Book Review: Fantasyland by Kurt Andersen

Fantasyland: How America Went Haywire: A 500-Year History by Kurt Andersen
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I like this book for its comprehensive historical coverage and convincing explanation on how the United States has become what it is today (writing this in December 2018).

In the 20th century, the USA had been a beacon (or as Mike Pence puts it, a "lodestar") for humankind. It led in industry, science, arts (particularly books and movies), freedom of speech etc. It was generous to others, helping war-torn countries rebuild themselves, helping lift up the poor from poverty, helping the weak to stand up against bullies.

So it was really strange that with all the things going for it, the country started becoming more and more "stupider". It was simply bewildering that the USA voted in a huckster such as Donald Trump, who together with his Republican supporters, start dismantling all that is good about the USA, and install in its stead all that is bad as the law of the land.

It is very possible that it is the constitution of the USA that allows these shenanigans to propagate and perpetuate, leading into developments such as Fox News (the true definition of fake news), NRA, climate deniers, science deniers (particularly evolution deniers), hypocritical religiosity, the 1%, political correctness gone berserk, an apathetic public that don't vote, irrationality, racist bigotry, etc.

In a democracy, voters must choose between alternatives. We expect voters to use rationality to base their decisions. However, there must be an agreed common ground of facts to determine the truth of a matter. In Fantasyland, this common ground does not exist. While the Democrats can use reality to determine the facts, the Republicans are using lies and claiming them as facts. And the population is complicit with allowing the Republicans, and supporting them, to run the entire country on this bodyhood of lies.

Actions have consequences, but if the populace do not punish evil doers for their actions, then no improvements can be made. When society prioritises an individual's rights over that of the society's, we get weird situations where gun-owners have more rights than gun-victims, unborn fetuses have more rights than mothers, the ultra-rich minority get a disproportionate share of the country's wealth than the majority non-rich, fairy tales are taught as science while real-science (evolution) is stricken off the syllabus.

Obviously, many tomes have already been said and written about the demise of American civil society, particularly after Trump was elected by the voters (okay, the electoral college) system. Kurt Andersen's book is just another one on that list. Unfortunately, in today's America, the book will only appeal to the Democrats and the left, and not to the Republicans and the right as they have their own "truths" based on a foundation of fairy tales and lies.


View all my reviews