Fortress America

How We Embraced Fear and Abandoned Democracy

De: Elaine Tyler May

Narrado por: Kevin Stillwell

An award-winning historian argues that America's obsession with security imperils our democracy in this "compelling" portrait of cultural anxiety (Mary L. Dudziak, author of War Time).

For the last sixty years, fear has seeped into every area of American life: Americans own more guns than citizens of any other country, sequester themselves in gated communities, and retreat from public spaces. And yet, crime rates have plummeted, making life in America safer than ever. Why, then, are Americans so afraid-and where does this fear lead to?

In this remarkable work of social history, Elaine Tyler May demonstrates how our obsession with security has made citizens fear each other and distrust the government, making America less safe and less democratic. Fortress America charts the rise of a muscular national culture, undercutting the common good. Instead of a thriving democracy of engaged citizens, we have become a paranoid, bunkered, militarized, and divided vigilante nation.

Reseñas de la Crítica

"May...traces how a growing preoccupation with vigilance and safety shaped American culture and prompted millions of people to invest in 'security measures that did not make them any safe.'"—New Republic

"If you feel shockingly high anxiety these days, and wonder why it got this way, Elaine Tyler May's Fortress America: How We Embraced Fear and Abandoned Democracy offers some answer...[May] puts much of the blame on an axis of anxiety including politicians, big media and entertainment, and an array of profiteers ranging from gun makers to security firms."—Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

"Elaine Tyler May...explores how the United States got to this point of paranoia and how Americans made themselves prisoners in a world where security precaution is not just an industry but a lifestyle.... The irony that May captures is that Americans have more to fear now than they ever have: they are just fretting over the wrong things."—Australian Book Review

"May... argues that the pervasive dread of the Cold War never really ended but metastasized into the American consciousness, particularly fear of cities and racial conflict."—Public Books

"This thoroughly researched and thoughtfully written social history is recommended to all who seek to understand our divided society."—Library Journal

"A must-read for anyone seeking to understand the anxieties that occupy American politics."—Publishers Weekly

"In making a solid case for our country's overinvestment in personal and national security, May asks a germane question: are we focusing on the right threats?"—Kirkus Reviews

American Scholar
"[May's] style is brisk and catholic, and no cultural artifact is too minute to catch her eye. The effect is like watching one gem of cultural trivia after another shaken loose from an ephemeral recent past."

"Challenging and provocative, Fortress America will stir stimulating debate in the classroom and in the living room about the state of America in the post-World War II world."
—William Chafe, Alice Mary Baldwin Professor, emeritus, Duke University; former president, Organization of American Historians

"America founded itself on the principles of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, but for much of the last century, it has been increasingly seized by fear, suspicion, and anxiety. Elaine Tyler May has provided a lucid, accessible, and sweeping account of this national nervous breakdown. With acute intelligence and supple prose, she separates distortion from reality, fever dream from waking truth."—SamuelFreedman, professor, Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism

I Strongly disagree .

a A leftist author obviously calling it saying more people murdered by white Americans than Muslims yes but there are millions more white Christians than Muslims so that statement is just bull hockey the a is obviously pushing a false narrative . just like Joe Biden calling maga voters domestic terrorists . there are abortion radicals no doubt but to label so many white Americans as such is a lie just more of the lefts divide and conquer agenda her book sucks she obviously doesn't know or ever lived un middle America yet accuses them . of terrióst acts I disagree strongly . a one star is all that's given .