Review of THE LAST BEST HOPE: America in Crisis and Renewal
Another way to think about our divided country
Packer is today’s David Halberstam. Like Halberstam in Vietnam, Packer cemented his place in the journalistic pantheon with his book on the Iraq war, The Assassin’s Gate. Like Halberstam, he writes a gripping biography that is a metaphor for the country (see Our Man). A regular contributor to The Atlantic, Packer’s most recent book is a short one. It is really a series of connected essays much of which he has presented in other forms. Regardless, I have no doubt that his thesis that we are four Americas will stick with us the way David Brooks’ evocation of the Red and Blue electoral map did in 2001.
The four Americas are: Just America, Smart America, Free America and Real America. To put it more simply, think Ronald Reagan, Silicon Valley, Trump and woke. Or, if that doesn’t work, try business, elites, working class, minorities. That was a terrible simplification, but I do not want to explicate further since it is a terrific, short and very insightful read where his unpacking of each America is worth the price of admission.
The four Americas are in a civil war over conflicting interpretations of what America is. They all agree that it is an abstract concept backed by founding documents and words like “liberty”, “freedom” and “equality”. In fact, Packer argues that the potential overlap that exists on all these concepts, in particular “equality”, among these disparate groups is the most likely way out of our gridlock. In the meantime, the very set of shared values that often bound this raucous democracy are now being held hostage by different parts of the American demographic for their, own purposes, no matter how ill-informed, justified or selfish. It is not a pretty picture, but as Packer points out throughout this brief book, it never has been.
Last Best Hope: America in Crisis and Renewal
George Packer (2021)
145 pages