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solid

Revisado: 02-25-24

the reader had a difficult cadence, and used accents & voices in a distracting manner

the book was good overall, the Senate amendment was under-discussed, as the text in the appendix would certainly have sweeping ramifications.

the history & current events were solid.

this complements books on proportional representation well

this book should have included recommendations for beginning a citizen led convention process between states. that seems like one of our only hopes for the next little while

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a good start

Revisado: 01-19-24

this book is enlightening, it becomes clear that it's written by someone who realizes that he is in a bubble and that he is out of touch with many Americans. it draws on solid data, and makes sweeping claims about moderate, but consistent trends.

it leaves a glaring hole in its analysis of queer issues, femicide, and bigotry, and even hate crimes in multiracial working class America. likely because the author himself agrees with the fundamental order of society that conservatives of both parties fought for in the 90s and aughts.

he ignores the potential for further democratic backsliding and the ways that "anticorruption" messaging brings autocrats to power around the world as they promise to actually get things done and throw out the resistance. it ignores the democratic norms being eschewed by the trump coalition. he does accurately place a finger on the perceptions that many Hispanics and Vietnamese have because of their recent familiar immigration history.

this book also neglects that the trump administration's first term was held back by moderating traditional conservative and libertarian voices much of the time. these moderating voices will certainly have a negligible position in the next administration.

he ignores the trends present among Muslim, queer, hindu, sikh, and Jewish swing voters, all of whom have conflicting interests at times, which also can be exploited by future generations. though, no one expected this book to cover *every* potential identity group.

the author tells a compelling story about the expansion of mainstream American society to include more and more races of immigrants over time. this is something (as a tejano myself) that I've seen be the case for many Hispanics.

overall, the book describes an important opportunity that trump and perhaps others (though the primary process may reveal it's only an opportunity trump will exploit for now) have to expand the racial composition of the Republican party.

the final policy prescriptions make it clear the preferences of the author, and that they still are out of touch with the voters they describe. if I had written the book, it would have seemed similarly out of touch as well, even if my political skew (I'm 27) is different than the author's (he seems largely "libertarian" by nature, socially conservative, fiscally irresponsible, anti-tax, anti-regulation, anti-environment). he has a good touch on the pulse of oil-workers in South Texas though, I'm sure.

some of the other blindspots are about gender conversations within my generation. young men really aren't doing well, and men don't do well in our current education system. furthermore, the alt-right is drawing in men of many races. again, it doesn't surprise me that people, namely a minority of undereducated young men of all races, who hate trans-people are flocking to the Republican party.

.... I'm honestly just ranting, he's a smart guy and is starting a conversation about real trends. I might be wrong about his policy preferences, but he makes it clear in the book that he's not a policy maker. his pulse on the stats and the interviews he's conducted, and especially Trump's messaging and adept propaganda machine, targeting specific minority groups with in-touch messaging is *super* important.

it's a good start, I hope he writes more books, looking at this same topic from a few more angles. unionization, for example. or what might happen if the popular vote is enacted in the intervening years, or what might happen depending on Trump's messaging this year.

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nerve wracking

Revisado: 03-09-23

interested to hear the author's take on Russia's invasion of Ukraine. she's referenced Azov's battalion, who now supports the Ukrainian military, and how American militias were training with them. She's also referenced separatists in Donbas and how they were being aided by Russia.

what is an the significance that right-wingers in the US support Russian propaganda, but centrists support Ukraine, and white nationalists support Azov?

... just wondering. I have like a half hour left in the book. xoxo

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faithful, honest, humble

Revisado: 05-06-22

well-recorded, excellent soul-searching, solid research, & somehow simultaneously even-handed & uncompromising

congratulations on a job well-done.

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g*dd*MN

Revisado: 04-10-22

wow. just wow.

this book draws on many inspiration, but could represent the rebirth of a genre all its own.

good job Xiran. 👏🏻

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Logical mess.

Revisado: 08-18-21

This author repeats axioms assumed to be true in early 2014 as if no one has learned anything since the 80s and 90s. He makes no efforts to defend most of his assertions, simply reciting them to support his positions.

He shows a lack of understanding of our political system and American history. Because of this, he advocates for another third party likely bound to be uncompetitive and that would drain centrists from both parties. Crucially, he does not advocate for any electoral reforms that would be useful in making US politics more competitive or more small-d democratic.

He says that the future of America is "socially liberal and economically conservative" in 2014. This book is virtually irrelevant to the world of 2021 and the aspirations of working-class citizens everywhere.

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great and fair book

Revisado: 03-18-21

such an excellent book. this would improve the United States greatly, not just for one party.

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good book, mixed bag

Revisado: 10-26-20

this is a good book and many of its reforms should be considered.

in some ways this book seems hyperfocused and in some ways it seems a little stretched. I appreciated the critique of polls as not representing who we are at our best, and how They should be supplemented by deliberative polls and sortitioned citizen assemblies.

this author makes clear they partisan position, but works very hard to be fair to the other side and propose a myriad of solutions that would strike reform balance.

they speak namely with ideals of (small r) republicanism, and mischaracterize how representative republics before our own ever were. Rome being a prime example, only the few were citizens when the masses were slaves. I appreciate the attempt to reconcile the intentions of various framers of our constitution and those people who framed its various amendments.

sometimes, their ideals of small r republicanism can read as elitist, but they counter that notion with the principle of one person one vote, and present many complex solutions to bridge that divide. nearing the end, they do begin to challenge how political elites unfairly treat voters and citizens as uninformed.

I'm not sure the parts of this book that focus on social media feel coherent with the rest of the narrative, but the points made are valuable nonetheless. it does however make this book feel very 2019, from hindsight up here in 2020.

this is a good book and many of its reforms should be considered.

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amazing

Revisado: 06-18-20

this is truly paradigm shifting. it delineates the actual confines of our economy and how governments with fiat currencies can act responsibly for their citizens.

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excellent

Revisado: 06-03-20

I was worried going in, but it was all worth it. Brilliant writing. Great narrator.

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