I just finished Douglas Murray’s book The Madness of Crowds. Here’s my review.
It’s one of the most important books I’ve ever read.
I’m not a super political person, but whenever people ask me where I stand politically (which is an impossibly loaded question), I say:
“My dad thinks I’m a Communist and my friends think I’m a Trump supporter.” (Neither are true.)
I have a lot of problems with ‘the Left’: social justice warriors, woke culture, etc. Despite being well-intentioned and fighting for seemingly just causes…I find most of what the loudest voices are doing and saying are in fact shoving us backward, not progressing us forward.
Unfortunately, many of the books or videos I’ve seen with this same opinion have the vibe of: Leftists and liberals are brats and snowflakes and here’s more detail on how stupid they are.
This book was not that.
Another reviewer of this book summed it up well:
“Murray is basically saying ‘Look at this insanity. This is going too far. And here are strange and startling examples why.'”
Douglas gives us an articulate, elegant, and well-sourced reminder that the social issues we’re facing today are complex and incomplete. The rules are not yet solidified or agreed upon, yet the mobs on Twitter and on college campuses are acting as if these rules should be common sense at this point.
I’d recommend this book to anyone who believes in social equality and liberty, but who doesn’t think shaming, canceling, or silencing is the best way to achieve that.
I certainly don’t.
10/10