Lately, I’ve been looking back on my life, and it’s strange to see the winding, twisting journey that I took to get here. Politically, I feel like I’ve swung far and wide across the spectrum, but in reality, I’ve been a moderate most of my life. Whether leaning right in my youth or leaning left today, I haven’t strayed far along the political spectrum, but all along I’ve approached politics through a small “l” liberalism. I would never have come to that realization without reading Adam Gopnik’s A Thousand Small Sanities. Gopnik lays out the case for liberalism by discussing its historical and philosophical roots. He makes a strong case that the boring, incremental approachs to improving society work the best.
TL;DR
Adam Gopnik’s A Thousand Small Sanities defends contemporary liberalism as an heir to humanist tradition and posits that real change comes from building community. This isn’t a sexy or flashy political firework; it’s the light that illuminates and creates space for work to be done. Recommended
From the Publisher
A stirring defense of liberalism against the dogmatisms of our time from an award-winning and New York Times bestselling author.
Not since the early twentieth century has liberalism, and liberals, been under such relentless attack, from both right and left. The crisis of democracy in our era has produced a crisis of faith in liberal institutions and, even worse, in liberal thought.
A Thousand Small Sanities is a manifesto rooted in the lives of people who invented and extended the liberal tradition. Taking us from Montaigne to Mill, and from Middlemarch to the civil rights movement, Adam Gopnik argues that liberalism is not a form of centrism, nor simply another word for free markets, nor merely a term denoting a set of rights. It is something far more ambitious: the search for radical change by humane measures. Gopnik shows us why liberalism is one of the great moral adventures in human history — and why, in an age of autocracy, our lives may depend on its continuation.
Review: A Thousand Small Sanities
Adam Gopnik starts A Thousand Small Sanities as a meditation on his daughter’s reaction to the election results of 2016. The two of them, surprised as everyone else, realising that the rules of their democratic society are in danger. Gopnik looked for a contemporary defense of the U.S.’s liberal traditions. But he found none. In fact, he found the opposite. In the U.S., no one likes liberals. For the political right, liberals are lumped in with the far left; yet the true left sneers at liberals and labels them as neo-liberals because the neo- makes it sound smart. Since he couldn’t find a defense, he decided to write one. And he succeeded. Not wildly but in a very liberal way, patiently with polish.
To accomplish this goal, Gopnik doesn’t look at the contemporary state of the world. Instead, he looks to history and philosophy for traditions that make up liberalism. John Stuart Mill, Harriet Taylor, David Hume, Adam Smith, Frederick Douglass, Bayard Rustin, George Eliot, G.H. Lewes, and Montaigne, all inform Gopnik’s liberalism. He pulls from their writings, their lives, their deeds to show liberalism in action. For Gopnik, one principle emerged. Humanism precedes liberalism. Liberals recognize that lasting change comes when the masses change. For example, in the U.S. today, homosexual men and women are much more accepted in society than the 80s or 90s. While there are still reactionaries who target the LGBTQ+ community, the masses of the U.S. now accept the community as an open part of the nation, so much so that gay marriage is now legal. The fights in the courts aren’t about existence but about whether denying business services is discriminatory. There is no one person to point to for these changes. The LGBTQ+ has many heroes who fought, who struggled, to better society by treating their community with respect, and while many, unfortunately, didn’t live to see their efforts, their efforts resulted in a more inclusive society. Some impacted societal consciousness in profound ways; others made small changes by living their truth. But changes were still made, and those changes added up transforming the masses of U.S. society.
This illustrates another aspect of liberalism that, while not sexy, is incredibly effective: incrementalism. Breaking a project down into small steps is not fun. Setting goals across years seems like defeat. The revolutionary fervor doesn’t rise when setting attainable milestones and plans of action. But incrementalism works, and no one knows this better than the far right. Ever since Newt Gingrich led the GOP in Congress, his style of take no prisoners politics has spread throughout the party. But they make small changes to laws here and there. They push the Overton Window to the right, and they’ve pushed it so far that they elected an authoritarian who begs other countries to interfere in our elections. Liberals seek to engage as many as possible to build consensus.
Reality Through the Lens of a Liberal
One of the more interesting parts of Gopnik’s definition is that liberalism is a practice. By framing it as practice and not ideology, he takes as written the fallibility of humanity. Practice associates with improvement meaning that society will have to continually work towards those improvements. When one milestone is reached, liberalism should not rest on its laurels but should look to the next issue. Liberals believe in reform because humans are equally as likely to get something wrong as they are to get it right. Societal practices that were once thought helpful may eventually be deemed harmful. Before the 70s, homosexuality was considered a form of mental disorder. It was even labeled as such in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM). But now, it’s recognized that this practice was incredibly harmful to many. No serious therapist would diagnose anyone as having a mental disorder because they’re gay. Reform recognizes that change is necessary now and will be necessary in the future.
Arguing the Negative
A Thousand Small Sanities isn’t a sales pitch for liberalism. The book makes an argument, and successful arguments address critiques from opponents. Gopnik takes serious the criticisms from the right and the left. In the book, he lays out these criticisms and their likely foundations. Then he addresses them successfully.
I really enjoyed these rebuttals. He took the critiques of liberals seriously and worthy, which is rare nowadays. Too many people caricature their opponents views making it easier to ‘defeat’ them in debate. Gopnik’s responses feel more like a conversation than a debate. The point isn’t to win; it’s to grow. I like to debate on social media, and I have a lot to learn from Gopnik’s handling of liberalism’s critiques. It’s elegant and strong without being condescending. I found this incredibly refreshing in a world where the phrases ‘libtard’ and ‘neo-liberal shill’ exist.
Breaking My Own Rule
Conclusion
Adam Gopnik’s A Thousand Small Sanities succeeds in defending small “l” liberalism. If someone asked for an ideal defense of liberals, this book is the answer. While it will not convince extremists in how to change society, A Thousand Small Sanities makes an effective argument for incrementalism as a driver for lasting change. To paraphrase Adam, social interaction begets the social contract. A Thousand Small Sanities defines and defends liberalism. Recommended!
A Thousand Small Sanities by Adam Gopnik is out right now in hardback and will be available in paperback from Basic Books on July 14th, 2020.