Why is there so much social discontent in the United States? Howard Zinn has a lot to answer for…

If you’ve been paying the slightest bit of attention of US politics now, social discontent is in its highest point since the 1960s. Statues are being toppled, cities are burning, and police departments are being defunded. And unfortunately, unlike that time, any remaining social fabric has broken down. The main things that used to unite the States, whether it be culture and law and order, have collapsed, leading to a disunited, seemingly impossible to repair.

One major thorn here is that of the work of Howard Zinn. One of the main authors to come out of the New Left movement of the 1960s, alongside Noam Chomsky and Cornel West among others, his works have had a major influence on the American left. None more so than his 1980 work A People’s History of The United States.

While at the time, it received mixed reviews and was often derided (even by many on the left) for being badly written propaganda, it’s stature only grew over the years. It became an international bestseller, was featured in much popular media from Good Will Hunting to The Sopranos and even former President Barrack Obama often cited Zinn as an influence. Given Obama’s links to the socialist New Party, of which Zinn helped to set up, this shouldn’t be surprising. But its biggest success was…