World Famous Comics: What's the Matter with Kansas?: How Conservatives Won the Heart of America
What's the Matter with Kansas?: How Conservatives Won the Heart of America
By: Thomas Frank Publisher: Holt Paperbacks Average Rating: Binding: Paperback Label: Holt Paperbacks Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 336 Publication Date: May 01, 2005 Release Date: April 14, 2005
With a New Afterword by the AuthorThe New York Times bestseller, praised as "hilariously funny . . . the only way to understand why so many Americans have decided to vote against their own economic and political interests" (Molly Ivins)Hailed as "dazzlingly insightful and wonderfully sardonic" (Chicago Tribune), "very funny and very painful" (San Francisco Chronicle), and "in a different league from most political books" (The New York Observer), What's the Matter with Kansas? unravels the great political mystery of our day: Why do so many Americans vote against their economic and social interests? With his acclaimed wit and acuity, Thomas Frank answers the riddle by examining his home state, Kansas-a place once famous for its radicalism that now ranks among the nation's most eager participants in the culture wars. Charting what he calls the "thirty-year backlash"-the popular revolt against a supposedly liberal establishment-Frank reveals how conservatism, once a marker of class privilege, became the creed of millions of ordinary Americans.A brilliant analysis-and funny to boot-What's the Matter with Kansas? is a vivid portrait of an upside-down world where blue-collar patriots recite the Pledge while they strangle their life chances; where small farmers cast their votes for a Wall Street order that will eventually push them off their land; and where a group of frat boys, lawyers, and CEOs has managed to convince the country that it speaks on behalf of the People.
Amazon.com Review: The largely blue collar citizens of Kansas can be counted upon to be a "red" state in any election, voting solidly Republican and possessing a deep animosity toward the left. This, according to author Thomas Frank, is a pretty self-defeating phenomenon, given that the policies of the Republican Party benefit the wealthy and powerful at the great expense of the average worker. According to Frank, the conservative establishment has tricked Kansans, playing up the emotional touchstones of conservatism and perpetuating a sense of a vast liberal empire out to crush traditional values while barely ever discussing the Republicans' actual economic policies and what they mean to the working class. Thus the pro-life Kansas factory worker who listens to Rush Limbaugh will repeatedly vote for the party that is less likely to protect his safety, less likely to protect his job, and less likely to benefit him economically. To much of America, Kansas is an abstract, "where Dorothy wants to return. Where Superman grew up." But Frank, a native Kansan, separates reality from myth in What's the Matter with Kansas and tells the state's socio-political history from its early days as a hotbed of leftist activism to a state so entrenched in conservatism that the only political division remaining is between the moderate and more-extreme right wings of the same party. Frank, the founding editor of The Baffler and a contributor to Harper's and The Nation, knows the state and its people. He even includes his own history as a young conservative idealist turned disenchanted college Republican, and his first-hand experience, combined with a sharp wit and thorough reasoning, makes his book more credible than the elites of either the left and right who claim to understand Kansas. --John Moe
Middle America Revealed This is a must read for political junkies, especially Democrats and liberals who can't comprehend why rural middle class Americans continue to vote Republican when doing so is clearly not in their best economic interests. Using Kansas as perhaps the best example of this phenomenon, the author does an excellent job of analyzing the cultural, political, and economic forces that have caused middle America to shift strongly to the right over the past 40 years. From this book, I came away with a deeper understanding of American politics, especially the Reagan conservative revolution that forged an unlikey but successful alliance of Wall Street capitalists and social conservative evangelicals to form the modern Republican machine.
liberals: vote for us cause you're an idiot I read this book a little over a year ago in response to a suggestion from a left wing blogger. I suppose to be fair, I should go back and reread the book in order to do a better review. But I'll try to "wing it" by memory, which may be a real challenge because the book is quite forgetable.
Basically the entire premise revolves around the idea that you morons out there don't know what's good for you. So, the thing to do is to vote for the left because they know best.
Whoever you are, left or right, liberal or conservative- you probably deserve a little more credit than that. You'll vote for who you think is best; best for you or for your country. I'll make a deal with liberals: don't call me stupid for voting conservative, and I won't call you stupid. I may think you're pretty stupid, but I'll keep that to myself.
Another native supporter I just want to say that this book is completely on target and right about the political mindset of Kansas citizens in addition to almost every other right-winged American. I should know -- I used to live in Kansas. Luckily, I spent most of my life growing up in NY because after realizing many of the same conclusions of Thomas Frank, my mom knew we had to leave. The book was very well written and kept me smiling throughout because his descriptions ring true to my personal experience living there - they brought back so many memories of the extreme conservative mindset of all of my family and friends in KS. Anyone who lives in the midwest, has an open mind and understands politics can learn a great deal from this book; and anyone who disagrees is clearly ignorant of the truth.
"WHY WON'T THESE STUPID REDNECKS VOTE FOR US?" The author is a typical leftist; that is, he was a rich kid brought up in a Lilly-white suburb whose politics swung to the left when he didn't automatically inherit the social-standing he assumed was his birthright. This mindset deludes him into thinking that he has some sort of common-cause with the working-class he spent his early years avoiding like the plague. Franks' thesis is that populist demagoguery is only acceptable when serving the purposes of socialism,rather then corporate-conservatism...the possibility that populism itself isn't such a hot idea ain't even on the table. Obama basically said the same thing with his "guns and religion" gaffe, but at least he didn't repeat himself until he had enough pages for a book. One of the log-rolling blurbs on the cover calls Frank "the second-coming of H.L. Mencken, but with better politics". Wrong on both counts. If you need a laugh at the fumbling of Marxists trying to convert Bubbas to their cause without having to actually interact with them, this is the fish-wrap for you!
A Must Read Book!!! This book is a must read for anyone wanting to understand today's politics and the great backlash occurring among good people who have been "tricked" into believing that voting "conservative" will somehow help and protect them. How far from the truth! I urge you to read this book. I highly recommend it.
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