Your first book is The Grapes of Wrath. What does it have to tell us about progressivism?

It has been over 70 years since The Grapes of Wrath was
 published, yet the suffering that Steinbeck describes still hits close
 to home with families across our country still struggling to find work
 and put food on the table. 

It reminds us progressives that the day-to-day struggles of
 Americans should always remain close to our hearts. Throughout the 
years of the economic downturn there has been the sense that working
 families, the most vulnerable families, have been forgotten. I think [the book] should be reread so that we realise the extent to which the 
economy can be stacked up against America’s poor.



Your second choice is A Tale of Two Cities, which shares some themes with The Grapes of Wrath in the sense that circumstances place characters in the face of rank injustice.

As mayor of a large metropolis, the living conditions of our residents
 are always present in my mind. Every decision I make, I try to 
evaluate if it will help improve the quality of life of every
 Angeleno. 

But Dickens really dissects both the aristocrats and the 
revolutionaries, to show that change is never easy. As progressives, we value government’s role and power to improve our cities and 
communities, but at the same time we must never forget that the ends never justify the means. And that the majority cannot deprive the minority of their inalienable rights that come with a democracy.

Your third book is To Kill a Mockingbird, an American classic that brought the injustices of racism into stark relief, though it had many other themes as well.

Even though I know we’ve made great strides in America, and have come from the reality of Maycomb [the setting of the novel], we still suffer today from the lingering
 effects of the bigotry of that era. 

At the same time, it’s a lesson in standing tall in the face of
 tremendously hostile circumstances. The fact that justice may not 
always be served can be jarring.

 We all know Atticus [Finch, the narrator’s father] is the moral compass of the book. I think we
 need to follow that example and carry a sense of moral purpose. This
 conscience explains why progressives fight for the marginalised, the
 disenfranchised and the underdog. It’s because it’s the right thing 
to do.