Reviving the Idea of America
The New York Times
Problems in the United States go beyond economics. The culture appears to have lost its mojo, its churning energy. The writings of Alexis de Tocqueville could point the way forward.
Read moreYearly Archives: 2011
On Sidelines, Candidate Speaks Freely
The New York Times
Buddy Roemer, a long-shot candidate with little to lose, says American politics is plagued by a “plantation mentality” and that the wealth that built the United States may yet stifle its democracy.
Read moreBrazil Tries Pragmatism, Not Politics
The New York Times
To turn around its moribund economy, the country had to depoliticize the process. The result, says one scholar, has been building a socially oriented — and successful — market.
Read moreIs It a Crisis? Maybe So, if You’re a King
The New York Times
A dramatic shifting of power or an economic realignment can be viewed as a calamity by those with much to lose. But to others engaged in or benefiting from change, it looks like something else.
Read moreModifying a Definition of Modernity
The New York Times
Until recently, being ‘modern’ signaled a full embrace of the present and future, and an eschewing the societal constraints of the past. But as the idea advances globally, it is also being tweaked.
Read moreIn Lagos, Putting the Frills Before the Basics
The New York Times
Modernity in Lagos has come to mean a simultaneous pursuit of the basic needs of civilization, on the one hand, and of the latest and finest the world has to give, on the other.
Read moreThe Fraying of a Nation’s Decency
The New York Times
On the road to high and glorious things, Americans have somehow lost sight of their bonds of empathy, decency and common purpose.
Read moreSome of Sarah Palin’s Ideas Cross the Political Divide
The New York Times
Along with her familiar and predictable swipes, Sarah Palin delivered a devastating indictment of the entire U.S. political establishment — left, right and center.
Read moreFor Libya, a Light Hand May Be Best
The New York Times
The West, which has a poor of history of nation-building in recent decades, should resist temptation to attempt a wholesale reconstruction of Libya, observers say.
Read moreNext Frontier for Restless Americans?
The New York Times
Could a great nation of immigrants become in harder times a nation of emigrants who take their skills abroad?
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