{"id":39982,"date":"2025-07-27T09:17:27","date_gmt":"2025-07-27T15:17:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theprairiesbookreview.com\/?p=39982"},"modified":"2025-07-27T09:17:27","modified_gmt":"2025-07-27T15:17:27","slug":"saving-democracy-from-the-warnings-of-2016-to-the-urgency-of-2025-by-bob-passi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theprairiesbookreview.com\/?p=39982","title":{"rendered":"Saving Democracy: From the Warnings of 2016 to the Urgency of 2025 by Bob Passi"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Bold, provocative, and hopeful…<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Passi combines historical perspective, vivid allegory, and an urgent tone to chart the nation\u2019s current turmoil and the possibilities for renewal in his compelling work. \u201cThe impossible had happened,\u201d opening the book, Passi writes of the 2016 election, \u201cand now this new President, with his Barnum and Bailey bluster, was in charge of all the levers of power in the American Oz.\u201d The metaphor of Oz lingers like smoke through the chapters, capturing how spectacle and distraction have blinded citizens to the forces hollowing out their democracy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Passi stitches history into the present, showing how every national crisis (the Revolution, the Civil War, the Great Depression) forced Americans to choose between democracy and the grip of an elite. \u201cWe either care enough about the nation and its people to stop the hollowing out of its human, democratic heart,\u201d he warns, \u201cor we\u2019re willing to let it be replaced by a cold, inhuman mechanism that values wealth and power over human concerns.\u201d The book\u2019s historical sweep is grounding and unsettling, a reminder of lessons repeatedly ignored. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Passi skillfully blends metaphor with urgency. Neoliberalism becomes a spell, an illusion that lulls citizens into complacency while an economic aristocracy pulls the strings. At one point, a voice in the book speaks to the people: \u201cYou can take back control of your lives and reclaim your resources. What seemed to be reality was just an illusion, and not only an illusion but a scam.\u201d This prophetic challenge threads through the narrative, urging readers to break free. The tone is never partisan; it\u2019s human. Passi criticizes Democrats for clinging to outdated maps and Republicans for embracing authoritarian tools, but the real indictment is aimed at complacency. Democracy, he reminds us, does not run on autopilot; it runs on the courage of its citizens. \u201cDo you simply stay stuck in the old spell,\u201d he asks, \u201cor do you choose an alternative?\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even as he lays out a dystopian trajectory, Passi refuses to let despair win. The final chapters turn toward solutions: grassroots movements, solidarity, and what he calls a \u201cCitizen Toolkit\u201d to dismantle division and dependency. The train metaphor, with two tracks diverging \u2014 one toward dystopia, the other toward renewal \u2014 drives the book to its close with warning and hope. \u201cChoose your train,\u201d he writes. \u201cChoose your future.\u201d The book goes beyond analysis to become a call to arms. It urges readers to peer behind the curtain, confront the forces manipulating their future, and recognize that democracy, though bruised, remains theirs to defend. An eye-opener<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Buy now<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pub date June 10, 2025<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Publisher Perspectives-Bob Passi<\/p>\n\n\n\n

ISBN \u200e <\/strong>979-8999045300<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Length 195 pages<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Price $16.99 (USD) Paperback, $5.99 Kindle edition<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Bold, provocative, and hopeful… Passi combines historical perspective, vivid allegory, and an urgent tone to chart the nation\u2019s current turmoil and the possibilities for renewal in his compelling work. \u201cThe impossible had happened,\u201d opening the book, Passi writes of the 2016 election, \u201cand now this new President, with his Barnum and Bailey bluster, was in charge of all the levers of power in the American Oz.\u201d The metaphor of Oz lingers like smoke through the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":145610851,"featured_media":39984,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","_crdt_document":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[723770755],"tags":[7223,91,723771055,3328,178,1136176,3748,776078,1008073,856121,309,723771056,723771054,723771053,723771052,349],"class_list":["post-39982","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-non-fiction-non-fiction","tag-author","tag-blogging","tag-bob-passi","tag-book-reviews","tag-books","tag-indie-books","tag-non-fiction","tag-non-fiction-book-review","tag-review-blog","tag-review-website","tag-reviews","tag-saving-democracy-from-the-warnings-of-2016-to-the-urgency-of-2025","tag-social-sciences","tag-united-states-history-books","tag-united-states-national-government","tag-writing"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/theprairiesbookreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/saving-democracy.jpg?fit=283%2C425&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pajKJn-aoS","amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theprairiesbookreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39982","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theprairiesbookreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theprairiesbookreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theprairiesbookreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/145610851"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theprairiesbookreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=39982"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/theprairiesbookreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39982\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":39986,"href":"https:\/\/theprairiesbookreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39982\/revisions\/39986"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theprairiesbookreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/39984"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theprairiesbookreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=39982"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theprairiesbookreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=39982"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theprairiesbookreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=39982"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}