{"product_id":"ed-west-small-men-on-the-wrong-side-of-history-9781472130822","title":"Small Men on the Wrong Side of History","description":"What's wrong with conservatism? Why is it that, no matter how many elections they win, conservatives tend to lose almost every political argument? And what is it about conservatism that makes it so unpalatable, even to many conservatives? Since the 1950s the western world has gone through a cultural shift, comparable to the rise of Christianity during the late Roman period and the sixteenth-century religious revolution unleashed by Martin Luther. Both of these led to profound changes in public ideas about morality and sexuality, and eventually to the 'culture wars' between two deeply opposed groups. Today Britain is witnessing a second Reformation, which is going to be long, painful and boring, with both sides becoming more idiotic and hysterical - just as the religious divisions that once drove Catholics and Protestants into prolonged insanity. Conservatives, like the pagans and Catholics before them, are very much on the losing side. The future appears progressive and their cultural defeat is inevitable, part of an 'arc of history' that leads irrevocably to a progressive utopia in which they're left in the dustbin. As Barack Obama said of al-Qaeda, another group of guys not entirely comfortable with the modern world, conservatives are 'Small Men on the Wrong Side of History'. Too many polemics and articles on the Right are tediously shouty; too few of them explore where their arguments have fallen flat and why people find conservatives and conservatism so repulsive. In his incisive and witty new book, Ed West examines some of the idiocies of the modern Right and the strange characteristics shared by conservatives, including himself, but he also offers explanations as to why people are conservative and what benefits conservatism offers. In particular he argues that conservatism is the necessary brake on 'runaway liberalism': the competitive desire to appear 'Woker-Than-Thou', which is driving progressive politics to extremes. Small Men on the Wrong Side of History is that rarest of books: one that those on the Left, Right or Centre will enjoy.","brand":"Little, Brown Book Group","offers":[{"title":"Used - very good","offer_id":53585820909910,"sku":"9781472130822-V","price":8.69,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0925\/5829\/5382\/files\/product_image_9781472130822_1.jpg?v=1778471715","url":"https:\/\/www.momoxbooks.com\/products\/ed-west-small-men-on-the-wrong-side-of-history-9781472130822","provider":"momoxbooks","version":"1.0","type":"link"}