Drift
2012 • 288 pages
Ratings11
Average rating4.2
15
Ratings11
Average rating4.2
The #1 New York Times bestseller that charts America’s dangerous drift into a state of perpetual war. Written with bracing wit and intelligence, Rachel Maddow's Drift argues that we've drifted away from America's original ideals and become a nation weirdly at peace with perpetual war. To understand how we've arrived at such a dangerous place, Maddow takes us from the Vietnam War to today's war in Afghanistan, along the way exploring Reagan's radical presidency, the disturbing rise of executive authority, the gradual outsourcing of our war-making capabilities to private companies, the plummeting percentage of American families whose children fight our constant wars for us, and even the changing fortunes of G.I. Joe. Ultimately, she shows us just how much we stand to lose by allowing the scope of American military power to overpower our political discourse. Sensible yet provocative, dead serious yet seriously funny, Drift reinvigorates a "loud and jangly" political debate about our vast and confounding national security state.
Reviews with the most likes.
A very insightful book which details how the country has learnt “to be at peace with being at war” and how the bipartisan executive over the last few decades has made it happen. Essential reading for the politically conscious citizens.
Drift is a disturbing book, detailing military excesses in the modern era. For some reason, though, it mostly skims over problems in the Bush administration and the absurdity that was the invasion of Iraq. Apart from that fairly gaping hole, it's an important read.
Drift is a very important book. I hope it will be widely read in all circles – especially by those involved in economic, political, and military decisions.
Rachel Maddow wittily and skillfully describes how the USA drifted into its present state of almost perpetual war. The executive branch of the government now wages war with little restraint. It is a serious condition and it is doing terrible damage to the economic health, the spirit, and indeed the safety of the country.
She ends the book with a very good eight-point to-do list. It is a call to action and I hope our leaders will heed it.
(As good as the book is, I can't bring myself to give it five stars. That is because Maddow allowed her politics to color her writing somewhat. Though she gives nobody a pass, she directs bitter anger and ill-will most strongly at Republicans. This is unfortunate; however, it takes nothing from her basic message.)
