Desolation’s March.: The Rise of Personalism and the Reign of Amusement in 21st Century America

Dr.Foster(author of MELANCHOLY DUTY, Kluwer,1997)has undertaken a critique of American decadence and moral squalor. He argues that three basic cultural phenomena have conjoined to warp and degrade the moral and cultural landscape of the country. Treated together for purposes of critique these phenomena have intertwined: in the national pysche: They are the impact of personalism(via J.J.Rosseau) and the leveraged individual, the growth of the theraputic state and the overwhelming preoccupation with entertainment. The author suggests the moral and cultural quandry these states have wrought and the attendant loss of artistic, moral and social integrity that the United States has suffered. …(A)brillant philosophical and cultural treatise on the ground lost and the hollow, airless quality of our popular culture and media. Deeply disturbing. The book is highly recommended. Professor Randolph Langenbach, Stanford University