It is James
Polk's belief that North Americans have largely
abandoned the public sphere for the sake of
individual fortune. In
The Triumph of Ignorance and
Bliss, he examines the
foundations of a culture that he sees as favoring
firepower over diplomacy, passions from the pulpit
over rational critique, and the star appeal of media
idols over the struggle with real problems.
Where engaged public discourse
should channel effective dissent, there is ignorance;
where public outrage should ignite corrective action
to oppose the status quo, there is bliss.
Polk portrays a
society sidetracked by television-inspired fantasies
of fame, fun, and perfect bodies, where public
schools systems are close to collapse, where millions
live without health insurance, where tax policies
openly favor 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,
communicated, and dealt with, 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the past has been replaced by a sense of despair and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
Deeply
influenced by both the Frankfurt School of Critical
Theory and twentieth-century phenomenology, 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. Polk currently teaches at the
University of Southern California, Los Angeles.
280
pages, 6x9, index
Paperback ISBN: 978-1-55164-314-4 $19.99
Hardcover ISBN: 978-1-55164-315-1 $48.99
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April
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