A Dream Deferred: America's Discontent and the Search for a New Democratic Ideal

by Philip Slater

Overview

America's Discontent and the Search for a New Democratic Ideal. Convincingly demonstrates that democratic processes, however messy and confusing, ultimately yield the most intelligent and flexible responses to a complex world.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780807043059
Publisher:	Beacon Press
Publication date:	09/30/1992
Edition description:	REPRINT
Pages:	240
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.56(d)

Table of Contents

	Acknowledgments	ix
	Introduction: The End of an Era	1
Part I	Megacultures
1.	Why Democracy Happens	9
2.	The Rise and Decline of Authoritarianism	23
3.	The Warrior Mentality	31
Part II	Authoritarian Survivals in American Society
4.	Military Myopia	45
5.	The Private Sector	59
6.	Learning the Ropes	71
7.	Walls against Womanhood	84
8.	The Rectangular Mind	96
9.	The Myths of Slavery	104
10.	The Changing Face of God	115
11.	Secrets	125
12.	The Muffled Voice of Freedom	137
13.	The Dictator Within	150
Part III	Creative Chaos
14.	Stumbling toward Democracy	167
15.	Self-Creating Coherence	181
	Notes	193
	Index	219

Editorial Reviews

For roughly 5000 years, says Slater, the world's dominant sociopolitical system (or ``megaculture'') has been authoritarian in nature, but today a democratic model is emerging. Lamentably, the United States, once the vanguard of the democratic movement, has been backsliding while the rest of the world struggles to cast off its chains. All segments of our society--business, government, education, religion, the ``authority-worshipping'' media--seem to be infected with the restrictive attitudes of the past. Slater, whose Pursuit of Loneliness ( LJ 3/1/70) became a counterculture classic, writes with the breezy pedantry of a pundit at a bull session; much of his essay is wordy and melodramatic. Slater's reliance on distorting statements to support his argument makes it difficult for the reader to take him seriously. Still, there may be demand from fans of his previous books.--Kenneth F. Kister, Tampa, Fla.

Library Journal