This Is Not Normal: The Politics of Everyday Expectations PDF
Preview This Is Not Normal: The Politics of Everyday Expectations
This Is Not Normal This page intentionally left blank This Is Not Normal The Politics of Everyday Expectations Cass R. Sunstein New Haven & London Copyright © 2021 by Cass R. Sunstein. All rights reserved. This book may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, including illustrations, in any form (beyond that copying permitted by Sections 107 and 108 of the U.S. Copyright Law and except by reviewers for the public press), without written permission from the publishers. Yale University Press books may be purchased in quantity for educational, business, or promotional use. For information, please e-mail [email protected] (U.S. office) or [email protected] (U.K. office). Set in Janson type by Integrated Publishing Solutions. Printed in the United States of America. Library of Congress Control Number: 2020936929 ISBN 978-0-300-25350-4 (hardcover : alk. paper) A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. This paper meets the requirements of ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992 (Permanence of Paper). 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 For Ellyn, Declan, and Rian, forever young This page intentionally left blank Contents Preface ix one Howling with the Wolves 1 two The New Normal 13 three Revolution Is in the Air 29 four Lapidation and Apology 41 five Founding 59 Contents six Refounding 87 seven Radicals 102 eight Liberalism 123 nine “Who Will Stop Me?” The Cult of Ayn Rand 134 ten History’s Forks 148 Epilogue 161 Notes 165 Acknowledgments 175 Index 179 viii Preface If your government jails people because of their political convic- tions, you might not think that it is so terrible if public officials read your email. If you live in a society in which officials rou- tinely steal public money for their own use, you might not mind so much if an official asks for a little bribe in exchange for letting you open a small business. If sexual harassment is rampant in your society, you might not object much if male employers flirt with female employees. In a nation that suffers from pervasive poverty, the idea of a right to health care might not get much traction. What provokes our outrage depends on what surrounds us—on what we consider “normal.” Not so long ago, it was normal for public schools in the United States to require students to pray every morning. (As a young boy in public school in Massachusetts, I said the Lord’s Prayer in school, Monday through Friday.) Not so long ago, it was nor- ix
The list of books you might like
