Decades of Decadence: How Our Spoiled Elites Blew America's Inheritance of Liberty, Security, and Prosperity

by Marco Rubio

Thirty years of telling Americans they don’t need families, communities, or a shared history is destroying what made our country the envy of the world. While many Americans have worried about China, open borders, opioids, failing communities, and families in crisis, our elites have told us that’s all fine because it’s not only inevitable; it’s for the best. Every part of our nation is now in decline, and it’s all connected. In Decades of Decadence , Marco Rubio exposes the elites’ attacks on the four key elements of American good local jobs, stable families, geographical communities, and a sovereign nation that serves as a beacon of freedom and prosperity. These have been eroded not only by globalization, but by the lies we tell ourselves, including, “Anyone who loves each other is a family,” “Real community can be found on the internet,” and “We’re all citizens of the world.” It’s not too late to reject these errors. America remains a powerful and wealthy nation, built on timeless truths ingrained in the very creation of mankind. But we cannot afford another misguided and decadent decade. In this book, Rubio shows how we can avoid another dark age and restore America’s place as the global ideal of harmony, opportunity, and democracy.

Genres: Politics, Nonfiction

256 pages, Hardcover

Published June 13, 2023

About the author

United States Republican Senator from Florida, serving since January 2011.
A Cuban American native of Miami, Florida, Rubio is a graduate of the University of Florida and the University of Miami Law School. In the late 1990s, he served as a City Commissioner for West Miami and was elected to the Florida House of Representatives in 2000, representing the 111th House district. He was elected Speaker in November 2006.

Reviews

[Terry Cornell · Rating 5 out of 5]

A calm common sense voice on what is going on with American politics. Rubio would've been a great presidential candidate this cycle. However, even if Trump wasn't running I'm sure the Democrat run media would try to tarnish him anyway they could. After all as Rubio points out The 'New York Times' back in 1981 warned about Ronald Reagan "The man, whom we call a conservative, turns out to be downright radical." I wish my liberal friends would give this an open-minded read. For my conservative friends it is a refreshing reminder that we are not alone, and there are leaders with great ideas and a calm demeanor.

[Jeremy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Happy to see criticism of neoliberalism from the right. Prompted by an economist article pointing out this horseshoe effect, with some level of economic agreement between the likes of Rubio and Bernie Sanders.

For the rest of the book, a lot of it reminds me of Tucker Carlson.

[Djamel · Rating 1 out of 5]

Chapter1: the end of History theory produced a series of assassin policies
Chapter 2: avoiding the dangers of over-financiarization of the economy without falling in the dangers of socialism.
Chapter 3: US elite fed the beast (Bush senior, Baker, Zoellick, Scrawcraford since 1974) then Clinton mistakingly allowed CCP into the WTO accelerating the decline of the U.S. and the rise of China while the likes of Ray Dalio knowingly advocated for this policy to get incredibly rich.
Rubio suggest that China is irremediably totalitarian and adversarial.
The rise in China is not a historic inevitability but merely the consequences of bad decisions taken by naive greedy irresponsible American elite. Rubio thinks there is a way to stop and reverse this course of events but stop short of elaborating further.

Chapter 4 Rubio believes that human nature is inherently wicked and nefarious. Thus reaching out to Chaina or Russia was a naive misguided policies. The biggest threat to the United States is the alliance between Russia and China.
The U.S. needs to tackle China’s willingness to dominate the world from a strength standpoint with the aim to avoid a catastrophic war. For this the U.S. foreign policy needs to completely divorce any isolationism tentations. Then, European allies must take care of security in Europe so Washington can give the proper attention to Beijing.
But before that, American elite needs to restore the lost confidence of people in them because all their lies and especially the way democrats weaponized intelligence services to delegitimization Trump in 2016.
First Rubio suggests to unite all American forces behind the claim that China is the biggest threat facing the US. Not only the administration but also the corporations, small businesses and all US society has to understand this and collectively start to address it.
Second, empower the government to décuple our economy from ccp economy. No financing, no technology sharing not the likes.
Third, reindustrialize the country in order to produce domestically all vital products.
Fourth, empower allies also threatened by China in a way that allows the US to allocate its resources to efficiently counter Beijing.

To this effect, it is crucial to restore the American people’s confidence in their FP leaders. Dealing with China has s existential but won’t be easy. Defending Taiwan should therefore benefit from a broad support from American people and leaders. The U.S. should respond forcefully to any Beijing aggression against Taiwan preferably without a direct war. Helping Ukraine against Russia is the right message to Beijing.

Chapter 5 in the most populist verbiage Rubio, explains with no small amount of exaggeration how the PPP program he came up with during the COVID pandemic saved the economy and the small business owners. Wearing his religious bigotry and self evident truths he vehemently attacked the unelected experts like Fauci and the media who criticized his PPP and in his opinion want to govern without being elected to office.

Chapter 6 for Rubio globalization had also negative effect on the immigration system of the United States. Once a nation with an orderly open immigration process, he claims, American globalists in their search for cheap labor brought a great number of immigrants a lot of them illegal in order to secure, cheap labor, in the process hurting american nationalism once vibrant.

The son of an immigrant himself, Rubio now accuses Democrats for allowing too much illegal migration in and accuses the latter of all sorts of vices from wanting to live at the expense of the host country to refusing assimilation and hating America.

Marco, seems oblivious to the fact that his America is in no small part responsible for the hell those illegal immigrants has been living through. The U.S. exploitation of their countries, the U.S. sponsored coups d’Etat and puppet regimes, the military interventions and the list is long. Even today he wants for America the brightest people these countries have while rejecting ordinary immigrants that are not so bright to benefit him and make him more powerful and richer.

Chapter 7
Marco turns to America Inc accusing them of putting their short term interests above the long term interests of their country. They also ignored the American families by outsourcing their jobs to slave-labor abroad. Then America Inc abandoned US values and patriotism to embrace woke and globalist values. Rubio erect himself as the juge of who is patriot and who is not. Any corporation that does not align with his ideas and ideals is quickly labeled Woke and greedy unpatriotic company. He mainly cited Apple, Meta.
In an apparent contradiction that Marco seems to be the only one not to perceive, he suggests that the government intervene to correct the market if the incentives of the big corporations do not align with the interests of the United States as perceived by politicians (like him).
Comparing America Corporations that defend a woke agenda to polluters, Rubio threatens them that politicians among his party will make them pay, and only in terms of taxes.

Chapters 8, 9 and 10 are a badly written badly defended populist speech accusing a cabal of elite member not only democrats but also on the Republican Party of being some sort of Marxists and on conspiring to impose on the people their progressive godless anti family anti workers agenda. Rubio just spread out his bigotry and disposition to throw insults and lies and false unfounded accusations against any one who didn’t adhere to his ideas even the most backward ones. He particularly directed his attacks to Obama, a politician far superior to him, and Hillary Clinton. Reading this chapter makes me think of how Rubio resembles the ayatollahs of Iran, the zealous monks of Myanmar and the extremists of Israel.

[Brian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Senator Rubio writes a compelling book and presents a clear and articulate argument. It is somewhat chilling to read how pressing some of the issues are. Though the situation is dire, Sen. Rubio is not despairing or hopeless; instead, Sen. Rubio presents a path forward and a plan. Reading this book makes me wish he’d succeeded in his presidential campaign, but I am thankful for his continued dedication in the United States Senate. This is an important read and ought to serve as a good discussion starter for all Americans.

[Joshua · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5/5 -Excellent analysis of how bad trade deals, offshoring middle-class jobs and turning a blind eye to China's human rights abuses under the guise of "spreading democracy" created the most formidable challenge to American power since the Soviet Union. Secretary Rubio calls for American leaders to invest in the American worker, reclaim our economic independence from China and ensure that we are prepared should conflict with the CCP evolve into war. The book rambles at points, keeping this from a perfect score, but is a great read for anyone trying to understand the shift in American politics, particularly on the right.

[Anastasia · Rating 5 out of 5]

good commentary on the cultural developments through recent presidents and political climates and how we got to where we are

[Jake M · Rating 2 out of 5]

Little Marco, being the gangster thug that he is, seems to always come so close in identifying the issues continuing to plague America and who’s to blame for them throughout this book. Just when it seems like he’s finally hit the nail on the head, he pulls the rug out from under you. If you love a good blend of identity politics, blaming China/communism for everything, and hearing people who come from authoritarian regimes who don’t even appreciate America, then I’ll be damned if this isn’t the book for you.

[Gena Webb · Rating 5 out of 5]

Should be mandatory reading for every American

One of the best, albeit scariest, nonfiction books I’ve read. Marco Rubio nailed it! I’ve always liked and respected him, more so now. I expected it to be partisan and in some ways it is, but in more ways it’s nonpartisan. He calls out his own party, which I found refreshing and blatantly honest. Should be a wake up call for every American. Great job, Senator!

[Sherrie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought it was a very informative book. It isn’t new information for me but it might be for others.

[Bobbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book is good but the title suggests a look at the moral decadence more than political decadence such as fiscal decline, manufacturing decline, etc.

[C K · Rating 3 out of 5]

Made a logical case for his points. Interesting way to get his back story. Enjoyed him reading the audiobook

[David Maywald · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book by three-time Florida Senator for the Republican Party was released in June 2023. Rubio ran against Trump for Presidential candidate in 2016. His parents were migrants from Cuba post-WWII.

He serves on Senate committees for Intelligence and Foreign Affairs. The book casts geopolitics as a great power rivalry, between the free and principled United States versus the Chinese Communist Party. I disagree with Rubio’s characterisation of the China seeking to overthrow the US and dominate the world. My view is that the CCP is focused on self-preservation and enhancing the economic/political/strategic power of their country. This will be challenging considering the shrinking/aging population of China, with each woman only giving birth to one child on average (the declining replacement rate has continued, regardless of the “one child policy” being turned into a “three child policy).

Much of Rubio’s narrative is driven by the need for dignified jobs, with manufacturing having a key role. Here there is overlap with Biden’s so-called Inflation Reduction Act. His support for rejuvenating hollowed-out towns and cities seems to be driven by his Christian faith, enhancing the stability of families and strength of communities, rather than a gendered lens that supports work for men.

“Rubio supports balancing the federal budget while prioritizing defense spending. He believes that humans are contributing to climate change, but questions the extent to which the United States is responsible for it, claiming that other nations, such as the People's Republic of China, are primarily responsible. He wants to repeal the Affordable Care Act, replacing it with tax credits and less regulation. He opposes net neutrality. Regarding immigration, he supports "securing the country's borders," offering a path to citizenship to some undocumented immigrants, and increasing vetting requirements of refugees. Rubio supports the traditional definition of marriage and identifies as pro-life. On taxes, Rubio says he would set corporate taxes to 25 percent and cap economic regulations.” according to Wikipedia.

While the book is obviously contemporary, I found it to be blasé. The anti-woke arguments are to be expected (especially from a Republican representing Florida). His office seems to have been productive in terms of policy formation. He speaks to a modern immigrant perspective, and is quite forthright about challenging political elites (including those within his own party). I wouldn’t expect this book to cause significant waves, either socially or for the Presidential election.

[Groeck The Daft · Rating 4 out of 5]

Marco Rubio champions the ideal of the American Dream as available to all who seek to pursue it. He offers insights into foreign policy, demonstrating why he received a 99-0 confirmation for Secretary of State. Our reliance on China run by the CCP has been growing since the Clinton administration, which is cause for concern as we have enabled them to rise as America and the west’s opposing superpower. The antiquated idea that neoliberalism will usher in an era of peace and prosperity for all has been disproven by the rise of communist China. Rubio highlights how these neoliberal elites and technocrats have abandoned the idea of common-good capitalism (capitalism with a focus on America’s best interests) in favor of maximizing profits for themselves and Wall Street’s shareholders. Globalization has allowed for the ruling class to abandon American workers by moving manufacturing overseas, resulting in less dignified workers turning to drugs and becoming depressed without community. These same elites have championed that America is inherently vile, while they hypocritically benefit from the system they seek to destroy. They view the American workers as a mere expendable resource, rather than human beings. It is unfair to turn to cheap imported labor and exporting manufacturing to maximize profits at the expense of the resulting disenfranchised American workers. We must unite under the idea that America is by the people and for the people, everyone created equal with unalienable rights. Fighting American Marxist’s and reclaiming a proud sense of nationalism is crucial in the coming decades if America is to not succumb to China as the new global superpower. I’m a big fan of Rubio’s levelheaded takes, a very refreshing political candidate, yet he does often credit himself and his impact too much. His book is well structured yet very repetitive at times, and would have been better had it been more succinct in delivering its messages.

[Zander Sud · Rating 2 out of 5]

I thought this book would be different from what it actually was. I did not like this book but powered through to the end. However, it’s nice to see some criticism being pointed towards modern progressives and Rubio does have insights into immigration that were good to read. Not enough to justify reading the whole book though.

The book lacked depth and it felt like a China bad, democrats bad, woke bad, campaign rally that presented an awfully one sided perspective. I had higher expectations for Rubio. I thought he would add nuance given his intellect and years of expertise in policy. There were a few matters he brought up that I know quite a bit about and I found it absurd how Rubio distorted the situation and pointed his finger entirely at democrats/China and none towards his own group or even a hint of balanced perspective.

Rubio has leaned hard into the audience drawn by Trump into the GOP. He follows economist Oren Cass whose perspectives and research are at best controversial and largely support Trump / new-right perspectives.

Lastly I want to say that Rubio did not mention specific policies to correct for the ills of today, rather hints here and there like more pro worker protections and rebuilding industrial base, and pro family stuff. I’m skeptical even well intentioned government policy is the right answer for these things, especially the cultural issues.

Again, I had higher hopes for this book and was not worth reading. This review is longer because I almost never give a book such a low rating. I recently read the new book about Mitt Romney and that was a much better read.

[William · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an outstanding essay on the state of the union, governance, and trends in political ideology. Rubio extols the virtues of a nation born of immigrants who embraced traditional American values and beliefs and who assimilated into our society. He describes a post war economy that was rooted in diverse localities and served to nurture patriotism, families, and community (law and order, education). He continues to describe the various trends, forces, and ideologies that have destroyed that economy, those locales, and too many American families. One key factor was the switch in corporate focus from taking care of their employees as a given to short term stock price. This is well described in detail in the book "The Man Who Broke Capitalism" by David Gelles. Rubio covers the main points and expands the discussion to include the effects of globalization and the concept of being a "citizen of the world" instead of one's country. Rubio's book is a distillation of causes and effects upon America's economy, politics, military power, and citizenship. And for each he offers solutions to reverse the negative consequences. While this book is more thorough than the slim size might project, Rubio's writing style is easy to read and comprehend. Key covers a wide spectrum of issues but always returns to the idea that "America is the best nation the world has ever seen...and it is worth fighting for."

[Tyson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Broadly speaking Rubio tackles three main areas: economics, foreign policy and the culture war. Rubio’s book challenges traditional conservative orthodoxy on economics, proposing a more patriotic, worker-centric approach to free market capitalism. Rubio’s foreign policy takes are perhaps the most interesting because they clash with what we’ve seen from the early days of the Trump administration. He calls out both China and Russia as brutal dictatorships and enemy states, while advocating for a US that actively engages with the world. On the culture war, Rubio is largely on point but rehashes the talking points any conservative will be familiar with without bringing much new to the table.

[Matthew N · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although succinct in closing thoughts, Marco Rubio articulates an anecdotal diagnosis of America’s woes and opportunities. Where lacking in data, Rubio compensates with logical, compelling arguments favoring the current realignment of American politics. While ‘Decades of Decadence’ offers thoughtful political critique, the quality of conviction could be enhanced by greater supporting statistics and evidence.

[John Yelverton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Marco Rubio makes some fantastic points about the nature of our modern American economy and how we are sacrificing our future by eliminating our ability to produce our own products and giving that production to Communist China. My only complain is that he identifies a lot of problems while putting forth very few solutions to those problems.

[Craig Golden · Rating 5 out of 5]

Unexpectedly insightful, well-researched, intellectual, challenging info and even inspiring.
Rubio challenges conventional conservative thought. It’s not the full-throated Trump endorsement o expected, but a fresh perspective on what conservatism means in our day.
“Capitalism should flow from American values of freedom and democracy. It doesn’t create those values.”

[Jeffrey Kunkleman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Outstanding book. The Senator is right on in his knowledgeable description of where we are, how we got here, and what we need to do to fix it. Marco, and Jesse Kelly "The Anti-Communist Manifesto", are two of the best Conservative minds out there.

[Christopher J Mann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Succinct, informative, and accurate analysis of our current state of affairs. Should be required reading before casting a vote. Having spent an entire lifetime defending this country both in and out of uniform, I hate to see this is the legacy that remains for my grandchildren.

[Josiah Richardson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I haven’t read a book from a major/popular politician that I agreed with almost from beginning to end in a very long time. This was really good stuff and outlines the real frustration that I and others have with the direction and policies that this country has evolved to become.

[Bob DeLacy Jr. · Rating 5 out of 5]

After reading 📚 this. I agree with Marco. In quoting Reagan, it's a time of choosing. Freedom is not only at stake, but so is the idea of America and the God-given truths it was guided on.
Marxism has taken root in America 🇺🇸. This election re-elect Trump.

[Mercedes Schultz · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very informative and up-to-date book when it comes to the communist agenda this present administration is embarrassing. The book is both easy to read and to understand.

[Bart · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of the better political books.

[Leah Lambart · Rating 3 out of 5]

He clearly outlines the issues that are facing America today. The ideas to solve them fell a little flat for me in the end.

[Carol T. Wright · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read

Should be required reading for anyone interested in staying with the progress we have made up to now, that is,keeping up the progress we have already made.

[Catherine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Should be required reading for every American, especially for what he has to say about China.

[Louis Prontnicki · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you, Senator Rubio, for your courage and wisdom in seeking to lead our nation into truth and light. A challenging and helpful book.

[Jeff J. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Recommendations on how America can recover from “progressive” overreach.