Responding to the Right: Brief Replies to 25 Conservative Arguments

Responding to the Right: Brief Replies to 25 Conservative Arguments

Nathan J. Robinson
$19.99
Publication Date: February 14th, 2023
Publisher:
St. Martin's Griffin
ISBN:
9781250777744
Pages:
384
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Description

The editor of Current Affairs artfully and efficiently debunks a series of common right-wing arguments.

Are taxes theft? Is abortion murder? Does regulation destroy jobs? Is white privilege a lie? Conservative talking points are everywhere, and through well-funded media like Fox News, Breitbart, and YouTube’s "Prager University," the right has an impressive record of packaging its views for a general audience. Clearly, the left needs to do a better job of fighting back.

Luckily, Current Affairs editor Nathan J. Robinson has developed a reputation as a meticulous slayer of irrational and bigoted arguments. He has tangled with the likes of Ben Shapiro, Jordan Peterson, and Charles Murray, exposing their flimsy logic and distorted facts with forensic thoroughness and savage wit. In Responding to the Right, Robinson blasts right-wing nonsense with devastating intellectual weaponry, revealing how everyone from Ann Coulter to the National Review uses fear and lies to manipulate the public. He gives a detailed explanation of how conservative arguments work and why we need to resist them, then goes through twenty-five separate talking points, showing precisely why each one fails.

This essential handbook is a stimulating source of issues to debate and a comprehensive challenge to dozens of dominant orthodoxies. It sets a new standard for leftist critique, and would be an invaluable addition to the arsenals of the millions of progressives fighting the political battles of our age.

About the Author

Nathan J. Robinson is a leading voice of millennial left politics. He is the editor of Current Affairs. His work has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The New Republic, The Nation, Salon, The Guardian, and elsewhere. A graduate of Yale Law School, he is a PhD student in Sociology and Social Policy at Harvard University, where his work focuses on contemporary left social movements. He is the author of Why You Should Be A Socialist.

Praise for Responding to the Right: Brief Replies to 25 Conservative Arguments

"Robinson reads the right so you don't have to (though maybe you should) and tells you what they say, why it wins converts, and how to beat them at their own game." —Cory Doctorow, author of Radicalized and co-author of Chokepoint Capitalism

"Nathan Robinson is that rare and brilliant radical thinker who is unafraid to be witty while he's challenging your preconceptions. Come for the analysis, stay for the rhetoric." —Laurie Penny, author of Bitch Doctrine and Unspeakable Things

"The bulk of the book is a run-through of 25 common points of debate that Robinson dismantles by calling out their rhetorical hyperbole, disingenuous misreadings of history, willful manipulation of data, or outright bigotry...Robinson’s approach is snark-free, and though he’s confident in his rebuttals, he never postures as superior." —Kirkus

"[An] insightful guide to debunking conservative arguments...Progressives will savor this lucid handbook." —Publishers Weekly

"Responding to the Right is a delightfully readable book from an author who never fails to charm. It deflates the right’s more bombastic claims while making a compelling case for a more progressive standpoint." —Aero Magazine