Leslie Dale Feldman, PhD – Professor, Political Science, Hofstra University, Hempstead, NY, USA

Series: Political Science and History; World Philosophy
BISAC: POL000000; PER010080; POL010000
DOI: https://doi.org/10.52305/YJPQ0011

“What do the moon, democracy, and the American Dream have in common? The answer is hope—the only thing left inside Pandora’s box after all its evils were released into the world. The commonality that these enfold was emphasized by one of the most iconic of all 1950s television sitcoms, The Honeymooners, as a brilliant, insightful, and politically-prophetic book by Leslie Dale Feldman, Blue-Collar Happiness: The Political Theory of the Honeymooners, has amply illustrated and explored. The American Dream is the embedded hope in America that anyone can achieve success through hard work, determination, and initiative, regardless of their background. Democracy is the political system that allows for the fulfillment of the dream, which, in America is implanted in the idea that a better future can be attained through individual dedication and effort, not through the good graces of some authoritative figure or structure. The moon is the natural body that overrules the world at night, equally for everyone, suggesting symbolically that success is attainable for all, not just a select few…In sum, Feldman’s book is a must-read today, in an era of unstable politics and a deteriorating view of the American Dream. It reminds us what life during a honeymoon period is all about and perhaps how, by revisiting it, we might in some ways retrieve it. As Feldman concludes, The Honeymooners was about eternal truths, which transcend social, political, and economic conditions: Ralph may not achieve wealth and the American dream, but he has achieved the universal dream of love and friendship, which are available to everyone: for free.” To read the full review, click here>>> – Marcel Danesi, University of Toronto

This book considers political ideas in the groundbreaking television show of the 1950s, The Honeymooners, which contains messages about social mobility, feminism, the battle of the sexes, and post-World War II America.

The Honeymooners was one of the few depictions of blue-collar life in America. Most American sitcoms of the 1950s portray middle-class and even upper middle-class families that achieve social mobility—such as I Love Lucy, Leave It to Beaver, etc. However, The Honeymooners portrays a family that, while not achieving social mobility, does achieve happiness; that is what makes it unique in television history.

This book considers ideas of success, elitism, and the American dream while also exploring the insights of philosophers, such as Plato, Machiavelli, Hobbes, Rousseau, Marx, Adam Smith, Simone de Beauvoir, and de Tocqueville, to understand The Honeymooners and 1950s America.

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