The Once and Future Worker: How the Consumerist Consensus Led America Astray, and How to Recover

Heritage is pleased to host Mr. Cass for his first conversation in Washington about conservatism in an age of economic populism and the opportunities to build a constructive and coherent agenda for the post-Trump right. More so than the typical book event, this will be a dialogue with the audience about tensions and fault lines within the conservative movement and how to build from foundational principles up to a platform that addresses modern challenges. As we move beyond the mid-term elections, the time is right to step back and evaluate our translation of core convictions into a governing agenda. In Cass’s provocative argument, our conception of the economy as a “pie” to be grown and divided amongst consumers bears responsibility for decades of stagnant wages, a labor-force exodus, too many unstable families, and crumbling communities. It has reduced Americans to consumers and abandoned the interests of workers, who provide the foundation for a prosperous society. Conservativism, he says, demands much greater attention to the labor market’s operation and to fostering the conditions under which all people to become productive contributors. “A brilliant book. And among the most important I’ve ever read.” – J. D. Vance, author of Hillbilly Elegy “Cass’s book . . . could either be the battle orders for a second Trump term or a to-do list for a successor stamped in the same mold.” – Time Magazine