Passionate Declarations: Essays on War and JusticeFrom the bestselling author of A People's History of the United States comes this selection of passionate, honest, and piercing essays looking at American political ideology. Howard Zinn brings to Passionate Declarations the same astringent style and provocative point of view that led more than a million people to buy his book A People's History of the United States. He directs his critique here to what he calls "American orthodoxies" -- that set of beliefs guardians of our culture consider sacrosanct: justifications for war, cynicism about human nature and violence, pride in our economic system, certainty of our freedom of speech, romanticization of representative government, confidence in our system of justice. Those orthodoxies, he believes, have a chilling effect on our capacity to think independently and to become active citizens in the long struggle for peace and justice. |
From inside the book
Results 1-5 of 7
... action and change the world around us . Dissenters , I am aware , can create their own orthodoxy . So we need a constant reexamination of our thinking , using the evidence of our eyes and ears and the realities of our experience to ...
... action is born of living in the real world . " And consider how often a parent ( usually a father ) has said to a son or daughter : " It's good to have idealistic visions of a better world , but you're living in the real world , so act ...
... actions on reality , you are too often led to accept , without much questioning , someone else's version of what that reality is . It is a crucial act of independent thinking to be skeptical of someone else's description of reality ...
... actions , was not to be directly involved , so that he could deny knowledge of it . This was given the term plausible denial . As the committee reported : Non - attribution to the United States for covert operations was the original and ...
... action which much of the world will interpret as calculated aggression against a small nation . ” 29 The memorandum goes on , " The character and repute of President Kennedy constitute one of our greatest national resources . Nothing ...
Contents
1 | |
32 | |
FOUR The Use and Abuse of History | 48 |
The American Class System | 147 |
Second Thoughts on the First Amendment | 182 |
The Black Experience | 231 |
ELEVEN The Ultimate Power | 278 |
NOTES | 303 |
INDEX | 333 |