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 6
... ment , in a state of paranoia , think they do . If readers think I am exag- gerating with words such as " watching . . . overwhelm . . . suppress ... paranoia , " they should read the volumes of reports on the FBI and the CIA published ...
... ment with all the ingredients , add others , and create new combinations in looser bundles . We know as we come to the twenty - first century that we desperately need to develop new , imaginative approaches to the human problems of our ...
... ment , was to protect the country from the Soviet threat : a Soviet base in Nicaragua and a possible Soviet base in El Salvador . This was not quite believable . Was the Soviet Union prepared to launch an invasion of the United States ...
... ment that the U.S. Air Force was only bombing " military targets . " Another was a deception by President Richard Nixon ; he concealed from the American public the 1969-1970 massive bombing of Cambodia , a country with which we were ...
... ment to maintain the sanctity of the Japanese emperor , who was a holy figure to the Japanese people . Former ambassador to Japan Joseph Grew , based on his knowledge of Japanese culture , had been trying to persuade the U.S. government ...
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 |