Land of Idols: Political Mythology in America - Hardcover

Parenti, Michael

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0312098413 ISBN 13: 9780312098414

Publisher: St Martins Pr, 1993

Synopsis

Arguing against the presumption that the U.S. has no dominant ideology, the author confronts the myths in American society that limit the perception of political reality and constrain progressive reform

About this title

From Kirkus Reviews

Radical social-critic Parenti (Make-Believe Media, The Sword and the Dollar, etc.) returns, isolating and condemning certain ideological underpinnings of modern American life and casting a baleful eye on everything from New Age hype to more familiar racist, sexist, and capitalist targets. In a survey that covers all the bases but breaks little new ground, the first myths to receive scrutiny are those that foster an apathetic, passive citizenry. Ranging from the cynicism of adages like ``You can't fight City Hall'' and ``The more things change, the more they stay the same'' to equally limiting visions of self-empowerment and inner growth, which promote the individual at the expense of the community, these notions serve the insidious purposes of superpatriots and fundamentalists admirably. In spite of the evidence, Parenti says, the common view of America as a classless society retains its place in politics and culture, with those surviving on wages and those thriving on unearned income lumped together to blur the line between exploiter and exploited. A monopoly culture keeps the class lines from being redrawn or made manifest, as everything from the arts and media to universities are left largely in the control of corporate entities that would ensure the hegemony of capitalism. Progress has been made in improving the status of African-Americans and in lessening the victimization of women, but change has come about only through strife and broad- based social movements--with the powers-that-be resisting at every step, vigilant always to regain lost ground should the political tide turn again in their favor. Eloquently argued and provocative, but those seeking a solid progressive agenda for a post-cold-war America will be disappointed. -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

From Publishers Weekly

Parenti's ( Inventing Reality: The Politics of News Media ) publisher refers to him as "the perfect antidote to Rush Limbaugh." Unfortunately, like Limbaugh, he is a strict idealogue--albeit leftist--but not nearly as entertaining. Nevertheless, Parenti makes several germane statements that catch one's attention: capitalists glorify "self-reliance," but corporate interests "depend on the government for all sorts of services and supports;" and the Reagan-Bush endorsement of the religious right's position on abortion was "one of the most dramatic flip-flops of modern American politics." Parenti deflates religious buffoons whose motto is "Money is God in action" and also makes salient points about the "machismo" of superpatriotism ("God, it seems, was a cold-war militarist who was preparing us for a final nuclear showdown"). However, in his quest to justify his theses, Parenti tends to go overboard, equating Lech Walesa with Spiro Agnew, and viewing Mother Teresa as a capitalist tool. The book, although provocative in parts, is so stodgy and dry that it will have little appeal to the general reader.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: St Martins Pr
• Publication date: 1993
• ISBN 10: 0312098413
• ISBN 13: 9780312098414
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 208