The Politics of Petulance: America in an Age of Immaturity Audiobook (Free)

In The Politics of Petulance Alan Wolfe argues the core of our issue isn’t Trump himself-it’s that people are mired in a day and time of politics immaturity. That immaturity isn’t grounded in virtually any one ideology, nor is it a function old or education. In 2016, many Americans were offered tantalizingly basic answers to complicated complications, and, like children being offered a lunchtime of Pop Stones and Coke, they reflexively-and mindlessly-accepted.

The good news is that we have been right here before. Wolfe about The Politics of Petulance: America in a day and time of Immaturity reminds us that we learn how to develop up and face down Trump and various other demagogues. Wolfe reinvigorates the tradition of open public engagement exemplified by mid-century intellectuals such as Richard Hofstadter, Reinhold Niebuhr, and Lionel Trilling-and he attracts lessons from their battles with McCarthyism and conspiratorial paranoia. Wolfe mounts a robust case that people can study from them to forge a new path for political intervention today.

Wolfe has been thinking and writing about American existence and politics for many years. He views this moment as one of true risk. But he’s not really nausea his hands; he’s bracing us. We’ve encountered demagogues before. We can discover the intellectual maturity to fight back. Yes we can.