Book Review: 'THE 15% SOLUTION

'THE 15% SOLUTION: How the Republican Religious Right Took Control of the U.S., 1981-2022 - A Futuristic novel' by Steven Jonas.

The book is a novelized chronicle of the rise and fall of a Fascist regime in the United States during the years 2001-2023. It presents a view of the events of the “Fascist Period,” as it could have been seen contemporaneously to those events. Further, it attempts to show how the origins of each major step taken by Republican Religious Right during the Period dates much back, to what can be termed the U.S. pre-fascist “Transition Era,” 1981-2001. Once in power at the Federal and state levels, the Republican Religious Right is then projected to have achieved virtually all of its stated goals in the political, social, and economic arenas, and then some. In the beginning at least, through the electoral process they did this entirely by legal/constitutional means. 

A rather widespread use of force and violence comes later. More profound results of the takeover starts to happen, such as the creation of an apartheid-based “New American Republics”.  As the author mentions, "This book projects what things might actually look like, what actually might happen, should the Republican Religious Right take over, fully, and as I have said above, do exactly what they have already told us they would do were they to take full power (and are already doing to some extent with their partial power, especially at the state level)."

I feel vindicated. The thoughts about the bleak future, the mankind is likely to confront, as described in my books, is not much off the mark. If "how step by step they created Fascism by apparently legal means, how precious and at the time unappreciated our Constitutional Democracy was, and what must be done, even now, to defend it and eventually transcend it toward a far more real form of egalitarian power", for example, paints the picture of future polity, not only that my assessment stands, but also it provides a good reason for why things should be so irrational.
I however, am in total agreement with the author, a strong need exist for a convincing explanation for much of the events of human history, that too, those of great consequences. Since events of such stature has been a part of all known settlements, such an explanation should be our aim, which can account for the earth shattering moments of all of those, equally well. In this, this book has not been able to offer a convincing argument. (And here, my theory of The Unsure Male is a good fit.)