Reviews for Roads to dominion

The average rating for Roads to dominion based on 2 reviews is 4 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2015-11-19 00:00:00 Lawrence Leggett A dated if utterly crucial book. Published in the Clinton heyday, pre-Moronocracy, this book details the history of the rise and varying strands of America's most rationally irrational and, arguably, most successful, political current. Never has there been a political trend more counter-intuitive and nonsensical than this one, yet which appeals to millions for absolutely no real clear reason. And trust me, I've argued this one into the ground and still never had a satisfactory answer for the appeal, unless it's just on the grounds that being stupid is just easier. And many politicians of all stripes bank on this. However, the wacky American "Right" deserves special scrutiny because it represents an ironic and, I assume, unintentional fifth column of fundamentalist, authoritarian and racist political dogma in our very midst. The trend is also good at ignoring reality and justifying itself through any matter of wacky, often abstract sky-god-based polemic. The main theme of the book is how this trend became so salient when the Right is so contradictory: the state is evil but the state is awesome. The state should not interfere in crass capitalistic individualism and shouldn't tax and welfare is bad, etc etc, but the state should be totalitarian and authoritarian and police the world in America's interests. It doesn't get more contradictory than this. Anti-communism was once the unifying cement to allay the contradiction. The bulk of the book focuses on that. Segregation was another issue (ostensibly about state's rights vs evil federal intrusions, but really just racist shitasses trying to preserve "tradition") but once that disappeared, the shift focused to "social issues" like abortion, gay people and so on. Enter the religious right and all that crap. Then communism disappeared and the social issues became even more important. Now, I'm not going out on a limb when I say that anti-communism was bullshit and exaggerated and much of it outright authoritarian fantasy. Equally, I'm not going out on a limb when I say that "social issues", which do not affect anyone other than the individuals involved, are also outright bullshit. Segregation came and went. So will the other issues. My point, and the book's as well, is that much of rightist rhetoric is manufactured, false, and paranoid, particularly, its religious element, in another supreme irony, which approaches social issues as their ISIS brothers do. Once communism ended, the right needed a raison d'etre and hence, "social issues". There's a lot to take away and you'll be surprised by much of it. American Nazism, fascist/racist groups, crazy dudes in camo fighting the government and, in a supreme irony, calls for ISIS-like fundamentalism and theocracy. Actually, the last bit is a crucial point because one thing Diamond brings to the fore is the rise and role of the Christian Right and the development of the idea that faith and church is somehow a source of education beyond the state and the state is evil. Needs an updated edition and maybe an inclusion of the media gutter of the wacky "Right", like Limbaugh, O'Brien and their rational irrational ilk.

Review # 2 was written on 2008-03-06 00:00:00 Katherine Gorman This book is very detailed for anyone wanting to learn more about the New Right and the Republican party. It focuses on libertarians, neoconservatives, Christian movements, the racist right and how all these groups came together in the Repbulican party.