For the past decade, conservatives have been going through something of an identity crisis. What was once a movement that embraced free-market capitalism, globalism, expertise, and military dominance now champions working-class populism, nationalism, subsidiarity, and non-interventionism. What keeps both forms of conservatism on the same spectrum is their opposition to leftist ideology, commitment to law and order, and reverence for Western civilization.
Most of today’s conservatives are somewhere in the middle of this spectrum. While they acknowledge the many virtues of the old conservatism, which defeated the Soviet Union, facilitated technological advancement, lifted billions of people out of poverty, and made the U.S. an economic and cultural superpower, we also see the rise of the administrative state, the futility of pointless wars, the emergence of an elite class of oligarchs, and the widespread neglect of the working classes.
Unfortunately, when it comes to these new concerns, many conservatives lack the vocabulary to articulate their arguments. Yes, they can explain why communism is bad, why a strong military is important, and why hard work and personal responsibility are necessary for success, but they struggle with explaining the importance of labor, making the economy fairer, or decentralizing the current globalized economic system.
Fortunately, Michael Lind’s new book Hell to Pay: How the Suppression of Wages Is Destroying America is a clear and concise primer to equip modern Americans of all political stripes to talk seriously about American labor. Far from being a niche issue, Lind shows how the decline in worker power
