Last Best Hope
Subtitle: America in Crisis and Renewal
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Published: Jun 15, 2021
Language: eng
Format: hardcover
Number of pages: 240
ISBN-13: 9780374603663
Description: 2020: A ruthless pandemic, an inept and malign government response, polarizing protests, and an election marred by conspiracy theories left many citizens in despair about their country and its democratic experiment. Packer explores four narratives that now dominate American life: Free America, which imagines a nation of separate individuals and serves the interests of corporations and the wealthy; Smart America, the world view of Silicon Valley and the professional elite; Real America, the white Christian nationalism of the heartland; and Just America, which sees citizens as members of identity groups that inflict or suffer oppression. He shows that none of these narratives can sustain a democracy: we must look for a common American identity and find it in the passion for equality that Americans of diverse persuasions have held for centuries. -- adapted from jacket
Notes: Source title: Last Best Hope: America in Crisis and Renewal