“We have been misled, and the conservative movement has been derailed, by legions of fools and poseurs wearing smiley-face masks. I aim to unmask them.”
John Derbyshire’s aim is to alert us that we’re in Deep Shit and it’s going to get worse. In each topical chapter, Derbyshire identifies a social problem and shows our response to solving it is inadequate. My favorite chapter is “Education: Yale or Jail.” Derbyshire shows that most of the money we spend on education is wasted. All the educational software and computers that were supposed to help kids read better and master math concepts actually produced lower test scores. Throwing more money at the problem won’t solve it. Derbyshire accurately identifies the key problems facing us (but he gives short shrift to Climate Change). This would all be very depressing if Derbyshire wasn’t funny. In his best faux-David Brooks manner, Derbyshire shows how any of these problems–War, Immigration, the Economy, etc.–could ruin us. I thought Derbyshire’s analysis was convincing and clever and occasionally scathing. GRADE: B+
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
A Call to Pessimism p. 1
Diversity: Nothing to Celebrate p. 14
Politics: Show Business for Ugly People p. 40
Culture: Pooped Out p. 62
Sex: Surplus to Requirements p. 87
Education: Yale or Jail p. 97
Human Nature: Ask Your Aunt p. 134
Religion: What Shall We Do to Be Saved? p. 158
War: Invading the World p. 183
Immigration: Inviting the World p. 199
Foreigners: Inspecting the World p. 213
The Economy: In Hock to the World p. 230
The Audacity of Hopelessness p. 249
Acknowledgments p. 263
It would be funny if it weren’t so damned scary. Time to break out Roger Price’s THE POWER OF NEGATIVE THINKING again.
Jerry, Derbyshire identifies Major Problems that aren’t being addressed. The tragedy in Flint, Michigan is just the tip of the iceberg.
I’ve been saying this for years. Now that it’s confirmed by a good book, I feel better. Okay, not better. Worse. We’re doomed!
Bill, you were way ahead of the curve. If we don’t start solving some of these problems, we will be doomed!
You KNOW soapbox is coming….
The problem I have with conservative thinkers like this is that they say we are doomed–which may indeed be true; but, if so, we are doomed in large part because of the thoughtless, avaricious, save a penny to spend a pound, massive wealth transfer policies implemented by the very politicians conservatives have voted for for the past four decades.
/Dismount!
Deb, you and I are on the same page! All of these problems grew worse because of neglect. Surely the state government knew that Flint had an aging infrastructure. Instead of fixing the problem, they poisoned their citizens by switching from safe water from Detroit to the problematic water in the Flint river. Now, children and families have to deal with lead poisoning. America needs to solve its problems, not create bigger and more troubling problems.
Flint is the logical endgame of a party whose policies have decried “government regulation” and “bureaucratic red tape” for decades, so much so that sensible rules designed to prevent catastrophes such as Flint are ignored or eliminated. God knows how many more Flints are being created right now, but I’m sadly assuming there are many.
Deb, I fear that Flint is just the current disaster that needs attention. Hidden disasters probably abound. They will pop up like Whack-A-Moles while the politicians talk about cutting taxes and protecting the Second Amendment. We’re all in a Sad Situation that’s been caused by spending trillions of dollars in nonsensical wars. Those trillions could have built a lot of roads, bridges, schools…and fixed the pipes in Flint.
They are still doing it all over the country, and it is getting worse every day. The “real” problems the so-called conservatives have targeted are poor people, immigrants, Muslims, women who are sexually active, Planned Parenthood, pesky regulations that are stopping American exceptionalism (which is not even a real word), scientists and others who say climate change is real, members of minority groups, teachers, you name it.
When the 62 richest people in the world control as much wealth as the bottom half of the world’s population, there is something very seriously wrong.
Jeff, you’re right: our politicians are focusing on the wrong “problems.”
I have become convinced that the billionaires want us all to die horrible deaths. They want to get rid of public education so most people are little more than a service class. They don ‘t want to waste tax dollars on the 99%. I wake up thinking we are doomed every day.
Patti, if some of these problems–War, healthcare, education, etc–don’t get solved our future will be a dark one.
All of the above comments are so true. the 1% seem to care little for the rest of us. There are exceptions, of course, but the others scare me to pieces.
right now, in San Diego, our local government is consumed with the charger situation. In one section a drainage issue was discovered in October, the city was contacted, and inspectors came out to look at the situation. Nothing was done, and during the last big storm, many homes were flooded, causing a lot of damage. this isn’t as bad as the flint disaster, but it’s just one example.
Sadly, I have no cure to offer for this situation, other than (KIDDING) suggesting we take up a collection for hit men to cull the herd of stupid/greedy.
I did have hopes for the occupy movement, but sadly in seemed to fizzle out.
Maggie, your analysis is right on the money!
To quote Eric Foner: “Every political ideal starts as out as a movement, becomes a business, and eventually degenerates into a racket.” IMHO, the GOP/conservative/ right-wing has been functioning at peak racket for at least 35 years now…and, oh, what damage they have caused.
Deb, I look at all the lives and money wasted in foolish wars and it infuriates me.
Well isn’t this a pleasant way to start an otherwise nice Wednesday. Bah.
Rick, sometimes we just have to vent.
I’m an optimist at heart – mankind will survive somehow, but many people all over the world are suffering and more will be suffering, not only from extreme capitalism, religion etc …
Looking at your elections and especially people like Trump and Palin I shudder however!
Re Flint:
In Germany there were similar problems many years ago when people realised that lead had been used in pipes and also in painting walls (Mennige aka red lead) that children would touch and maybe even lick – because red lead smells sweet …
What I don’t understand is that there were no checks on the water supply – I mean the USA is a rich country?
PS:
We had a similar problem (though on a smaller scale) in a village near where we live in Hungary. Doctors found a peak in abdominal cancer among older people – and then someone realised what had happened:
In “communist” times an aluminium production had poisoned the ground downstream – and many houses in that village had used wells for their drinking water, their animals and their gardens. Luckily some years ago the village got water piped in so younger people were not affected.
But everybody over a certain age was asked to go to a specialist doctor and several cancer cases were found – most of them untreatable …
I just realised that the book is already seven years old – or are we talking about a second edition?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/We_Are_Doomed
Wolf, WE ARE DOOMED is 6 years old but I just got around to reading it. The problems Derbyshire identifies are still around. Our Government seems grid-locked so nothing much gets done. That’s why the American electorate is so angry at “The Establishment.”
Wolf, the United State is a rich country, but the wealth isn’t evenly shared. The famous One Percent controls much of the Economy. That’s why Bernie Sanders is doing so well with his presidential campaign.
George, so much of this sounds familiar. But I never thought these things happened in your country. I thought health and education were given top priority and targeted at those who really need them. This book seems like an eye-opener.