Buried Alive - Softcover

Karp, Walter

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1879957043 ISBN 13: 9781879957046

Publisher: Franklin Square Press, 2010

Synopsis

Buried Alive assembles the best of Walter Karp's essays on American politics; on the lessons and responsibilities of liberty. Karp's writing is characterized by a fierce love of democracy and incisive commentary on government. These essays scrutinize American political and social issues with force, eloquence, and independent thinking.

About this title

From Kirkus Reviews

Eighteen trenchant essays on American politics and society during the cold war. Until his death in 1989, Karp (Liberty Under Siege, 1988, etc.) was a contributing editor to Harper's, where many of these pieces first appeared. With various aspects of American life--from TV soaps to fallout shelters--as grist for his mill, Karp generally finds evidence of a relentless erosion of republican values in the land of the free. Moving through a century of history, his kickoff essay, ``The Two Americas,'' traces the growth of nationalism from the 1890's, viewing it as an assault on the republic as flag-waving jingoism has replaced ideas of a politically active citizenry. Public education comes under fire in ``Why Johnny Can't Think,'' in which Karp cites studies from the mid-1980's that buttress his contention that republican sentiments are being systematically stamped out by having children learn through rote and discipline rather than through independent thinking. Central Park, Bobby Kennedy, and the Peloponnesian War (here used in an elaborate comparison to cold-war posturing) provide focal points for other commentaries, while the saga of Watergate appears as a recurring theme. Perhaps Karp's most scathing remarks, however, come in a close consideration of the Reagan years. Here, he suggests collusion between the Democratic leadership in Congress and the White House, and follows in detail dangerous precedents separating the executive branch from constitutional checks and balances- -further steps, Karp says, toward oligarchy and the denial to Americans of their rightful place in the political process. Occasionally strident, always implacable and severe, these essays express in many ways the prevailing mood of dissatisfaction in the country today. -- Copyright ©1992, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

From Library Journal

Permeating this collection of provocative and inspiring essays is a closely reasoned, impassioned defense of the American "republic"--and at the same time a multi-faceted attack on the corrupting influences of the American "nation." Karp, a contributing editor to Harper's Magazine who died in 1989, ranges far and wide in driving home his twin messages . Karp deeply resents our idolatry of Woodrow Wilson and Bobby Kennedy and exposes their undemocratic politics; he excoriates American education today for abandoning the goal of creating "an informed citizenry" and for substituting the goals of "industrial training" and "tribal identity"; he criticizes the news media for being government's best publicists; and he effectively argues that our TV soap operas are not an unhealthy sign of American individualism. Open-minded readers of Karp's vibrant prose will be rethinking our country's past history, present politics, and uncertain future for some time to come. For larger political collections.
- Jack Forman, Mesa Coll. Lib., San Diego
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Franklin Square Press
• Publication date: 2010
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1879957043
• ISBN 13: 9781879957046
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 279