The optimistic leftist
Subtitle: why the 21st century will be better than you think
By: Ruy Teixeira
Edition: First edition.
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Published: 2017
Language: eng
Number of pages: 256
ISBN-13: 9781250089663
Subjects: Politics and government; Political culture; Liberalism; Right and left (Political science)
Other titles: Opt mistic left st
Description: "The left is likely to dominate the 21st century, and there is little the right can do about this except adapt. This seems counter-intuitive in light of the modest success the left has enjoyed since the great financial crisis of 2008-09. Though Democrats have done well in recent presidential elections, progressives have found themselves unable to move their most important policies forward, suffering through an endless series of battles with a determined and extreme Republican party. This has only been exacerbated by stunning Republican gains in recent congressional elections. But this short-sighted perspective overemphasizes the role of crisis and underestimates the role of long-term fundamental change. Ruy Teixeira's The Optimistic Leftist takes a look at the structural and economic shifts remaking advanced societies and shows that the left is in a far better position to advance its agenda than the right. Eventually, the right will be forced to play on the left's terms to be competitive. This is because only the left has growing, not declining, coalitional strength and only the left is willing to confront and solve capitalism's 'Piketty problem' (a vicious cycle of rising inequality, stagnating living standards and slowing economic growth) by building a new equitable-growth 'opportunity state'"--
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (pages 221-246) and index.
Table of contents: title: Preface : Against pessimism; title: Introduction : Welcoming the future; title: The left in history : how and where has the left succeeded?; title: The postindustrial progressive coalition; title: From capitalism's Piketty problem to the opportunity state; title: The optimistic leftist; title: The left's 21st century.