The Sinking Ship
Ship of Fools, by Tucker Carlson, is subtitled, “How a Selfish Ruling Class is Bringing America to the Brink of Revolution. Carlson is the host of “Tucker Carlson Tonight,” on the Fox News Channel. For me, Ship of Fools, his second book, was at times hard to read. Carlson’s writing is fine, often witty and humorous, but the magnitude of the selfish, feckless, and inept leadership that the author brings to light stunned me.
Kyle with his copy of Ship of Fools by Tucker Carlson
I know this nation has deep problems brought on by politics and greed, but it pains me to hear about it. However, on another level, I don’t want to be just one of the crew on the ship of fools. I want to understand the problems this country is facing and so I read on.
If you have watched his television show you’ve seen the outline of this book. In the introduction, Carlson states, “Happy countries don’t elect Donald Trump president. Desperate ones do.” He then goes on to describe the decline of the middle class and says,
“Democracies don’t work except in middle-class countries. In 2015, for the first time in its history, the United States stopped being a predominantly middle-class country.” He explained why that was true and how our leaders have ignored the problems that led to it. He then concludes the introduction with, “Our leaders are fools, unaware that they are captains of a sinking ship. This book is about them.”
The first chapter is titled “The Convergence” and establishes a major theme of the book, that the left and the right have come together as a greed-motivated cabal.
“Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, the Google guys—nobody was accusing them of exploiting workers or getting too rich. Just the opposite. Liberals were celebrating their wealth and assuring us their products would liberate the world. Conservatives didn’t complain. They’d always celebrated business. Suddenly both sides were aligned on the virtues of unrestrained market capitalism.”
We can argue about the details, but as the big tech insiders grow richer so do the elites of the ruling class. Meanwhile, the middle class shrinks.
Instead of actually examining the real issues that led to the election of Donald Trump, the ruling class lied and attacked Trump and anyone that supported him. There are six more chapters in Ship of Fools, covering the immigration issue, endless wars, the loss of free speech, diversity, the evolution of feminism, and ending with the environment. Carlson shows how the ruling elites aren’t solving the real problems presented in these chapters. They are content to use identity politics and virtue signaling to gather votes and the power that follows.
Near the end of the book, Carlson states, “When the people in charge retreat into fantasy, and demand that everyone else join them there, society itself becomes impervious to reality.” When I read that I thought of the males now competing in women’s sports. They declare themselves women, use women’s locker rooms, bathrooms, and spas, and everyone is told to go along with this nonsense. They are women, the elites insist, and most of us do as we are told. We are a nation retreating into fantasy.
Tucker Carlson is a significant voice in the conservative movement and this book is compelling.
I recommend Ship of Fools.
Have you read this book? Do you watch Carlson’s show? What do you think of him and the book? Let me know in the comment section below.
