#### : A History `Author:` Steven Hahn `Availability:` > [!info] > ## Summary ## Key Takeaways ## Quotes - ## Notes ### **"Illiberal America: A History" – The Liberal Blind Spot** Steven Hahn’s *Illiberal America* examines how illiberal forces have repeatedly shaped the U.S., often because liberals underestimated or accommodated them. Hahn’s historical perspective reveals that liberalism’s greatest weakness is not just its opponents but its own inconsistencies—its willingness to compromise with racism, corporate power, and authoritarianism in the name of "pragmatism." From Reconstruction’s betrayal to neoliberalism’s hollowing out of democracy, liberals have too often enabled the very forces they claim to oppose. Hahn’s work shows that the far right rises not just because of its own zeal but because liberalism fails to offer a compelling alternative. When liberals prioritize decorum over justice, or when they defend broken institutions rather than remake them, they cede ground to radicals who promise (however falsely) to smash the system. `Concepts:` `Knowledge Base:` [[Books index]]