The only thing in Deneen’s book I disagree with is his prediction that the soaring inequality of (neo) liberal societies will bring some sort of a revolt that will take the form of a populist dictatorship or something of the kind. As long as there are screens and UBI (that, once again, already exists under different names), there will be no revolt.

The rest of what he says I have been retelling pretty faithfully in my “Individuals” posts. It’s really fascinating that Deneen, who is obviously very conservative, says the exact same things almost verbatim as the Marxist Zygmunt Bauman.

7 responses to “Book Notes: Patrick Deneen’s Why Liberalism Failed”

  1. el Avatar
    el

    I am glad you revealed the book’s title. Now I can check it out too, if it’s at the library.

    Like

  2. el Avatar
    el

    Want to recommend the novella “The Imported Bridegroom” (link to full text below):

    The Imported Bridegroom, and Other Stories of the New York Ghetto by Abraham Cahan
    http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/43028

    It is very funny and nicely written. A rich American Jew travels after ~ 20 years to a small shtetl of his youth in Eastern Europe in a fit of nostalgia and decides he has found an ideal bridegroom for his American-raised daughter. However, both of the young people may have other plans…

    My review isn’t good, but just try to start reading and see whether you like Cahan’s style.

    There is a nice post about the author here, but the second part contains spoilers:
    http://americanshortfiction.org/2013/07/07/i-read-dead-people-abraham-cahan-the-imported-bridegroom/

    Like

  3. el Avatar
    el

    If you do read, would love to hear your opinion.

    Like

  4. el Avatar
    el

    I am afraid it may be no mistake regarding the threat of viruses. Look at the two pingbacks to this post:

    Pingback: Mike’s Blog Round Up – Fake News Matters
    Pingback: Mike’s Blog Round Up – Liberal View News

    The second works fine, but when I click on the first I get that warning.
    Can you report to somebody to check what’s going on?

    Like

    1. Clarissa Avatar

      I didn’t let through the link that caused all this but that obviously makes no difference.

      Like

Leave a comment