Author: Lapham, Lewis H.
Title: Waiting for the Barbarians
Description: London, Verso, 1997. orig.cloth. 24x15cm, 230 pp. Minor rubbing. VG. ¶ After two centuries of experiment with the theories of the Enlightenment and the volatile substances of democracy, America's leading citizens have come to believe that they have safely arrived at the end of history. Substituting the wonder of money for the work of politics, (a dirty business best left to the hired help), the owners of the nation's capital take comfort in the rising Dow Jones average (up 2,500 points in the last three years) and complacently assume that the engines of immortal oligarchy require little else except the chores of routine maintenance. Unhappily, the political servants of the corporate state find it increasingly difficult to keep their master's house in order. Both the Republican and Democratic parties find themselves adrift in scandal, discredited by their means of raising campaign money, suspected of crimes against the common good, convicted of neglecting the poor, despoiling the environment, raffling off the prospects of the country's long-term future for the promise of a short-term vote. Lewis Lapham received the 1995 National Magazine Award for his essay writing, in which the judges discovered "an exhilarating point of view in an age of conformity". With invective all the more deadly for its grace and wit, Lapham presents the portrait of a feckless American establishment gone large in the stomach and soft in the head...." - Publisher's description.

Keywords: American Political History, United States, Politics, , , , , ,