The Triumph of Meanness: Americas War Against Its Better Self
by By Mills, Nicolaus
Category: History , United States , 20th Century

The Triumph of Meanness is a penetrating examination of the souring of American attitudes in the 1990s, covering everything from negative advertising and church burnings to the latest macabre, sadistic forms of entertainment. Nicolaus Mills presents a compelling argument that a culture of meanness is sweeping across America. This mean-spiritedness is not confined to the arena of politics, where mudslinging and assaults on the poor and vulnerable are commonplace. Meanness penetrates every aspect of our everyday lives, from relations between men and women to the programs we watch on TV. Witness the huge popularity of serial-killer trading cards, the spectacles of public humiliation on TV talk shows, the guiltless aplomb with which CEOs announce the downsizing of thousands of loyal employees, the bumper stickers that ask, "Where is Lee Harvey Oswald when his country needs him?" We have crossed a line, Mills maintains, that "not long ago seemed to mark the outer bounds of decency." Mills a