November 2004: The election is over. The red states have prevailed. And a “values debate” has begun, as has a debate about the debate. Were values really a crucial factor in the Bush majority? And if so, what was at …
An Indian Epic Awry
Sometimes where and when you first read a book matters. In graduate school while I was studying American intellectual history, my adviser, Christopher Lasch, suggested I crack open Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr.’s The Vital Center. As a young leftist, it …
Agony in Darfur
An examination of the underground economy in Cuba
As this issue of Dissent goes to press in late November, almost everyone from the center-left outward remains in various states of shock, disbelief, and depression about the election results. This series on rethinking the cultural war over the family …
The elections presage troubling times in American life. The Republicans certainly triumphed. But their claim to a “mandate” for a zealous agenda is, if unsurprising, reckless-especially in wartime. They are bad winners when they prevail, but no less than when …
The Unionization of Nontenure-Track Faculty
Since the fall of the Berlin Wall the European-along with the much weaker American-left has been in a crisis that has challenged its very identity. In fact, this profound crisis predated the events of 1989; it was in full swing …
That George W. Bush’s administration would pose a danger to basic liberties was clear as soon as we saw the brown-shirt methods and state action to disenfranchise voters in Florida and the selection of John Ashcroft as attorney general. Subsequent …
“People like me have to save liberals from themselves.” -Michael Moore Strange things happen when the world of entertainment crashes into politics. Remember those “Rock the Vote” scandals a few years back? Big celebrities like Madonna and Jewel sermonized to …
On Paradise Drive: How We Live Now (And Always Have) in the Future Tense by David Brooks
No Child Left Behind and the Assault on Public Schools
Mitchell Cohen Suzanne Nossel argues well for a “muscular” and restrained foreign policy. I take her point to be that balance, now sorely lacking, is needed badly. I like many of her proposals, especially that for internationalizing the Iraqi situation. …
Faced with genuine and serious threats, George W. Bush’s administration took prompt actions. It curtailed civil liberties, gave new powers to intelligence agencies, enhanced mass surveillance of the American people, made America a less attractive destination for international students, and …
