Eric Liu

Nick Hanauer

Argues that in contrast to the eighteenth-century concept of society as a predictable machine, twenty-first century American democracy needs to be viewed as a series of complex, interrelated systems capable of coming up with adaptive solutions to its problems.

A New American Story of Citizenship, the Economy, and the Role of Government

The Gardens of Democracy

Over the course of a generation, patriotism in America has been hijacked by the right and abandoned by the left. But the principles and values of true patriotism – country above self, contribution above consumption, stewardship over exploitation, freedom with responsibility, purpose through sacrifice and service, pragmatism, a fair shot for all – are inherently progressive. The True Patriot, written in the pamphleteering style of Thomas Paine (Common Sense), challenges progressives to reclaim patriotism – and spells out just how to do it. This powerful and timely "little red book" combines a manifesto, a ten-principle plan, a model speech, and a moral code. Throughout, it weaves between the words of the authors and excerpts from foundational American texts and speeches, as well as a parade of iconic American images.

The True Patriot

American democracy is informed by the 18th century’s most cutting edge thinking on society, economics, and government. We’ve learned some things in the intervening 230 years about self interest, social behaviors, and how the world works. Now, authors Eric Liu and Nick Hanauer argue that some fundamental assumptions about citizenship, society, economics, and government need updating. For many years the dominant metaphor for understanding markets and government has been the machine. Liu and Hanauer view democracy not as a machine, but as a garden. A successful garden functions according to the inexorable tendencies of nature, but it also requires goals, regular tending, and an understanding of connected ecosystems. The latest ideas from science, social science, and economics—the cutting-edge ideas of today--generate these simple but revolutionary ideas: True self interest is mutual interest. (Society, it turns out, is an ecosystem that is healthiest when we take care of the whole.) Society becomes how we behave. (The model of citizenship depends on contagious behavior, hence positive behavior begets positive behavior.) We’re all better off when we’re all better off. (The economy is not an efficient machine. It’s an effective garden that need tending. Adjust the definition of wealth to society creating solutions for all.) Government should be about the big what and the little how. (Government should establish the ideas and the goals, and then let the people find the solutions of how to make it happen.) Freedom is responsibility. (True freedom is not about living some variant of libertarianism but rather an active cooperation a part of a big whole society; freedom costs a little freedom.) The Gardens of Democracy is an optimistic, provocative, and timely summons to improve our role as citizens in a democratic society.

Nick Hanauer

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