Cynical Theories

Fantastic book covering the ideologic concepts that have been ingrained into the institutions of the West (and particularly the United States) and is the primary antithesis to the concepts of liberalism and enlightenment along with Judeo-Christian values in the culture war that is currently underway.

Pluckrose and Lindsay do a fantastic job of accurately describing the origins and evolution of these “theories” and how they are implementing their ideologies into reality. They also discuss how this is has affected society and what to expect as it continues to grow in popularity. There is real, serious danger here. If you cannot see it, it may be helpful to step outside of your bubble and look again. As a warning: if you are firmly planted on the left, you'll want to skip this book as you will almost certainly be cancelled and lose friends if you are caught reading it. This level-headed look at these topics is verboten.

If you have high-school aged children and are considering sending them off to college, this book is a must read as those children will be indoctrinated with these ideologies in almost every college/university in the United States and will be opposed to the ideology that most Americans grew up thinking of as wholesome and helpful.

I've read several books criticizing the excesses of the left but this one is the first that comes from a liberal position. Usually the author can not disguise their open “conservative” views even though they announce themselves as a centrist. These authors openly call themselves liberals and give detailed reasons of how we have found ourselves dealing with so much identity politics and why it hurts discourse. I listened to this in audiobook form, and I'm looking for the physical book so I can check some of the references and continue to read more about the thinking presented here.

In some places it dragged a bit with historical background and setup, but for the most part I was very engaged with this thoughtful argument. And I feel like the lengthy setup actually does pay off in the end as it ties together.