The Fate of America: An Inquiry Into National CharacterDiscusses America's crisis of heroism and the threat it poses to democracy; Shows how the American national character is linked to an increasingly archaic heroic ideal or notion of greatness; Explores what would be involved in redefining this heroic ideal - particularly in a spiritual context - as we enter a new era of history; In The Fate of America, the United States is examined against the back-drop of the great civilizations of history. From the Founding Fathers and the legendary frontiersmen and cowboys, to astronauts, athletes, and other contemporary heroes, Michael Gellert profiles the development of the American heroic ideal. He reveals how this concept expresses the nation's aspiration toward greatness and its sense of identity and purpose. He describes how our national character informs this ideal, pinpointing what has caused it to go awry. Although America's original heroic ideal as expounded by the nation's founders had a powerful redeeming and guiding vision, the nation is at a loss as to what this vision means in a twenty-first century context. Through an examination of education, politics, the media, and many other aspects of American life, the author concludes tha |
Contents
Two Souls Within the Human Breast | 9 |
The American Heroic Ideal Yesterday and Today | 27 |
The Frontiersman | 39 |
Copyright | |
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addiction to height adolescent African-American Age movement American heroic ideal American vision become believe Bob Dylan Books Boorstin C. G. Jung celebrity Chapter character child Child Archetype Christian cited civilization complex condition course cult of motion Daniel Boorstin dark death democracy divine drug empire ethical evil fact fantasy Founding Fathers freedom happiness hero heroism human idea individual inner innocence integrity James Hillman John Adams John Ralston Saul Kennedy living Marshall McLuhan McLuhan means messianic messianic complex metaphor modern moral motion and speed naive realism nation natural rights Nikolai Berdyaev ossification passion peak experience percent political principle problem prosperity psyche psychological Puritans religion religious sense sexual slavery social society spirit of authority spirit of youth suffering things Thomas Jefferson tion Tocqueville tradition tyranny unconscious Vietnam violence white American William Appleman Williams York young youth and authority
References to this book
Barcelona 2004 - Edges of Experience: Memory and Emergence: Proceedings of ... Lyn Cowan Limited preview - 2006 |