A New American Creed
A New American Creed

Author: David Kamens

Publisher:

Published: 2019

Total Pages: 320

ISBN-13: 9781503604964

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A new American creed has reconstructed the social contract. Generations from 1890 to 1940 took for granted that citizenship entailed voting, volunteering, religiosity, and civic consciousness. Conspicuously, the WWII generation, introduced collectivist notions of civic obligations--but such obligations have since become regarded as options. In this book, David H. Kamens takes this basic shift as his starting point for exploring numerous trends in American political culture from the 1930s to the present day. Drawing on and synthesizing an enormous array of primary and secondary materials, Kamens examines the critical role of macro social changes, such as the growth and expansion of government and education, often in response to the emergence of globalization. From these tectonic shifts erupted numerous ripple effects, such as the decline of traditional citizen values, the rise of individualism, loss of trust in institutions, anti-elitism, and dramatic political polarization. In this context, antagonism to government as an enemy of personal freedom grew, creating a space for populist movements to blossom, unrestrained by traditional political parties. Beyond painting a comprehensive picture of our current political landscape, Kamens offers an invaluable archive documenting the steps that got us here.

A New American Creed
A New American Creed

Author: David H. Kamens

Publisher: Stanford University Press

Published: 2019-08-20

Total Pages: 411

ISBN-13: 1503609545

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A new American creed has reconstructed the social contract. Generations from 1890 to 1940 took for granted that citizenship entailed voting, volunteering, religiosity, and civic consciousness. Conspicuously, the WWII generation introduced collectivist notions of civic obligations—but such obligations have since become regarded as options. In this book, David H. Kamens takes this basic shift as his starting point for exploring numerous trends in American political culture from the 1930s to the present day. Drawing on and synthesizing an enormous array of primary and secondary materials, Kamens examines the critical role of macro social changes, such as the growth and expansion of government and education, often in response to the emergence of globalization. From these tectonic shifts erupted numerous ripple effects, such as the decline of traditional citizen values, the rise of individualism, loss of trust in institutions, anti-elitism, and dramatic political polarization. In this context, antagonism to government as an enemy of personal freedom grew, creating a space for populist movements to blossom, unrestrained by traditional political parties. Beyond painting a comprehensive picture of our current political landscape, Kamens offers an invaluable archive documenting the steps that got us here.

Harry White and the American Creed
Harry White and the American Creed

Author: James M. Boughton

Publisher: Yale University Press

Published: 2021-11-30

Total Pages: 465

ISBN-13: 0300262655

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The life of a major figure in twentieth‑century economic history whose impact has long been clouded by dubious allegations Although Harry Dexter White (1892–1948) was arguably the most important U.S. government economist of the twentieth century, he is remembered more for having been accused of being a Soviet agent. During the Second World War, he became chief advisor on international financial policy to Secretary of the Treasury Henry Morgenthau, a role that would take him to Bretton Woods, where he would make a lasting impact on the architecture of postwar international finance. However, charges of espionage, followed by his dramatic testimony before the House Un‑American Activities Committee and death from a heart attack a few days later, obscured his importance in setting the terms for the modern global economy. In this book, James Boughton rehabilitates White, delving into his life and work and returning him to a central role as the architect of the world’s financial system.

The American Creed
The American Creed

Author: Forrest Church

Publisher: Macmillan

Published: 2003-12

Total Pages: 196

ISBN-13: 9780312320232

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What makes us all Americans--whatever our differences--is adherence to a creed, a creed based upon cornerstone truths the founders believed "self-evident." From the earliest days, the survival of the new republic hinged not merely upon the expression of these grand principles of liberty and equality but upon their spiritual underpinnings. Freedom and faith were intertwined. America, as a foreign observer once put it, is a nation with the soul of a church. In this stirring and timely book, Forrest Church charts the progress of this creed from the America's beginnings to the present day by evoking those whose words-whether in declarations, songs, inaugural addresses, speeches, or prayers-have expressed its letter and captured its spirit. What emerges is our shared destiny. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s dream that this country might someday "rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed," echoes Thomas Jefferson's belief that "equal and exact justice to all" is the "creed of our political faith." Our connection with the past represents our commitment to the future and vice versa. A "spiritual and patriotic primer," The American Creed distills the essence of American history while also matching its sweep. Church lets the story of the Declaration of Independence unfold before our eyes, giving us both the big picture and the details that place it into brilliant focus. Those steeped in our nation's heritage will find fresh insight and renewed purpose. Those still discovering its riches could have no finer introduction. In its scope and embrace, this is a book for us all.

Religious Freedom
Religious Freedom

Author: John A. Ragosta

Publisher: University of Virginia Press

Published: 2013-04-22

Total Pages: 394

ISBN-13: 0813933714

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For over one hundred years, Thomas Jefferson and his Statute for Establishing Religious Freedom have stood at the center of our understanding of religious liberty and the First Amendment. Jefferson’s expansive vision—including his insistence that political freedom and free thought would be at risk if we did not keep government out of the church and church out of government—enjoyed a near consensus of support at the Supreme Court and among historians, until Justice William Rehnquist called reliance on Jefferson "demonstrably incorrect." Since then, Rehnquist’s call has been taken up by a bevy of jurists and academics anxious to encourage renewed government involvement with religion. In Religious Freedom: Jefferson’s Legacy, America’s Creed, the historian and lawyer John Ragosta offers a vigorous defense of Jefferson’s advocacy for a strict separation of church and state. Beginning with a close look at Jefferson’s own religious evolution, Ragosta shows that deep religious beliefs were at the heart of Jefferson’s views on religious freedom. Basing his analysis on that Jeffersonian vision, Ragosta redefines our understanding of how and why the First Amendment was adopted. He shows how the amendment’s focus on maintaining the authority of states to regulate religious freedom demonstrates that a very strict restriction on federal action was intended. Ultimately revealing that the great sage demanded a firm separation of church and state but never sought a wholly secular public square, Ragosta provides a new perspective on Jefferson, the First Amendment, and religious liberty within the United States.

The American Creed
The American Creed

Author: Forrest Church

Publisher: Macmillan + ORM

Published: 2003-12-01

Total Pages: 215

ISBN-13: 1429972041

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What makes us all Americans--whatever our differences--is adherence to a creed, a creed based upon cornerstone truths the founders believed "self-evident." From the earliest days, the survival of the new republic hinged not merely upon the expression of these grand principles of liberty and equality but upon their spiritual underpinnings. Freedom and faith were intertwined. America, as a foreign observer once put it, is a nation with the soul of a church. In this stirring and timely book, Forrest Church charts the progress of this creed from the America's beginnings to the present day by evoking those whose words-whether in declarations, songs, inaugural addresses, speeches, or prayers-have expressed its letter and captured its spirit. What emerges is our shared destiny. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s dream that this country might someday "rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed," echoes Thomas Jefferson's belief that "equal and exact justice to all" is the "creed of our political faith." Our connection with the past represents our commitment to the future and vice versa. A "spiritual and patriotic primer," The American Creed distills the essence of American history while also matching its sweep. Church lets the story of the Declaration of Independence unfold before our eyes, giving us both the big picture and the details that place it into brilliant focus. Those steeped in our nation's heritage will find fresh insight and renewed purpose. Those still discovering its riches could have no finer introduction. In its scope and embrace, this is a book for us all.

Facing Reality
Facing Reality

Author: Charles Murray

Publisher: Encounter Books

Published: 2021-06-15

Total Pages: 118

ISBN-13: 1641771984

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The charges of white privilege and systemic racism that are tearing the country apart fIoat free of reality. Two known facts, long since documented beyond reasonable doubt, need to be brought into the open and incorporated into the way we think about public policy: American whites, blacks, Hispanics, and Asians have different violent crime rates and different means and distributions of cognitive ability. The allegations of racism in policing, college admissions, segregation in housing, and hiring and promotions in the workplace ignore the ways in which the problems that prompt the allegations of systemic racism are driven by these two realities. What good can come of bringing them into the open? America’s most precious ideal is what used to be known as the American Creed: People are not to be judged by where they came from, what social class they come from, or by race, color, or creed. They must be judged as individuals. The prevailing Progressive ideology repudiates that ideal, demanding instead that the state should judge people by their race, social origins, religion, sex, and sexual orientation. We on the center left and center right who are the American Creed’s natural defenders have painted ourselves into a corner. We have been unwilling to say openly that different groups have significant group differences. Since we have not been willing to say that, we have been left defenseless against the claims that racism is to blame. What else could it be? We have been afraid to answer. We must. Facing Reality is a step in that direction.

America Right or Wrong : An Anatomy of American Nationalism
America Right or Wrong : An Anatomy of American Nationalism

Author: Anatol Lieven Senior Associate for Foreign and Security Policy Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA

Published: 2004-10-15

Total Pages: 290

ISBN-13: 9780198037675

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"America keeps a fine house," Anatol Lieven writes, "but in its cellar there lives a demon, whose name is nationalism." In this controversial critique of America's role in the world, Lieven contends that U.S. foreign policy since 9/11 has been shaped by the special character of our national identity, which embraces two contradictory features. One, "The American Creed," is a civic nationalism which espouses liberty, democracy, and the rule of law. It is our greatest legacy to the world. But our almost religious belief in the "Creed" creates a tendency toward a dangerously "messianic" element in American nationalism, the desire to extend American values and American democracy to the whole world, irrespective of the needs and desires of others. The other feature, populist (or what is sometimes called "Jacksonian") nationalism, has its roots in an aggrieved, embittered, and defensive White America, centered largely in the American South. Where the "Creed" is optimistic and triumphalist, Jacksonian nationalism is fed by a profound pessimism and a sense of personal, social, religious, and sectional defeat. Lieven examines how these two antithetical impulses have played out in recent US policy, especially in the Middle East and in the nature of U.S. support for Israel. He suggests that in this region, the uneasy combination of policies based on two contradictory traditions have gravely undermined U.S. credibility and complicated the war against terrorism. It has never been more vital that Americans understand our national character. This hard-hitting critique directs a spotlight on the American political soul and on the curious mixture of chauvinism and idealism that has driven the Bush administration.