Return to Greatness: How America Lost Its Sense of Purpose and What It Needs to Do to Recover It

by Alan Wolfe

Book Overview

Has America, in its quest for goodness, sacrificed its sense of greatness? In this sharp-witted, historically informed book, veteran political observer Alan Wolfe argues that most Americans show greater concern with saving the country's soul than with making the nation great.

Wolfe castigates both conservatives and liberals for opting for small-mindedness over greatness. Liberals, who at their best insisted on policies of national solidarity,...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0691119333
• ISBN13: 9780691119335
• Release Date: February 2005
• Publisher: Princeton University Press
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 0.95 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.8" x 8.7"

Customer Reviews

What's the choice? Liberty or Greatness?

This is a wonderful book, clear, concise, logical and properly infuriating for anyone concerned about the current state of the nation. It's based on a simple premise: liberals believe government authority, policies and incentives have guided America's destiny into greatness. The neoconservative rebuttal is that America's destiny is based on not meddling in the lives of ciizens and not becoming involved in foreign nation building. Wolfe doesn't endorse the neoconservative view. He writes, "As it takes the personal courage of a Teddy Roosevelt or a John McCain to become a great American leader, itr takes intellectual courage to propose great ideas for Amerca, such as the courage to insist that sometimes government is necessary and the taxes to finance its activities a small price to pay for the results it can achieve or the courage to do what is right for future generations rather than what is most likely to garner votes in the very next election." It's based on an assumption that people are either basically evil or good. Liberals believe in basic goodness; conservatives believe in basic evil and punishment to instill respect and morality. Wolfe writes "The hope-filled language of the Reagan and Kennedy administrations finds no place among men like Vice President Dick Cheney, who are convinced that forces of darkness rule the world and must be met head-on with iron resolve. Suspicion and fear guide this administration, not confidence and generosity." True enough. Do you trust the government? If so, this book outlines in chilling detail the intellectual underpinnings of how and why the Bush administration wants to reverse almost everything the US government has achieved since 1860. If you don't trust the government, this book outlines heart-warming reasons of how and why "Bush is the first Republican president to make libertarianism the centerpiece of his presidency." The express goal of massive budget and trade deficits is to make sure the US "is unlikely to possess for decades the financial wherewithal to achieve any of the objectives its leaders set out to realize." To understand this antiu-government attitude, it's worth understanding the "Old Confederacy" was born the moment Gen. Robert E. Lee offered his sword to Gen. U.S. Grant at Appomattox; thus began the legend of states' rights. As Wolfe explains, "A hundred years ago, Southerners voted overwhelmingly for a party that stood against the idea of a strong America. Now they continue to do exactly that." The result, Wolfe writes, is "the stronger American conservativism becomes, the weaker America will be." In this wonderfully liberal view of conservative ideas, a strong state dominates and controls its citizens, taxing them heavily to finance its domestic experiments, foreign adventures and imperial greatness. Does the powerful national unity and sense of purpose implied by the slogal "Ein volk, ein reich, ein fuhrer" ring a bell? It's been said of John Milton