These Truths
"In the most ambitious one-volume American history in decades, award-winning historian... Jill Lepore offers a magisterial account of the origins and rise of a divided nation, an urgently needed reckoning with the beauty and tragedy of American history. Written in elegiac prose, Lepore's groundbreaking investigation places truth itself--a devotion to facts, proof, and evidence--at the center of the nation's history. The American experiment rests on three ideas--'these truths, ' Jefferson called them--political equality, natural rights, and the sovereignty of the people. And it rests, too, on a fearless dedication to inquiry, Lepore argues, because self-government depends on it. But has the nation, and democracy itself, delivered on that promise? [This book] tells this uniquely American story, beginning in 1492, asking whether the course of events over more than five centuries has proven the nation's truths, or belied them. To answer that question, Lepore traces the intertwined histories of American politics, law, journalism, and technology, from the colonial town meeting to the nineteenth-century party machine, from talk radio to twenty-first-century Internet polls, from Magna Carta to the Patriot Act, from the printing press to Facebook News.
Stats for nerds
6recommend
13mentions
10people
2018–2023years
54% recommend46% neutral
Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
- Yes and...
> I see it a lot in American racism as well.
TIL the notion of races is an American invention. The origin was to justify the subjection of enslaved peoples, to impose a class society.
During the apocalypse, I've been binging history and biographies. The (more) recent scholarship about America has been both challenging and illuminating. As a gen-x white guy, mostly I'm embarrassed. I've always "punched up", so feel a natural affinity for minorities, working class, etc.
But I just didn't get it. Even though I considered myself an ally, my understanding of racism, class struggle, justice, and so forth was really shallow. My diet consisted of Zinn, Chomsky, Rachel Maddow, Thom Hartmann, etc. For whatever reason, aside from MLK and Gandhi, I don't recall reading much from non-white authors.
Highest recommendation to these books, probably in this order:
Jill Lepore's These Truths, The 1619 Project, Heather McGhee's The Sum of Us, Caro's LBJ biographies (passing the Civil Rights Act).
I think I needed These Truths to prepare me for 1619 Project, to provide context, set the stage.
> when it's actually classism born of racist roots
Yup. There's two books in my queue about this specifically. I'll update with cites as able.
--
Another big cultural topic which I totally misunderstood was Liberalism and by extension Neoliberalism. Specifically, the (American) reactionary origins of "free enterprise".
Being a nerd, of course all my friends growing up were self-identified libertarians. So I thought I had a good grasp of that mindset. And I always assumed the grand struggle in the USA has always been wealth vs democracy, per Kevin Phillips' books and maybe a few others. (FWIW, I always assumed I was a left-libertarian -- anti-state, anti-corporation, rabidly pro people -- but noob me had no idea had no idea how to talk about it.)
But I just wasn't aware of the doublespeak. Nor how the intuitive sounding phrases obscure and obfuscate what's really going on. To the elites pushing this stuff, "free enterprise" is pro property, anti-democracy, anti-competition, freedom to act without consequences. It is explicitly against the rule of law, against accountability, against competition. Growing up in a "Lincoln Republican" area, "socially liberal fiscally conservative", none of these concepts would have jived with my notions of fairness and civics.
To really see the disconnect between the elite and folk understandings, I had to chew thru the podcasts Know Your Enemy, 5-4 "How the Supreme Court Sucks", and Strict Scrutiny.
Also, the books Democracy in Chains and Dark Money connected a lot of the dots for me. Specifically, the connection between pro segregation, anti-civil rights, anti-labor reactionaries and the modern movement conservatives.
- These Truths (Jill Lepore)
- > As a former strategist for a big news room...
Would love to hear how you (and your cohort) would tackle these issues.
I just finished Jill Lepore's These Truths. Terrific. Tracks how our nation transformed from seekers of truth (for all our faults) to anti-truth.
The transition period from newspapers to mobile mediums as people's primary source of news is very interesting. Sure, everyone has been lamenting this ad nauseum. But somehow Lepore's explanation is just so tight and focused.
And yet. I haven't seen or heard any ideas or strategies for what's next.
Fills me with dread.
- These Truths: A History of the United States by Jill Lepore
- An American Marriage by Tayari Jones https://www.amazon.com/American-Marriage-Novel-Tayari-Jones/...
Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker https://www.amazon.com/Why-We-Sleep-Unlocking-Dreams/dp/1501...
These Truths: A History of the United States by Jill Lepore https://www.amazon.com/These-Truths-History-United-States/dp...
Growth by Vaclav Smil https://www.amazon.com/Growth-Microorganisms-Megacities-MIT-...
Prepared by Diane Tavenner https://www.amazon.com/Prepared-What-Kids-Need-Fulfilled/dp/...
The Friend by Sigrid Nunez https://www.amazon.com/Friend-Novel-Sigrid-Nunez/dp/07352194...
- Jill Lepore’s These Truths was the best history book this year. Perhaps this decade.
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