The Shaky Case for Optimism

In effect, the Democrats have joined the Republicans and Corporate America in betting that if Americans will just suck it up and stay the course, things will turn out OK. The three books under review—from different analytical perspectives—try to make the case for that bet. Together they present the core arguments for the rosy scenario that rationalizes the failure of the country’s political leaders to rethink the future, that is, to examine the assumption that the country is still rich enough to support unregulated crony capitalism, global military hegemony, and rising living standards for its people. The authors have different analytical perspectives and ideological biases. Rose and Kotkin are neoliberal centrist Democrats, and Friedman is a somewhat neoconservative foreign policy maven. These biases are useful; they motivate the authors to provide us with the best case they can for believing it will all come out fine in the end.