The Age of American Unreason
587253
Susan has written a most thoughtful and detailed "must read" book on the state of failing intellectualism in the United States.  She covers the time frame greater than her own life and draws from personal recollections to give the book a special feeling of person.  Her own intellectual strength is outstanding - almost awesome.  This is a masterful work - it is documented and thorough in its coverage of events and changes of social habit which lead to our current state of kookie appreciation for unreason over reason in a climate where appreciation for intellectualism has dwindled.

Excellent.
2403416
The average American simply does not understand the insidious ways the history of  our great country has been maligned and re-written to suit the new agenda. Modern leftists are telling a new story, however, contradicting traditional veneration for America in order to convince a nation to author its own destruction and unmake the America that is here now. Our colleges are over ridden with liberals that "teach" (or brainwash) the young minds in America and get them to believe the lies that them make them feel ashamed to live in this once great nation of ours. After seeing this film I challenge those that see it to do their homework and learn the truth our founding fathers lived through in order to estblish the United States of America.
2291063
Dr. Brzezinski believes US is in decline and there is need for revival, not just for our own country but for the world. He pointed out how Asia, Middle East, Europe, Africa, Latin America all depend on a thriving US to maintain a peaceful equilibrium.

In philosophy, there is the concept of "solipsism" which believes "MY" existence is the only existence, all others are a figment of imagination. Like your high school buddy who kept talking about himself, until he realized he talked too much about himself and he asked you, "i apologize for just talking about myself, let's talk about you.  what do YOU think of me?"  -:)  this is the present american mindset, the world evolves around america. Reality is, the world has thousands years of history, 2000 of which is well documented. for over 1900 yrs until 1890s, US was not a player and at best peripheral to major world events. to postulate the world needs US to "keep the peace" ("peace" as in american concept of peace), to "right the wrong" ("right" as defined by american value) is absurdity to the max.  Indeed, Dr. Brzezinski carefully narrated world geography, world history in Chapter 1 and 2.  that for thousands of years, East Asia has been part of Chinese sphere of dominance, Eastern Europe been Russian sphere of dominance, middle east has been Muslim tribal sphere of dominance. the nation state of today's is purely an anglo american manipulation, artificial not natural. overtime this artificial arrangement is apt to fail. not due to some "evil power" but because the current arrangement is unnatural to begin with. Dr. Brzezinski's "strategic vision" is to perpetuate this unnatural anglo american system at a time when america is financially and resource depleted, at a time when the world no longer heeds america's call to arm.
4444972
rough and earnest, Nova's American Apocalypse brings to life one possible, if not probable, path for the future of the american lifestyle. Rooted in current events, AA extrapolates the end of the consumerist American culture. Nova suggests we might, if we are very lucky and pay close attention, return to the resilience and strength of human beings that live- rather than simply exist.

uce
4320913
Better for 18-21 year olds who are on their own for the first time. Or mid/late 20 year olds who were coddled as children. Or 30 somethings who need to grow up.
3949754
Mark provides a profound assessment of why America is in decline and the incorrect assumptions about human nature made by liberals. Liberals childish insistence on utopia, their fanciful divorce from reality, is a philosophical foundation that is busily destroying America.
2293567
This book is a gripping analysis of what has gone wrong in American society to produce the gap between rich and poor that is easily the widest in the developed world, and according to the author, the biggest wealth divide in the entire world. It's a frightening read. It traces the unwillingness to enfranchise and educate black Americans from slavery and the Civil War to Jim Crow to today's mass incarceration. It shows how the unwillingness of Southern states to accept black Americans as citizens, or grant them even minimal benefits--like Social Security which most black Americans didn't get until the 1950s--has also held back poor whites. If you travel in Europe, and you see the shimmering mass transportation system, the free universities, the low crime rates, and the national health care systems, you will have to compare it with the hollowed-out Rust Belt cities of today's America. It's obvious why upward mobility has died in America, and the dream of a vibrant middle class, low infant mortality rate, and longer life span has moved to Europe.
4289173
Cross posted from my blog - Fear and Loathing in the Blogosphere -

In his new book Great Powers:American and the World After Bush Tom Barnett provides some much needed perspective on where America stands almost 8 years after 9/11 and what challenges lay ahead.

Barnett begins the book by laying out perhaps the fairest reading of both the achievements and missteps of the Bush administration, including the single most realistic assessment of the invasion and occupation of Iraq offered by anyone. Barnett offers a point by point critique of the administration's blunders in both the post war and the attempted rerun of the WMD narrative on Iran while also maintaining that a world without Saddam is still preferable to a world with Saddam and giving the Bush administration credit for riding out the public disapproval and pushing ahead with the surge.

After offering a balanced assessment of recent history, Barnett reaches back in history a few hundred years to compare the current rise of the 3 billion new capitalist of the New Core with the rise of the American middle class across the 18th and 19th centuries and eventual spreading of the American model via the Atlantic Charter, Marshall Plan, etc, after WWII. Placing our current challenges in the context of American history is Great Powers single biggest contribution to our current understanding of public policy. Again and again Barnett backs up his point that our current challenges are a result of our success, not failure (i.e. moving from our primary national security threat being the Soviet Union to the primary threat being a dude in a cave is progress). A corollary to that point is this: the new global middle class will not accept being denied their opportunities anymore than the rising American middle class would have, and America can lead or get out of the way, but we cannot stop it (nor would we want to).

Great Powers is in some ways more and in some ways less ambitious than Barnett's last two books, The Pentagon's New Map and Blueprint for Action. Both PNM and BFA offered ambitious scenarios for possible future American military interventions (preferably with our New Core allies) abroad in hot spots such as North Korea. GP avoids such speculation and instead tracks the progress of the department of everything else. GP offers a pathway for that department to take as it grows out of DOD and eventually into its own cabinet level position - a clear pathway that I felt was lacking from his previous two books.

On the other hand, I found the lack of ambitious scenarios somewhat disappointing. BFA ended with a section Tom called "Blogging the Future" in which he speculates on everything from the collapse of North Korea to the expansion of the United States - GP offers no such wild speculation (as Tom says "nobody likes a wishy washy visionary") but teases with a brief mention of H.G. Wells Things to Come but fails to offer a Barnett branded look at the future.

Let me be clear, the lack of sci-fiesque ending in no way takes away from the important policy points made by Great Powers and should not dissuade anyone from picking it up. In fact I'd say GP continues Barnett's streak of writing outstanding single volumes (meaning you can read just one and get plenty - even if you're unfamiliar with his previous work and even if you don't make a habit of reading books about foreign policy). Add in the fact that Barnett offers probably the most balanced and reasoned view of foreign policy of anyone writing today and you have a book that is both highly informative and very accessible. Great Powers should be read by anyone who - given the topsy-turvy nature of the headlines recently- feels that they need a little realignment.
1037916
Just as Murray's book came out, a new population statistic was published.  And it has direct bearing on his thesis.  Here it is:  the majority of American children born to women under the age of 30 are now illegitimate.  Yes, the majority.

Murray investigates the new class division in the US and it is a truly distressing picture.

The Baby Boomers who were "white college-educated men and women became enthusiastic recruits to the sexual revolution" (p 153).  But they got married and stayed married and raised  children together.
'
What happened after the sexual revolution to the population of Fishtown, the once flourishing lower class area, symbolic of all the poor in America, has been nothing short of a disaster.

Children raised by single parents "no matter what the outcome being examined--the quality of the mother-infant relationship, externalizing behavior in childhood (aggression, delinquency, and hyperactivity), delinquency in adolescence, criminality as adults, illness and injury in childhood, early morality, sexual decision making in adolescence, school problems and dropping out, emotional health, or any other measure of how well or poorly children do in life--the family structure that produces the best outcomes for children, on average, are two biological parents who remain married...Never-married women produce the worst outcomes" (p 158).

Yet these findings remain the great unspoken event of the last few decades.  Social scientists have overwhelming found permanent damage done to children by single parent families--and it's never discussed.  Rarely mentioned in magazines or newspapers.

And yet the horrifying damage is being done to our children even as not a single network has even bothered to run a special on it.

Goodbye, America.
2261787
With each new generation there are changes in the social and cultural mores.  Moreover, the perceptions of the parents of the new generations are often pessimistic regarding the prospects for stability and longevity of those social and cultural mores. Ben Sasse provides a well-written history of the factors associated with such changes. Advances in technology, growth in personal wealth, and parental employment patterns, have combined to create a current generation of young adults with juvenile attitudes, i.e. not having the attitudes toward personal, communal, and national responsibility of the current adult population.  He fears for the democratic future of society, culture, and the nation.  A good read for students of cultural health, parenting, and predictions of the American future.
3058633
George Friedman is correct when he claims that America today is an empire.  But he espouses using every means to maintain this position.  For my part, I'd rather see us become a second tier country than to for us to stoop to any tactic or strategy to maintain empire.

Many will regard my position as naive and simplistic.  They see the World as eat or be eaten.  I won't even try to change their minds.  I'm willing to accept being labeled naive and simplistic if that is what it takes.  For my part, I believe America is better than that.  We have been a beacon for 200 + years of "a better way."  If we insist that we have to play the eat or be eaten game, then we are no longer a beacon, and join the mass of "nothing special" nations.
709339
Over 50 years old, but still remarkably relevant and prescient to this day. This is a thorough analysis and breakdown of American Society, with a focus on the power structure. This is the granddaddy of anti-establishment literature. Chomsky is just footnotes to this.

Who's really in charge? Who's running this ship? Where do they come from? What are their motivations? What do they want?

I think it's essential to know the answers to these questions in order to fully understand this country, our place in it; who we are, and what we want out of life.

Mills would no doubt be fascinated by the changes the last 50 years have wrought. In the age of Eisenhower the military was undoubtedly a seat of power in this country. However the institution has seen its influence decline steadily since Ike was around. Today it is not only subservient to the alternates, but has become little more then a tool the others exploit to further their immoral interests. Pathetic really. Consider this, Eisenhower was the last president to achieve the rank of Colonel or higher. Before him there were 15 presidents with senior military experience.

While it's well known today that the media is a tool of economic and political manipulation, it wasn't in the 50's. The level of sophistication by which we are constantly bombarded today is positively astounding. Media, Advertising, PR and Politics have incorporated formal scientific disciplines in their quest to sell you crap that you don't need.

What percentage of our consumer choices are truly ours, and what percentage is due to exposure?

How many folks wind up bankrupt from necessities vs. luxuries?

Why is the national savings rate negative, and personal indebtedness the highest it's ever been?

Illuminations abound.

This book should be required reading ***ESPECIALLY*** chapter 13.

You and I will never join the Power Elite. But we can join the Personal Elite.
1127572
A look back in time,so many that have passed on. Americans that loved AMERICA,wish we could turn back the clock. PRAY FOR AMERICA,trouble is in our backyards.
103699
This is a book one should read. It retells the time period in America from 1918 - 1930. What you discover is that our modern times are not unique. The 1920's were as exciting and crazy as the past ten years. Money, alcohol, Hollywood, politics, sports, sex, etc - all wrapped up into a decade that no one could have believed would occur. Various events pulled at America to make this truly a "roaring" decade. Even though jobs were plentiful (for those with an education), money was spent (by those who had it), Hollywood and sports figures were built up in the media, there were still many Americans left behind. Sound familiar? If anyone ever believes the issues we face today were never faced by prior generations, then you need to read this book. Truly, history repeats itself.
4727645
One has to be of age to understand the content. The sad thing is that Ayn Rand saw where the western world was heading and now, we are living it.
2107075
Riding on the heels of&nbsp;<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Dangerous-Nation-America-s-Foreign-Policy-from-Its-Earliest-Days-to-the-Dawn-of-the-Twentieth-Century-Vintage/dp/0375724915/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Dangerous Nation: America's Foreign Policy from Its Earliest Days to the Dawn of the Twentieth Century (Vintage)</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Who-Are-We-The-Challenges-to-America-s-National-Identity/dp/0684870541/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Who Are We: The Challenges to America's National Identity</a>&nbsp;this book tries to examine the culture of America and its uniqueness.  His greatest quest is to discover the deep hidden and subconscious traits that have made America and Americans throughout the years since independence.  He encourages readers to learn more about America through this prism rather than judging America based on simplistic views of 'conservative' and 'Fast food nation.'

THe only slight qualm is that the author describes something called 'American Zionism' when he should properly have called it American israelitism, which was the term for it in the 19th century.  It is no secret that from the earliest pilgrims such as Winthrop through the present day America has been seen as a 'city on the hill' or the 'new Jerusalem'.  Mormons took this a step further and created a religion where America literally became the new Zion.

This book examines the religious heritage of America, her Protestant origins and her insistance on freedom and individualism.

A very well written account that provides further understanding of American heritage, history and culture.

Seth J. Frantzman
4834897
Interesting characters in an interesting age.  As much as we think things change, reading almost anything connected to the American experience since the beginning of the Country's history shows our struggles, concerns, issues don't seem to change.