The dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 raised hopes that we were one step closer to the triumph of liberalism. Soon, many predicted, we would all be living in functional liberal democracies. Sustained economic growth would benefit all segments of society and war would be a relic of the past. A generation later, one can only ask: What happened?
Nobel laureate Daron Acemoglu argues in this powerful book that liberal democracy flourished when it pursued its core promises of shared prosperity, democratic governance, and the free pursuit of knowledge. But liberalism, a philosophy built to challenge power, never fully adjusted to becoming the establishment. Nor was it able to deal with the economic and social disruptions that digital technologies wrought. Worse, in the postindustrial economy, liberalism turned its back on its core promises. As a segment of college-educated elites became politically dominant and separated from the rest of society, they sowed the seeds of widespread inequality while intensifying efforts to reshape mass culture and values.
Acemoglu, using the interdisciplinary lens that has won him acclaim, documents the extraordinary, unparalleled progress that liberalism created, and recounts how liberal democratic institutions plunged themselves into crisis over the last several decades. Looking at rapid advances in technology, shifts in regulatory environments, global political history, and economics, Acemoglu lucidly lays out the successes and failures of our most important political system. And he envisions a new way forward, which he calls working-class liberalism: a philosophy that prioritizes shared prosperity, empowers communities, and accommodates a range of values and views. — Book promo @ Penguin Random House
I missed our walk again on Saturday. I woke up late and did not feel like I wanted to walk so we took the day off. Yesterday morning I woke with a resting heart rate at the elevated level for me which has me wondering if the ibuprofen cycle is not bringing the inflammation down. The Garmin Stress reading was also up but not as much as in the past so we did our walk and I felt fine.
There has been no rain for the past three days. This is the longest that we have gone without any rain since August 4-6 and before that it was at the beginning of July when we went from July 1-6 with no rain. There were a few one and two days during the past three months when it did not rain but we have had more than enough for me.