Ship of Fools: How a Selfish Ruling Class Is Bringing America to the Brink of Revolution

In informal and often humorous style, Fox News host Carlson (Tucker Carlson Tonight) opines about what’s gone wrong in America, using Plato’s allegory of an adrift ship commandeered by a feckless crew to tear into the ruling class who “work against the public’s interests,” allowing citizens to suffer through years of war, massive unemployment, and declining health. He denounces liberal politicians’ embrace of tech companies, accuses powerful politicians of supporting open borders, castigates warmongers in both parties, decries campus identity politics, pooh-poohs the idea that white supremacists are numerous or powerful today, and criticizes environmental activists for evangelizing about climate change but giving up on littering. He says the average person is repeatedly ignored for lofty ideals that make elites feel good but don’t solve problems. The book ends with a plea for the ruling class to care more about citizens and their priorities. This isn’t an argument, and there are unsupported assertions on nearly every page; at one point, for example, Carlson claims that politicians “fantasize about replacing Americans who live here, with their antiquated attitudes and seemingly intractable problems, with a new population of more pliant immigrants.” But it’s an entertainingly told narrative of elite malfeasance that will no doubt appeal to many readers. Agents: Matt Latimer and Keith Urbahn, Javelin. (Oct.)