A brilliant analysis which shows that North Americans have largely
abandoned the public sphere for the sake of individual fortune.
In The Triumph of Ignorance and Bliss, Polk examines the foundations of
a culture that he sees as favouring firepower over diplomacy, passions
from the pulpit over rational critique, and the star appeal of media
idols over a debate about the real problems. Where engaged public
discourse should channel effective dissent, there is ignorance; where
public outrage should ignite corrective action to oppose the blatant
wrongs, there is bliss.
Polk portrays a society sidetracked by television-inspired fantasies of
fame, fun, and perfect bodies, where public school systems are close to
collapse, where millions live without health insurance, where tax
policies openly favour the wealthiest, where corporations brazenly take
control, not only of decision-making processes, but also of the very
means by which issues, content, and public priorities are defined, where
the optimism of the past has been replaced by a sense of despair and
foreboding because of abuses of trust.
James Polk's portrait of America is riveting ... his arguments are sound
and convincing. An important, fascinating book written with a strong
message. - Norm Goldman, Bookpleasures.com
Table of Contents
Preface
Chapter 1 Nowhere In Suburbia
Chapter 2 Starbucks And The Public Sphere
Chapter 3 Onward Christian Taliban
Chapter 4 America Means Business
Chapter 5 God's Own People
Chapter 6 The Evil Of Banality
Chapter 7 The Fading American Empire
Index
James Polk holds a PhD in philosophy for his work on Kant and Heidegger.
Other publications include essays and translations in social philosophy
and comparative social history. He teaches at the University of Southern
California.
2008: 256 pages, 6x9, bibliography and index
