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
... give military aid to counterrevolutionaries ( the “ contras ” ) in Nicaragua , thus violating an act passed by Congress . Reagan and Vice President Bush denied involvement , although the evidence pointed very strongly to their ...
... give . " Raphael replies , " If I were at the court of some king and proposed wise laws to him and tried to root out of him the dangerous seeds of evil , do you not think I would either be thrown out of his court or held in scorn ? " He ...
... give the assurances the Japanese wanted on the emperor . He writes , " The curious mind lingers over the reasons why the American government waited so long before offering the Japanese those various assurances which it did extend later ...
... give a fuller picture . * 9 A thirty - five - year - old man : " A woman with her jaw missing and her tongue hanging out of her mouth was wandering around the area of Shinsho - machi in the heavy , black rain . She was heading toward ...
... give him a letter of introduction to President Roosevelt . But just as the meeting was being arranged , an announcement came over the radio that Roosevelt was dead . Would Einstein's great prestige have swayed the decision ? It is doubt ...
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 |