Finserra reviewed Demosclerosis by Jonathan Rauch
Review of 'Demosclerosis' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
This book is now 28 years old, and it shows. That's not an indictment of the book though. It just doesn't fit very well with the American political narrative of the 21st Century, which takes no prisoners, admits no fault, concedes nothing, and consigns moderation and the reality of Government operations (both its successes and failures) to footnotes in a more aspirational diatribe about what this or that faction views as success or fair. Nevertheless, it's a great book that observes some enduring truths about a delusional American public that divorces the notion of "special interests" from the self-interest (for which they all advocate daily in the American political process and National dialog - personally and in the aggregate through their many lobbies, left and right). It's always the other guy's interest that is "special" and theirs that is National. They probably screamed like stuck pigs about the publication of …
This book is now 28 years old, and it shows. That's not an indictment of the book though. It just doesn't fit very well with the American political narrative of the 21st Century, which takes no prisoners, admits no fault, concedes nothing, and consigns moderation and the reality of Government operations (both its successes and failures) to footnotes in a more aspirational diatribe about what this or that faction views as success or fair. Nevertheless, it's a great book that observes some enduring truths about a delusional American public that divorces the notion of "special interests" from the self-interest (for which they all advocate daily in the American political process and National dialog - personally and in the aggregate through their many lobbies, left and right). It's always the other guy's interest that is "special" and theirs that is National. They probably screamed like stuck pigs about the publication of these truths in 1994, but would do so even more in 2022 -- where successful businesses are either rightly condemned for contorting the field of competition with the levers of Government or wrongly held in contempt for too ably turning a buck and not treating their employees like shareholders and CEOs, and usually both. It is the same America where people without means and ready financial recourse are asked to subsist in perpetuity and, perhaps, regarded as heros for their cheapened sweat and risk-taking, but then condemned as malingerers or cheats for accepting assistance. Yet, means-testing is an apostasy. And, to all of this, politicians will agree, add to the national debt, keep dated or failing programs knee-deep in debt-financed funds, depriving themselves of the opportunity to fund or even recognize necessary new programs or those that require current emphasis. This book will find few friends. That's too bad.