The New New Left: How American Politics Works Today

In this short, punchy polemic from urban affairs expert Malanga, the gloves come off right away. Malanga decries what he sees as the leftward tilt in the nation's cities, where, he says, the heirs of the original New Left, 1960s social and political activists, have retreated in the face of right-wing dominance on the national scene. This development, he contends, pits ordinary taxpayers against ""tax eaters,"" an ""increasingly cynical coalition"" of public-employee unions and social service providers. In his view, these groups drag down city and state economies with expensive programs and onerous laws that serve only to boost their own ranks. He also argues that union-supported living wage legislation sends businesses elsewhere; university labor studies programs exist merely to provide foot soldiers for union organizers; and Wal-Mart opponents undermine America's consumer-driven economy. ""Radical left wing"" groups like ACORN, a community organization of low-and moderate-income families incur the author's particular scorn, as do journalists Barbara Ehrenreich and David Shipler, so-called ""prophets of victimology."" However, beyond delivering ""bad news"" in lively, op-ed style chapters, the author is silent on the problems faced by many low-wage workers. For Malanga, the antidote to the country's economic ills is entrepreneurship, a curious claim when one considers that independent businesses are the very ones threatened by the expansion of superstores like Wal-Mart. In a concluding paean to small business owners, Malanga says, ""urban health results from city governments doing the basics well and then allowing the marketplace to work its magic for everyone."" He neglects, however, to explore how communities should respond to the issues faced by people whom the magic never touches.