I've been reading Martin Gurri's The Revolt of the Public (2018) and sent a review of the book to a group of friends on the Left and Right that I've been talking to and corresponding with (see below).
Gurri claims that with the advent of the internet and social media we've entered what he calls the Fifth Wave of information technology, which has revolutionized and democratized the public's access to information. As a result, both authoritarian and liberal democracies have become threatened, as the hierarchical, top-down flow of information has become disrupted and led to a crisis in authority. He uses as examples the Arab Spring in 2011, which deposed the government in Tunesia and Mubarak's three-decade rule in Egypt. He uses many other examples such as the indignados revolt in Spain, the Tea Party, Occupy Wall Street, and eventually Brexit and Trump. While the book was published in 2014, an addition, "Reconsiderations: Trump, Brexit, and Farewell to All That" was added in 2018. Gurri was a former CIA analyst and approaches this work from an analytic perspective with very little bias, critical of both Obama and Trump.
What I believe to be the main insight and take away from Gurri's book is that it offers a framework to understand our current situation. He favors neither the public, which is in revolt but hasn't been able to govern, or the status quo elite, still stuck in what he calls an industrial age mindset or paradigm and feeling threatened by the public's access to information. He uses the work of Mary Douglas and Aaron Wildavsky (Risk and Culture: An Essay of Technological and Environmental Dangers, 1985) as a model to describe these changes: The Center refers to a continuation of the status quo and its protection, while the Border refers to the public or networks, which are voluntary associations of equals. It's a theme that recurs throughout the book and sheds light on the current efforts of governments to censor the opposition.
Another thing I appreciate about Gurri is the distinction he makes between rhetoric and behavior. Trump basically exemplifies the over-the-top, combative rhetoric of the public/internet sphere, while his actual policies were typically Republican with the exception increased protectionism for American business and decreased interventionism in foreign policy (my opinion). He also sees the opposition response (Democratic media and NeverTrumper) to Trump as hysterical and over-the-top as well.
A question came up from one of the group about Gurri's thoughts about the future, I responded:
Gurri makes it clear that he's not a prognosticator or prophet; he's an analyst describing what he sees. But on our present course what he basically sees is no resolution to the elite vs. public dynamic: In his examples, the public usually has no theory or method of governance and the elite is weak, paralyzed, and feeling threatened. The details of course change somewhat from country to country with different cultures and traditions. He does caution about the threat of nihilism as demonstrated in the wanton destruction and killing in mass murders and the terrorist state of ISIS, with one possible solution being more “localism” as exemplified by Switzerland and the digitized government of Estonia, though the latter “lies beyond the reach of gargantuan-sized national bureaucracies.” Lastly, he calls for the need of a new elite selected by the public and characterized by integrity, honesty and humility with reduced distance between the government and the governed. This is his hope to restore the public’s faith in the democratic republican form of government. He ends the book in 2018 so the Mueller and Durham reports haven't been revealed, COVID hasn't happened, and the 2020 Election and Jan. 6th haven't occurred. Gurri like many others has been influenced by Nicholas Nassim Taleb so there remains the possibility (maybe inevitability) of another Black Swan event like 9/11 or the 2007-08 market crash.
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The cover is falling off.
I bought this and opened it up and found out the cover was falling off. Well crap happens sent it back to amazon which was fairly painless. Just got a replacement exact same problem. I think they may have a defective batch of books. I was looking forward to reading it guess that won't happen as I am sending this one in for a refund rather than an exchange this time.As far as how good of a read it is I couldn't tell you sorry.
Top reviews from other countries
- RDWReviewed in the United Kingdom on December 16, 2024
A Significant Book for Our Times
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- Zoltan OrbanReviewed in Germany on February 22, 2019
Interesting read about challenges in front of (not only modern) democracies
