From the former editor-in-chief of the Wall Street Journal, a
must-read autopsy on how America went from a shining beacon to a country
wallowing in self-hatred in just thirty years.
WHAT WENT WRONG investigates the fatal combination of cultural warfare
and economic failure in America, and reimagines the American system
coupled with a reassertion of the values of our democracy for the sake
of a better and brighter future. Thirty years ago, America stood
triumphant. The nation that had been founded in pursuit of the simple
ideal of human freedom had become the most successful and powerful
country in history. In the space of half a century it had defeated both
fascism and communism. This was above all a victory for the universal
values the United States had pioneered: of free people and free markets.
With the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of the Soviet Union,
Americans could be uniquely proud of their country's indispensable role
in defeating evil and promoting good all over the world.
Just three decades later, that pride and self-confidence lies in
tatters. America is now widely denounced at home and abroad as a
malignant power built on discrimination, imperialism, and oppression.
Millions of Americans say they have little faith in their country's
future. A loud and increasingly powerful elite argues that the country
is irredeemably flawed, its culture, heritage, and history widely
condemned as fundamentally prejudiced, bigoted -- even genocidal. WHAT
WENT WRONG is a deeply reported and thought-provoking account that
explores the ways in which Americans have been betrayed and undermined,
and how that same nation can reclaim its sense of purpose for a better
future.
