Description
In this passionate, erudite, and provocative Leon Botstein, president of Bard College and director of the American Symphony Orchestra, takes on the cultural pessimists who he believes are harming our youth and damaging our democracy. "Most of our fellow citizens believe that yesterday things were better. Even those born during the 1950s romanticize the past. There is little optimism about tomorrow." Such relentless and unjustified pessimism, Botstein argues, becomes a barrier to a hopeful future.
In fact, it demonstrates persuasively. America is a much better, stronger culture than it has ever been. Much work needs to be done, especially in raising and teaching our kids, but the most important element is instilling in them a sense of American society as a vibrant, forward-looking culture of possibility.
Eclectic, iconoclastic, and above all hopeful, Jefferson's Children is a dazzling exploration of the promise of American culture, education, and democracy by one of the nation's most creative and prominent educators. The ideas Botstein boldly puts forth should form the core of a new national debate about the vitality of our country and the promise of its children.
ISBN:9780385475556
