DETROIT AND PROGRESSIVES

By David Perlstein | July 19, 2019

How do you lose a presidential election? By harnessing Newton’s Third Law: For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. A recent hubbub in Detroit offers Democrats an important lesson. Several weeks ago, the promoters of Detroit’s AfroFuture Fest announced they would charge people of color an early-bird price of $10, whites $20.…

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CHAVEZ, DETROIT AND ME

By David Perlstein | March 8, 2013

The late Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez, the city of Detroit and I all share a common link. Chavez and me? In my novel San Café, the would-be socialist strongman of fictional San Cristo, Jesús Garcia-Vega, idolizes Chavez. Both reject the accumulation of private wealth. Chavez redistributed much wealth to the poor. In doing so, he…

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