The book is a compilation of King’s columns for the Chronicle, where he discusses a variety of social and political issues, as the book’s title suggests, hoping to find some intelligent middle ground. “I think people are fed up with political extremes and they want to get back to the middle of the political spectrum. There’s not any opportunity for that in the political realm these days. If you look at polling, people are constantly saying, ‘We’re having to choose the lesser of two evils.’” There has to be another way, King says.
“The single biggest issue facing us today is the change in demographics. The whole history of the human race, our society has been built on a whole lot of young people and a few old people. We unquestionably have a future with a much older [population]. That has some very serious implications. The trouble we’re seeing now with health care and retirement is just the first wave of that reality lapping up on shore. We spend a lot of time blaming each other; we need to come together for what I think is the single defining [issue] for us, and that’s how do we reorder society in the face of these changing demographics.”
7 p.m. Brazos Books, 2421 Bissonnet. For information, call 713‑523‑0701 or visit brightskypress.com. Free.
Mon., Nov. 17, 7 p.m., 2014
