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The Next Deal ::
James and I had short discussion the other day about why this book is so bad. Its ideas are impractical; it is completely devoid of foreign policy; and where in God’s name is the solution to health care and social security crises we see happening? And on top of all those shortcomings, Cherny’s ideas rely on (literally) bankrupt conceptions of the New Economy (i.e., dot com’s with no business plans and egregious balance sheets will change the world), and his rhetoric is full of these obnoxious metaphors and turns of phrase that do nothing but further turn off readers who already disagree with what he is saying about the future of the U.S. Government.
I found it hard to get beyond these problems, and I agree with the fundamental direction of the book. I agree with Cherny that the structure of government in this country is obsolete, that it is built on a social and economic model that is becoming progressively more irrelevant. However, I think his ignorance of how technology works is abysmal, and it adversely affects the role it plays in his vision for the way it affects our economy and our social connections. Guh. It’s like watching a house being built on a foundation of Jello. The recurring problem seems to be that in his focusing on high-flying rhetoric and his descriptions of a bright future filled with endless social justice and economic opportunities, he loses track of the very real conditions that are keeping us stymied in this current political state.
What I will give him, however, is that he has the ability to describe a very hopeful vision for the future, and is able to communicate at least a superficial strategy on how to get there from here. Of course, this is not surprising, since he is a speech writer. But given the current state of Democratic politics, in which the best leaders are merely responding to the right-wing agenda of the Bush administration and only tacitly discuss a bad economy or a health care system in dire need of a complete overhaul, it is refreshing to hear that. And maybe if Democrats started working their own vision -- even if it is painfully fallible -- they would start setting an agenda and actually seem like they’re fighting for something.
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