What's the Matter With Kansas - Thomas Frank
Published in 2004, this is the story of Kansas' transformation from a once quite progressive state which was founded by abolitionists racing to block the expansion of slavery and then home to the wild left-populism that swept through rural America in the late 19th century into what has became a contest of the moderate Republicans and the populist-right Republicans. And the populists were already winning in 2004.
There is much about the plen-T-plaint and the Great Backlash; a movement of not rich people who are motivated by hatred of things liberal. The primordial issue was abortion, but all things painted as Coastal Hollywood Elite Fancy Over-Educated Know-it-All are in the mix. This despite some of the movement's leaders being rich elite over-educated fancy-pants. "The deafness of the conservative rank and file to the patent insincerity of their leaders is one of the true cultural marvels of the Great Backlash."
The Backlash rank and file, even though they assumed power, accomplished not much but the massive rewarding of the richest people. As Frank says, "And when two female rock stars exchange a lascivious kiss on national TV, Kansas goes haywire. Kansas screams for the heads of the liberal elite. Kansas comes running to the polling place. And Kansas cuts those rock stars' taxes."
Some noteworthy items were a mention of the outrage generated by stories of "abortionists trafficking in fetal body parts." About the persecution complex conservatives have: "what they mean by
persecution is not imprisonment or excommunication or disenfranchisement, but criticism..."
There is some talk about how the Democrats basically abandoned economic arguments, becoming just another party of business, which helped create an opening for this contest to be all about culture and religion. The right-wing populists reviled the professional class country club set of the moderate Republicans and their leaders, often disingenuously, competed to be the person you'd most want to have a beer with and Frank comes around to say that this hated class is exactly what the Democrats turned to.
Quote:
...Democrats look at a situation like present-day Kansas and rub their hands with anticipation: Just look at how Ronald Reagan's "social issues" have come back to bite his party in the ass! If only the crazy Cons push a little bit more, these Democrats think the Republican Party will alienate the wealthy suburban Mods [Moderate Republicans] for good, and we will be able to step in and carry places like Mission Hills [a rich moderate Republican area], along with all the juicy boodle that its inhabitants are capable of throwing our way.
This theme is much more fully developed in
Listen Liberal which was published in 2016. I read that one before I started reviewing books itt.
The book is pretty well notated (if that's the right word), but it's still basically an opinion piece. It was an easy read and enjoyable. Much of it will seem prescient in the year of Trump and he suggests that Kansas should maybe be seen (unfortunately) as a vanguard rather than a backwater. A fair amount of it is personal, as he grew up in Kansas, and to me anyway, that made the book a bit more compelling. I'm not sure this book works well to convince anyone of anything they don't already believe; though maybe it does. It is an interesting read for the choir nonetheless.