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I've been reading @edwest's book Small Men on the Wrong Side of History, and I have ~thoughts~. First, it's *fascinating* as a sort of intellectual anthropology exercise, to read something from a very Other perspective to mine (specifically, cultural conservatism).
(Declaration of interest: Ed is a friend and my editor at Unherd.)
It helps that it's clearly written to be read by liberals and centrists, so it's self-deprecating and admits all the things that people think about conservatives: they're afraid of the world, etc. He is funny about how weird it is to be, as he was, conservative at 19
I disagree with a lot of it (and some of his factual claims are contentious) but that's not the point: the point is that it let me see how the world looks to him. It's quite depressive and sad, and reminds me of this review of Malcolm Muggeridge's autobiog https://slatestarcodex.com/2015/08/11/book-review-chronicles-of-wasted-time/
I think it's really worth reading for people who are instinctively liberal and/or left, for a more psychologically accurate understanding of the minds of people they disagree with (rather than "they're callous", "they're evil", "they hate the poor and minorities".
There are also some good observations. I particularly liked the idea (quoted from someone) that conservatives are moral relativists about the past but moral absolutists about other cultures, while liberals are moral absolutists about the past and relativists about other cultures
Also, very specifically, I want @TheosElizabeth to read it and then to invite @edwest on her podcast because I think that would be a really interesting conversation.
oh I probably ought to include a link to buy the book from, while I'm log-rolling my pals https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07MCVK585/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1
