Rating: 7.5/10.
The Road to Somewhere: The Populist Revolt and the Future of Politics by David Goodhart
Book exploring the causes of populism, which has become a defining factor of modern politics, mostly focusing on the UK and Brexit, but similar issues have defined the politics of Trump’s election in 2016 in the US and other similar movements in European countries. It was published soon after Trump and Brexit in 2017 and explores the causes of these issues. Basically, the authors divide people into two camps: Anywheres and Somewheres. The Anywheres are around 25% of the population and are liberally minded, highly educated, and mobile, moving out to get university degrees and relocating far from their hometowns in pursuit of career success. They value open and liberal views, don’t believe in much of a national identity, and are in favor of immigration and equality that doesn’t depend on race or nationality.
The Somewhere crowd makes up 75% of the population and is more deeply rooted to their place where they grew up. They have more family and traditional values and are resistant to policies like mass immigration that would erode their national identities. Most Somewheres has accepted many liberal views such as gay marriage, abortion, and LGBT rights, but they have been much more resistant to mass immigration, especially from Muslim countries, which they feel erodes their national identities, and they feel that their educated elites are putting identity politics above economic issues.
The author symphasizes mostly with the views of the Somewhere group, which are more conservative-minded and represent the majority that is often left behind. Even though they are the majority, the 25% Anywhere group holds a disproportionate amount of political power, and their preferences often result in policy. Therefore, these votes against the populist parties represent the views of the Somewheres. Populism generally proposes simplistic solutions to problems that are not expected to work but it’s hard to deny that at least their problems are recognized, and it is a form of protest vote that would put a brake on Anywhere policies.
Overall, this book presents a sympathetic view of conservatives and supporters of Trump and Brexit that is often misunderstood in more liberal circles. One notable and interesting point is that liberals are open-minded about aspects such as ethnicity, religion, and sexual preferences, but liberals are very intolerant of opposing political beliefs – much more so than conservatives’ tolerance of liberal views. The book however started getting repetitive, so I stopped after reading about 100 or so pages (half of the book).
