Our Own Worst Enemy

While democracy does battle with other political ideologies * fascism, communism, socialism * Maybe it's not imaginary conspiracies but rather our own failures * moral, intellectual, political * Nichols has nailed the problem that ails our democracies * and it is us: The narcissism, self-indulgence and nostalgia that come from a society in which the depth of our pockets are matched by the shallowness of our minds. Nichols neither gives into despair nor falls for simplistic solutions. He offers a wise, acute and unblinking measure of our failings * The eloquent jeremiad, that brilliant form of lamentation, is alive and well in the able hands of Tom Nichols. You don't have to agree with him on everything to appreciate his deep commitment to liberal democracy, his horror in the face of authoritarian demagoguery, and his call on democratic citizens to embrace knowledge and virtue. Nichols is that rarest of creatures, a happy scold who believes that deep down, even we terribly flawed human beings are capable of aspiring to higher purposes. * E. J. Dionne Jr, author of Code Red: How Progressives and Moderates Can Unite to Save Our Country * Taking freedom and democracy for granted is a fatal mistake. Our Own Worst Enemy explains why even the greatest nation on Earth isn't immune to the destructive effects of cynicism and ignorance. It is both a history lesson and a sharp examination of painful recent events. The forces of illiberalism are on the rise, and it's not clear that liberal democracy is up to the challenge. This book makes the essential case that ignoring politics is a luxury the citizens of the free world can no longer afford. Being a successful chessplayer requires understanding yourself and your own decision-making process. As Tom Nichols demonstrates in Our Own Worst Enemy, it turns out that's also required to be a successful country. America has enough enemies without turning on itself. * Garry Kasparov, Chairman of the Renew Democracy Initiative, author of Winter Is Coming: Why Vladimir Putin and the Enemies of the Free World Must Be Stopped, and the former world chess champion * There are few silver linings to the monstrous transformation of the American right: one has been discovering the stalwart minority of decent, intelligent, honest conservatives who fiercely and absolutely reject the party of Trump * such as Tom Nichols. Our Own Worst Enemy is his thoughtful and thought-provoking diagnosis of our urgent democratic crises, which provided me the important pleasure of enjoying, learning from, and arguing with it. * Nichols provides bleak but thought-provoking analysis... Our Own Worst Enemy is a blistering critique of twenty-first-century American politics. * Foreword Reviews * A searing critique of contemporary political culture and the rise of illiberalism on both the right and the left. * Publishers Weekly * A strong argument for civic reengagement. * Kirkus * Into this [political] morass parachutes Tom Nichols, with a meditation on the state of American democracy. * The Guardian *