WHEN AMERICA STOPPED BEING GREAT

A British journalist charts America's decline over the past 40 years.

BBC senior foreign correspondent Bryant mounts a scathing indictment of the polarization and degradation that have transformed the U.S. into what feels “like a continent rather than a country, a geographic expression rather than a properly functioning state.” Offering a brisk overview of American politics, economics, and social change from the Reagan era to Joe Biden’s recent win in the presidential election, the author underscores the conflicts and pressures that have deepened into crisis. Reaganism, Bryant asserts, glorified “conspicuous consumption, instant gratification and the celebration of wealth.” In addition, the election of a former film star “normalised the idea that a show-business personality could become president.” The Monica Lewinsky scandal was Bryant’s first big American story; looking back, he views it as more than a tawdry episode since it led to increased journalistic sensationalism, the rise of “post-truth politics,” and “the corrosive impact of the internet.” Barack Obama’s message of hope and change was undermined consistently by the GOP, which “took obstructionism to unprecedented levels.” Like many journalists, Bryant gave little credence to Trump’s ability to win, but he admits that “Trump possessed the great skill of populists and demagogues down the ages: to articulate the fears and prejudices of voters better than they could themselves, and also to offer simplistic solutions.” The author looks in vain for events—such as 9/11, the financial crash, and the current pandemic—that should inspire unity but instead have “made fear the great driver of US politics,” serving to exacerbate divisiveness. Now living in New York, Bryant hopes for a revival that will make America a place where his children can thrive. The nation might well pause, he suggests, taking “a respite from the hostility that might induce a period of reflection, restoration and renewal.” After his trenchant yet bleak history, however, his hope for unification seems unlikely.

An adroit political critique.