article source:
http://thenewinquiry.com/essays/how-bad-is-it/
George Scialabra's essay is a review of a novel titled "Why America Failed", by Morris Berman, part of a trilogy by Berman that outlines and predicts the decline of an American empire. Scialabra outlines some of Berman's main arguments, including parallels drawn to the fall of the Roman empire: economic inequality, imperial military commitments, debasement of popular culture, etc. He points out that Berman has found common ground with idealists throughout American history, including Charles Beard, Perry Miller, and William Appleman Williams. Overall, though, Scialabra ackowledges Berman's radicalism, yet commends him for it, saying that it is refreshing to read an author not out to make a profit or, as he puts it, "hustle culture".
This article caught my eye mainly because the first paragraph is full of facts detailing America's lack of historical and geographic knowledge in general: in a poll, "forty percent did not know whom the U.S. fought in World War II. Forty percent could not locate Japan on a world map. Fifteen percent could not locate the United States on a world map. Among high-school seniors surveyed in the late 1990s, 50 percent had not heard of the Cold War."
I'm all.....Wait, really? But in truth, I suppose, it's easy to get caught up in the area in which we live, conveniently forgetting that much of the United States is hardly a reflection of Northern Virginia. I found the article to be very well written (if a bit dense) and interesting despite its radicalism. Perhaps we don't spend enough time thinking about the downfall of America.
