What's the Matter with Kansas?: How Conservatives Won the Heart of AmericaOne of “our most insightful social observers”* cracks the great political mystery of our time: how conservatism, once a marker of class privilege, became the creed of millions of ordinary Americans With his acclaimed wit and acuity, Thomas Frank turns his eye on what he calls the “thirty-year backlash”—the populist revolt against a supposedly liberal establishment. The high point of that backlash is the Republican Party’s success in building the most unnatural of alliances: between blue-collar Midwesterners and Wall Street business interests, workers and bosses, populists and right-wingers. In asking “what ’s the matter with Kansas?”—how a place famous for its radicalism became one of the most conservative states in the union—Frank, a native Kansan and onetime Republican, seeks to answer some broader American riddles: Why do so many of us vote against our economic interests? Where’s the outrage at corporate manipulators? And whatever happened to middle-American progressivism? The questions are urgent as well as provocative. Frank answers them by examining pop conservatism—the bestsellers, the radio talk shows, the vicious political combat—and showing how our long culture wars have left us with an electorate far more concerned with their leaders’ “values” and down-home qualities than with their stands on hard questions of policy. A brilliant analysis—and funny to boot—What’s the Matter with Kansas? presents a critical assessment of who we are, while telling a remarkable story of how a group of frat boys, lawyers, and CEOs came to convince a nation that they spoke on behalf of the People. *Los Angeles Times |
Contents
INTRODUCTION Whats the Matter with America? | 1 |
Two Deep in the Heart of Redness | 28 |
Three God Meet Mammon | 67 |
Five Con Men and Mod Squad | 89 |
The Fury Which Passeth All Understanding | 111 |
Seven Russia Iran Disco Suck | 138 |
Eight Happy Captives | 157 |
Nine Kansas Bleeds for Your Sins | 179 |
Eleven Antipopes Among Us | 215 |
EPILOGUE In the Garden of the World | 237 |
NOTES | 253 |
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS | 295 |
Other editions - View all
What's the Matter with Kansas?: How Conservatives Won the Heart of America Thomas Frank Limited preview - 2007 |
Common terms and phrases
abortion Altevogt American Ann Coulter backlash Bawden believe bitter self-made blue-collar blue-state Bob Dole Boeing Brownback Bush called campaign capitalism Cashill Christian church city's Clinton Cons conservatism corporate culture David Bawden David Brooks Democrats economic election elite Enron evolution farm farmers free-market Garden City Gietzen Golba Gore intellectuals issues John Johnson County journalists Kansas City Star Kansas conservative Kansas's kids labor leaders leftist liberal Liddy lived look magazine Mission Hills Missouri moderate Republican Mods movement NASCAR Olathe percent Phill Kline political politicians Pope Michael populist pro-life Reagan Red America red-state Republican Party right-wing Sam Brownback Shawnee simply social SSPX state's story suburb tells things Tiahrt tion Todd Tiahrt Topeka town U.S. Senate union Vatican II vote voters Wall Street wealthy Wichita Eagle workers working-class York