The 15% Solution: A Political History of American Fascism, 2001-2022

I recently picked up this book again and read through it after spotting it on Amazon.

I got this book in the mid-90s, maybe a year or so after it came out. It is an attempt to derive, from the words of leaders in the far-right at the time, a picture of where they might have taken the country based on their views and intentions as they themselves described them. While history has obviously taken a different course than what is described, for which we can be very grateful, the book's primary value is the same as that of Sinclair Lewis' "It Can't Happen Here," Jack London's "The Iron Heel" or Margaret Atwood's "The Handmaiden's Tale," namely to make people aware of the prevailing views and desires of political/religious extremists and hardliners on the right, and how they might have reshaped the nation to reflect their own ideologies.

It is essentially a warning, and a reminder that if the majority of the country doesn't remain active and informed on politics, they leave the door open for a fringe minority to take the reins.

The book's title refers to the percentage of organized voters one segment of the religious right has said would be needed to swing an election in their favor, given the apathy and disinterest to be found among the general population. "The 15% Solution" describes how an organized and motivated voting bloc, comprising a mere 15% of the population, could take control of the country from the other 85%.

Although we're long past the publishing date, and history taken a fairly different course than what was described, most of the major political players whose words are quoted in the book are still very much actively in the game, wielding influence and control over the GOP, and still working to remake the country in their image.

As a result, one look at the daily cast of usual suspects on Fox news and talk radio, among others, demonstrates its validity and relevance. It's still worth buying a copy and giving it a read. While some of the fictional portions suffer from some weak writing, the factual portions more than make up for it.