The 73-year-old Boston-born historian has long argued that, since the late-1960s, the countercultural rebellion has been playing into the hands of big business interests that is, capitalism. In his books of essays Desire and Fate (2025), published by Eris Press the writer and former war correspondent presents a fierce critique of the left. He believes that progressives have forgotten about unions, labor and class, in order to embrace other causes, such as race, gender and the environment.