{"product_id":"rebel-2","title":"Rebel","description":"Politics has never been more unpredictable. Radical populists and insurgents have turned politics-as-usual on its head. Rebel explores how we got here, where we are heading and what we can do about it. Douglas Carswell argues that these insurgencies are a reaction against the emergence of a political and economic oligarchy that has subverted our democracy and stifled our market system. \"Politics,\" he writes, \"is a cartel. Like the economy, it is rigged in the interests of an emerging oligarchy.\" This leaves our liberal, democratic order – the mechanism that has allowed a historically unprecedented proportion of humanity to flourish – facing a twin assault: oligarchs on the one hand, radical populists on the other. Reassessing history and politics, Rebel puts forward a bold new thesis: we are not the first to face such a threat. Oligarchic cartels have clogged the arteries of nations and economies throughout history, triggering radical insurgencies in protest. But all too often the radicals have strengthened the hand of the oligarchs: the Roman, Venetian and Dutch republics all succumbed to cartels. \"Anti-oligarch radicals,\" the author notes, \"have often made the oligarchs seem the more attractive option.\" So, too, today, he suggests. In the face of these twin threats, Carswell mounts a robust defence of the liberal, democratic order. Drawing on his first-hand experience in taking on – and beating – the established political parties, he proposes a profound reform of politics and capitalism to free us from the cartels, listing the practical steps needed to make this revolutionary change happen.","brand":"bookshop.lol","offers":[{"title":"Thryft - Used (Like New)","offer_id":43308496846926,"sku":"9781786691569","price":7.9,"currency_code":"SGD","in_stock":false},{"title":"Thryft - Used (Very Good)","offer_id":43308496879694,"sku":"9781786691569","price":7.9,"currency_code":"SGD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Thryft - Used (Good)","offer_id":43308496912462,"sku":"9781786691569","price":6.9,"currency_code":"SGD","in_stock":false},{"title":"Thryft - Used (Well Read)","offer_id":43308496945230,"sku":"9781786691569","price":5.9,"currency_code":"SGD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0645\/3857\/4926\/files\/36262170_11eb142b-f6ab-4f76-9b55-91d89c1dccd4.jpg?v=1768171131","url":"https:\/\/bookshop.lol\/products\/rebel-2","provider":"bookshop.lol","version":"1.0","type":"link"}