Oak Park author Michael Lotus and his co-author are being accused of outrageous optimism for their new book.
According to a review in USA Today by Glenn Harlan Reynolds, a professor of law at the University of Tennessee, “while at the moment a lot of our political leaders may be wearing sunglasses so as not to be recognized, there’s a pretty good argument that, over the longer time, our future’s so bright that we have to wear shades.
“That’s the thesis of a new book, America 3.0: Rebooting American Prosperity in the 21st Century. The book’s authors, James Bennett and Michael Lotus, argue that things seem rough because we’re in a period of transition, like those after the Civil War and during the New Deal era. Such transitions are necessarily bumpy, but once they’re navigated the country comes back stronger than ever.”
According to Reynolds, the book contends that “the problems of America 2.0 are all soluble, and, in what they call America 3.0, they will be solved. The solutions will be as different from America 2.0 as America 2.0 was from America 1.0. We’ll see a focus on smaller government, nimbler organization, and living within our means — because, frankly, we’ll have no choice. Something that can’t go on forever.
If America 2.0 was a fit for the world of giant steel mills and monolithic corporations, America 3.0 will be fit for the world of consumer choice and Internet speed.”
Sounds promising. Lotus is an Oak Park attorney. The book is available at Amazon.com.
