its agenda than the right. Eventually, the right will be forced to play on the left's terms to be competitive. This is because only the left has growing, not declining, coalitional strength and only the left is willing to confront and solve capitalism's "Piketty problem" (a vicious cycle of rising inequality, stagnating living standards and slowing economic growth) by building a new equitable-growth "opportunity state.""-- Provided by publisher.
Holdings
Item type Home library Collection Call number Materials specified Status Date due Barcode Item holds
Adult Book Adult Book Main Library NonFiction 320.513 T266 Available 33111008746261
Total holds: 0

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

"Advances an analysis that should encourage progressives, be cautionary for conservatives, and engage and enlighten everyone who cares about America's political and economic future." --James Fallows, national correspondent, The Atlantic

"A tonic--not because it will make you feel better, although it might, but because he makes a powerful, provocative and persuasive case that progressives are in a better position than they realize to make our world better." --E. J. Dionne Jr., author of Why the Right Went Wrong

The words "optimism" and "the left" do not seem to go together very well these days. The dominant view on the left--reinforced by the election of Donald Trump--is as follows: (1) progress in today's world has largely stopped and in many ways reversed; (2) the left is weak and at the mercy of a rapacious capitalism and a marauding right; and (3) the outlook for the future is bleak, with ordinary citizens suffering even more deprivation and the planet itself sliding inexorably toward catastrophe.

But all these propositions are wrong. It is not the case that progress has stopped. Today, we live in a freer, more democratic, less violent and more prosperous world than we ever have before.

It is not the case that the left is at the mercy of the right. The form of the left is changing but its numbers are strong and growing. It remains a vital force-- the vital force--for reforming capitalism.

And it is not the case that the future of humanity is bleak. The problems we face today are solvable and, moreover, are likely to be solved in the coming decades. Life for ordinary citizens should improve dramatically over the course of the 21st century.

It is not just that these pessimistic propositions are wrong. They also do real harm to the left by undermining its appeal. Pessimism makes people less likely to believe in positive change, not more likely. It is time for the left to realize that their romance with pessimism is a bug not a feature of their current practice. There is no substitute for optimism and an economic climate that promotes optimism. The time has come, as Ruy Teixeira argues in this book, for the optimistic leftist.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 221-246) and index.

Preface: Against pessimism -- Introduction: Welcoming the future -- The left in history: how and where has the left succeeded? -- The postindustrial progressive coalition -- From capitalism's Piketty problem to the opportunity state -- The optimistic leftist -- The left's 21st century.

"The left is likely to dominate the 21st century, and there is little the right can do about this except adapt. This seems counter-intuitive in light of the modest success the left has enjoyed since the great financial crisis of 2008-09. Though Democrats have done well in recent presidential elections, progressives have found themselves unable to move their most important policies forward, suffering through an endless series of battles with a determined and extreme Republican party. This has only been exacerbated by stunning Republican gains in recent congressional elections. But this short-sighted perspective overemphasizes the role of crisis and underestimates the role of long-term fundamental change. Ruy Teixeira's The Optimistic Leftist takes a look at the structural and economic shifts remaking advanced societies and shows that the left is in a far better position to advance its agenda than the right. Eventually, the right will be forced to play on the left's terms to be competitive. This is because only the left has growing, not declining, coalitional strength and only the left is willing to confront and solve capitalism's "Piketty problem" (a vicious cycle of rising inequality, stagnating living standards and slowing economic growth) by building a new equitable-growth "opportunity state.""-- Provided by publisher.

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