What do you do when an entire civilization is crumbling around you? You do everything. This is a book about how to get started.Providence College professor Anthony Esolen; blunt and prophetic; makes the case that the decay of Western civilization is alarmingly advanced. Our sickly; sub-pagan state resembles a bombed-out city.We have to assess the damage; but merely lamenting it does no good. There is work to be done.The first step is the restoration of truth. America’s most powerful institutions—including the government—are mass producers of deceit. We have to recognize the lies and clear our minds of cant.Our culture produces only the drab or the garish. We must restore beauty—in art; architecture; music; and worship.There are two things wrong with our schools—everything our children don’t learn in them; and everything they do learn. Public schools are beyond reform; we have to start over.Our universities are as bad as our schools. A few can be saved; but for the most part; we must build new ones. In fact; this is already being done. We have to support these efforts as if our children’s souls depended on it.Repudiating the Sexual Revolution; that prodigious engine of misery; requires more than zipping up. The modern world has made itself ignorant about sex—in particular that there are two of them and they’re profoundly different. We must restore manhood and womanhood.In our servile economy; we raise bureaucrats not craftsmen. We must rediscover how to make things that are beautiful and lasting—the products of human work. And we must dispense with the “rent-seekersâ€Â—the proliferating middlemen whose own work contributes nothing.We have turned sports into a job for our children. Instead of playing we “work out.†A genuine civilization is based on celebration. We must restore play to human life; seeing all the other days of the week in light of the Sabbath.The gigantic scale of government has made us a nation of “idiots;†incapable of attending to public affairs and the common good. We must insist that the Constitution is not whatever judges say it is; complying with but not obeying their edicts while we reclaim our freedom of religion one outdoor procession; one public lecture; one parish picnic at a time.We must love this world; but we have here no abiding city. The great division is between those who place all their hope in the present life and those who know that we are pilgrims. There is no retreat; but take courage—we have our map. Let us begin.
#1340332 in Books 2013-05-01Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 9.21 x .37 x 6.14l; .56 #File Name: 1618112961160 pages
Review
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful. Ancient Iraqi Jews still relevantBy Benjamin DencklaAs an Angeleno I have the luxury of living with some of the greatest Jewish minds of our times. I got to hear the author speak several times at my Temple and thus was inspired to read this book. It takes a convincing stab at showing how the Jewish wisdom of far flung times and places (the first few centuries CE; cities in what is now Iraq) can help us navigate the ethical challenges of modern cities like Los Angeles.2 of 3 people found the following review helpful. A crucial book for these timesBy Harriet FraadJustice in the City is a crucial book. More and more Americans and indeed all people live in cities around the world or the slums that surround those cities. In cities we share sidewalks; streets; subways; buses and so much else. In New York City we are at the same time united in sharing public space and confronted with the glut of private wealth in the face of starving the public by cutting funding from Libraries; schools; infants nutrition; child care subsidies ... the list is endless.America was the most egalitarian Western developed nation in 1970. Now we are the least egalitarian of all. The basic equality that helps people feel that we are all in it together is disappearing in the new America which qualifies as best democracy money can buy. Cohen's book speaks to all the millions of every faith and all the non-believers who live in US cities. It shows us a better way to enjoy our shared lives. The struggle to enjoy those better lives is worth it. Read this book and be inspired!3 of 4 people found the following review helpful. Breathtaking!By Isaac StewartA stunning; long-awaited contribution; bound to transform the way we think about our neighbors and ourselves; from one of the most insightful; deep and revolutionary scholars of Jewish ethics today. An absolute must!
