RECOMMENDED READING
Twenty years ago, it would have been unthinkable. The Republican Party had spent years crowing about the achievements of entrepreneurs, while advising ordinary workers to “pull themselves up by the bootstraps.” Times have changed, however. Quite recently, the right-of-center think tank American Compass, established in 2020,posted “A Guide to Economic Inequality” on the main page of its website. Its founders are not dismissing the problem. Instead, they tell readers that “our economy is failing to spread prosperity” and “our gains are not being widely shared.” The warnings get even more dire. “The longer such trends continue,” warns American Compass, “the greater the threat to our social fabric, our political solidarity, and the legitimacy of our free-market system.”
American Compass is directed by Oren Cass, a former advisor to Mitt Romney, the Republican senator from Utah. He and a growing number of conservatives have become increasingly concerned about the future of American blue-collar labor.
Recommended Reading
The Conservative Case for Unions & the Battle for the Soul of the Republican Party
American Compass’s Oren Cass joins The Realignment to discuss how the GOP can reconcile with organized labor and how the left and right should rethink their approach to economics.
Coronavirus Exposes a G.O.P. Divide: Is the Market Always Supreme?
The NYT features American Compass as a new organization with plans to foster debates on economic issues dividing the right, accentuated by the present national crisis.
The GOP After Trump
An exposé on the future of the Republican Party features American Compass’s efforts to lead a return to traditional, family-first values.
