b********n
发帖数: 38600 | 1 Achieving Our Country : Leftist Thought in Twentieth-Century America
https://www.amazon.com/dp/0674003128/?tag=googhydr-20&hvadid=31055443885&
hvpos=1t1&hvnetw=g&hvrand=15869036787568306760&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=b&hvdev
=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9061081&hvtargid=kwd-36182006275&ref=pd_sl_
3edews6elg_b
There are many shameful incidents in America's past: the institution of
slavery, genocidal assaults on the indigenous peoples of this continent, the
escalation of the Vietnam War, and so on. What should our response to such
acts be? Should we regard the nation as irredeemably tainted by sin and
spend our time cataloging its evils, or should we acknowledge its
shortcomings and make a conscious effort to turn it into a better nation?
Philosopher Richard Rorty believes that there is hope for America, but that
today's Left is not meeting the challenge. He contrasts the cultural,
academic Left's focus on our heritage of shame (which, he admits, has to the
extent that it makes hatred intolerable had the positive effect of making
America a more civil society) with the politically engaged reformist Left of
the early part of this century. "The distinction between the old strategy
and the new is important," he writes. "The choice between them makes the
difference between what Todd Gitlin calls common dreams and what Arthur
Schlesinger calls disuniting Americans. To take pride in being black or gay
is an entirely reasonable response to the sadistic humiliation to which one
has been subjected. But insofar as this pride prevents someone from also
taking pride in being an American citizen, from thinking of his or her
country as capable of reform, or from being able to join with straights or
whites in reformist initiatives, it is a political disaster."
Not everyone, to be sure, is going to agree with Rorty's ideas. But his
approach to civic life, which is pragmatic in the tradition of John Dewey
and visionary in the tradition of Walt Whitman, is bound to provoke
increased discussion of what it is to be a citizen, and his call for a
renewed awareness of the history of American reformist activism can only be
applauded. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of
this title. | b********n
发帖数: 38600 | 2 “[M]embers of labor unions, and unorganized unskilled workers, will sooner
or later realize that their government is not even trying to prevent wages
from sinking or to prevent jobs from being exported. Around the same time,
they will realize that suburban white-collar workers — themselves
desperately afraid of being downsized — are not going to let themselves be
taxed to provide social benefits for anyone else. At that point, something
will crack. The nonsuburban electorate will decide that the system has
failed and start looking around for a strongman to vote for — someone
willing to assure them that, once he is elected, the smug bureaucrats,
tricky lawyers, overpaid bond salesmen, and postmodernist professors will no
longer be calling the shots.… One thing that is very likely to happen is
that the gains made in the past 40 years by black and brown Americans, and
by homosexuals, will be wiped out. Jocular contempt for women will come back
into fashion.… All the resentment which badly educated Americans feel
about having their manners dictated to them by college graduates will find
an outlet.” | k**********4
发帖数: 16092 | 3 你给你妹发私心不就的了
hvdev
the
such
【在 b********n 的大作中提到】
: Achieving Our Country : Leftist Thought in Twentieth-Century America
: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0674003128/?tag=googhydr-20&hvadid=31055443885&
: hvpos=1t1&hvnetw=g&hvrand=15869036787568306760&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=b&hvdev
: =c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9061081&hvtargid=kwd-36182006275&ref=pd_sl_
: 3edews6elg_b
: There are many shameful incidents in America's past: the institution of
: slavery, genocidal assaults on the indigenous peoples of this continent, the
: escalation of the Vietnam War, and so on. What should our response to such
: acts be? Should we regard the nation as irredeemably tainted by sin and
: spend our time cataloging its evils, or should we acknowledge its
| b********n
发帖数: 38600 | 4 也给其他左派看看
【在 k**********4 的大作中提到】
: 你给你妹发私心不就的了
:
: hvdev
: the
: such
| k**********4
发帖数: 16092 | 5 i see. thought she is the only one left here.
【在 b********n 的大作中提到】
: 也给其他左派看看
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