No doubt you have noticed my shameless book promotions. Rest assured, there is shame.
I
am still uncomfortable in this particular aspect of being an author. I absolutely do not have the temperament of a salesman; but in the world of
self-publishing, that is one of the many hats I have to wear. The author hat hates the sales hat especially. I am instinctively wary of anything that feel like advertising. They say "Write the book you want to read." And I did. But my own advertising makes me not want to read it because, well, it sounds like advertising. So I have already alienated my core audience.
For example, yesterday, I posted elsewhere a link to the product page with the caption "Annoyed
with the election results? Try this possible tonic." It felt crassly
opportunistic. Particularly since even political people are sick of
campaigns at this point - probably more than most. For example, my inbox
is totally bloated with email appeals. Please fuck off.
But
here is the thing: My message was genuine. I know I am biased, but
really think my book is necessary. We need to call out conservatives on
their phony patriotism. That is, after all, why I wrote the book in the
first place. I do not mean that we should mimic their McCarthyist
tactics. But we do need to have an argument over what America is about.
I
am not naive enough to call it a "dialogue" because I do not think it
is possible at this point. The "elephant echo chamber" is hermetically
sealed tight against reason. You can try arguing with your Fox
News-watching father-in-law, but it is probably not the best use of your
time. But, hey, if you do go that route - perhaps for the edutainment
of the spectators -
my book has a lot of good rhetorical ammunition. Just saying.
But
arguing specifics is difficult when your opponents have a whacked worldview.
The most obvious and incontrovertible policy point goes ignored if it
does not conform to the other person's central narrative. It just
bounces off their mental force field. Faulty fundamental assumptions must be debunked if we are
to kick the gibberish out of politics. And the elephant in the living
room that we are all ignoring is what conservatism truly is - a viceral aversion to liberty, equality, and democracy.
Of
course, conservatives won't listen to that conversation either. But I
am not talking about conservatives. I am talking to liberals - liberals
and undecideds. We all need to understand two inter-related realities:
The
first is that politics is inherently adversarial. Obama does not get
that. Bill Clinton didn't either. Most democratic politicians don't. And
we are all quite literally poorer for it. I touched on this in my previous
blog post, "The Importance of Ideology." Franklin
Delano Roosevelt's 1936 Madison Garden campaign speech springs to
mind. It is the one in which FDR famously said of plutocracy and
privilege, "Never before in all our history have these forces been so
united against one candidate as they stand today. They are unanimous in
their hate for me - and
I welcome their hatred." Oh, how I would love to hear Obama say that!
I
am certainly not the first person to say this. But what I think I bring
to the table is pointing out the obvious - but almost never
acknowledged - conflict between conservatism and patriotism. That is the
second thing. Combine that with a little fighting spirit, and we can
win some stuff.
So, yeah,
buy my book - or borrow it. And talk about it. Review it. Because I do think it is needed.
