Chaotic Neutral, Ed Burmila
Chaotic Neutral, Ed Burmila
List: $31.99 | Sale: $22.40
Club: $15.99

Chaotic Neutral
How the Democrats Lost Their Soul in the Center

Author: Ed Burmila

Narrator: Mikael Naramore

Unabridged: 13 hr 4 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 09/20/2022


Synopsis

A recent history of the Democratic Party that identifies its chronic errors—the “pathologies” of the New Democratic mindset—and argues urgently against a return to the status quo

Why did the Democrats initially abandon their principles, and why haven’t they been able to grasp that they need a new strategy in the face of decades of diminishing returns? In Chaotic Neutral, political scientist Ed Burmila breaks it to us, tracing the party’s metamorphosis from bold defender of labor rights, civil rights, and a robust social safety net to a timorous, ideology-free, regulation-averse lifestyle brand.

Chaotic Neutral tracks the evolution (or devolution) of the Democratic Party from the New Deal era to Biden’s status-quo candidacy and the pandemic, when, even in the midst of a national crisis, the Democrats could not manage to pass sweeping progressive legislation. It is a timely analysis and, simultaneously, a timeless one that pinpoints why Dem politicians act like also-rans even when they’re in power.

Burmila doesn’t pull any punches as he describes the Democrats’ brand of futility politics, but he also doesn’t claim that all is futile, instead laying out a potent strategy for how the party might abandon its lesser-of-two-evils strategy and shift back into drive.  

Reviews

Goodreads review by Shane

Far from the usual type of political naval gazing that finds a way to justify whatever it is we have been doing by placing the blame elsewhere, Chaotic Neutral’s is criticism from the left at what the left itself has been doing wrong for the last 50 years. It is entertaining and informative while ne......more

Goodreads review by Ryan

In the midst of our endless obsession with political polarization between the left and right, we’ve lost sight of the real problem with US politics: namely, that there is no longer any party genuinely interested in advancing the needs of the working class—and there hasn't been since the era of the N......more

Goodreads review by J Earl

In Chaotic Neutral: How the Democrats Lost Their Soul in the Center Ed Burmila uses historical examples, incisive analysis, and engaging (if sometimes accurately profane) writing to show just how inept the Democratic party has become. I admit to being one of those to the left of the party, well to th......more

Goodreads review by Joshua

After finishing Ed Burmila’s CHAOTIC NEUTRAL: HOW DEMOCRATS LOST THEIR SOUL IN THE CENTER, I happened upon a post in my Facebook memories from July 17, 2019; the post was about the first time impeachment was floated regarding then-President Trump, two and a half years into a Presidency that began wi......more


Quotes

Chaotic Neutral is a thorough account of how the Democrats went from America’s only viable party to everybody’s favorite punching bag. Liberals need to read this book and weep.”—Malcolm Harris, author of Kids These Days

“An incisive and propulsive dissection of what ails the Democratic Party. This book is a rousing argument for much-delayed political change.”—Rafia Zakaria, author of Against White Feminism

“Urgent, engaging reading for anyone trying to make sense of contemporary US party politics. A fun read for decidedly un-fun times.”—Olúfemi O. Táíwò, author of Elite Capture

Chaotic Neutral exposes the rot at the foundation of the current Democratic Party with an immensely readable mixture of political and social history, analysis, and humor. While acknowledging that there are no quick fixes or easy paths forward, Burmila also thankfully highlights the fundamental shifts necessary to reorient, rebuild, and ultimately reconnect the party to the people it purports to represent.”—Astra Taylor, author of Remake the World

“This irreverent polemic debut alleges that Democrats ‘give up when they should fight’ and have a ‘broken’ view of how politics works… Throughout, Burmila combines deep research and sophisticated history lessons with acerbic wit (Donald Trump is ‘a store-brand dictator, the perfect synthesis of Kim Jong-Il and Don Rickles’). This smart and entertaining screed packs a punch.”—Publishers Weekly