A total banger. The first two chapters are a bit basic but then she starts spitting hard facts.
Democracy is dying because we are clinging to a dangerous and outdated myth: talking about politics can change people's minds. It doesn't.
This provocative debut from a bold new voice combines a fascinating range of research to show us the psychological and sociological factors that really shape our politics.
Drawing from ancient philosophy to modern neuroscience and social science, Dr Sarah Stein Lubrano reveals the surprising truth about how people think and behave politically. From friendship to community organizing and social infrastructure, she explores the actions that actually do change minds.
In a world where politics keeps getting more irrational, dishonest, violent and chaotic, it's getting much harder to reach people with words alone. So people who really care about democracy must ask: how can we stop arguing and do the deep work to build stronger foundations for political life, and a better world for us all?
I think a problem with the framing of the author is the idea that politics aren't discussed. In countries like the US, they are talked about all the time, due to increasing contradictions and rapidly deteriorating conditions, kinda like the fall of the Roman Empire. The US Empire is losing its stranglehold on the world, and internally this is reflected in less and less free plunder, so the Working Class is the one hit the hardest while those at the top try to use the Working Class to shield themselves from the impacts of this.
The issue isn't that people aren't talking, the issue is the structure. The US democratic structure isn't democratic at all, there's a huge filtering process and media domination before you can even get to where public discourse is centered. All candidates are essentially pre-filtered and pre-selected within an "acceptable range," which is why government approval rates are lowering over time. The contradictions are sharpening between the working class and the Capitalists.
The solution isn't just to talk more. Talking more doesn't move the candidate window to align with the needs of the people, organizing does. The working class historically has always made its major gains through recognizing itself as class and banding together to directly struggle against the system. The Marxists are correct.
Haven't read the book though, this is just based off the blurb.
the book is saying exactly that the public discourse is irrelevant and doesn't lead to better policies. It doesn't even influence politics at all. I'm not sure how you understood the blurb because the book, as the title implies, is very against public discourse as a political tool.
It seems like, from the blurb, she is advocating for how to converse wity others better. Without that context, it seems defanged, but it's nice to hear that that isn't the case.