American politics is in a state of crisis but it is not clear why. Nor do we know what to do about it. Reinhold Niebuhr helps us understand what is wrong with our politics and research into the workings of the brain confirms his analysis. Call it sin or motivated reasoning and confirmation bias, the bottom line is that all of us are what Niebuhr calls “Children of Light.” We are all vain and self-righteous about our beliefs and values, and far too quick to reject any information that goes against them. The unprecedented rise of talk radio and cable news helps to account for why things are so bad. We all want to hear that our group is smarter and more moral than others. To restore a democracy that functions, we need to understand ourselves better and develop the humility that such knowledge should engender.
The insurrection of January 6, 2021, demonstrated conclusively that tribalism in the United States has become dangerous. The “other side” is no longer viewed as a well-intentioned opponent but as an existential threat. If we don’t change course, American democracy is far from assured. This book outlines specific steps that average citizens can take to back the nation away from the brink. Instead of looking to political leaders, institutions, or policy for solutions to extreme partisanship, Christopher Beem argues that concerned citizens can and must take up the cause. He spells out seven civic practices we can all follow that will help us work against our antidemocratic tendencies and reorient the nation toward the “more perfect union” of our Founders. Beem’s road map to restore our democracy draws on thinkers from Aristotle and Thomas Aquinas to James Madison, Hannah Arendt, Abraham Lincoln, and Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Empathetic and eminently reasonable, The Seven Democratic Virtues presents practical advice for what each of us can do to change the political discourse and save our democracy. This is necessary reading for our politics today—and in the future.
Even in the midst of an economic boom, most Americans would agree that our civic institutions are hard pressed and that we are growing ever more cynical and disconnected from one another. In response to this bleak assessment, advocates of "civil society" argue that rejuvenating our neighborhoods, churches, and community associations will lead to a more moral, civic-minded polity. Christopher Beem argues that while the movement's goals are laudable, simply restoring local institutions will not solve the problem; a civil society also needs politics and government to provide a sense of shared values and ideas. Tracing the concept back to Tocqueville and Hegel, Beem shows that both thinkers faced similar problems and both rejected civil society as the sole solution. He then shows how, in the case of the Civil Rights movement, both political groups and the federal government were necessary to effect a new consensus on race. Taking up the arguments of Robert Putnam, Michael Sandel, and others, this timely book calls for a more developed sense of what the state is for and what our politics ought to be about. "This book is bound to incite controversy and to contribute to our ongoing grappling with where our own democratic political culture is going. . . . Beem helps us to get things right by offering a corrective to any and all visions of civil society sanitized from politics."—Jean Bethke Elshtain, from the Foreword "[Beem] makes an impressive case. At the end of the day, there really is no substitute for governmental authority in fostering the moral identity of the body politic."—Robert P. George, Times Literary Supplement
During the 1990s, both the United States and Britain shifted from entitlement to work-based systems for supporting their poor citizens. Much research has examined the implications of welfare reform for the economic well-being of the poor, but the new legislation also affects our view of democracy—and how it ought to function. By eliminating entitlement and setting behavioral conditions on aid, welfare reform challenges our understanding of citizenship, political equality, and the role of the state. In Welfare Reform and Political Theory, editors Lawrence Mead and Christopher Beem have assembled an accomplished list of political theorists, social policy experts, and legal scholars to address how welfare reform has affected core concepts of political theory and our understanding of democracy itself. Welfare Reform and Political Theory is unified by a common set of questions. The contributors come from across the political spectrum, each bringing different perspectives to bear. Carole Pateman argues that welfare reform has compromised the very tenets of democracy by tying the idea of citizenship to participation in the marketplace. But William Galston writes that American citizenship has in some respects always been conditioned on good behavior; work requirements continue that tradition by promoting individual responsibility and self-reliance—values essential to a well-functioning democracy. Desmond King suggests that work requirements draw invidious distinctions among citizens and therefore destroy political equality. Amy Wax, on the other hand, contends that ending entitlement does not harm notions of equality, but promotes them, by ensuring that no one is rewarded for idleness. Christopher Beem argues that entitlement welfare served a social function—acknowledging the social value of care—that has been lost in the movement towards conditional benefits. Stuart White writes that work requirements can be accepted only subject to certain conditions, while Lawrence Mead argues that concerns about justice must be addressed only after recipients are working. Alan Deacon is well to the left of Joel Schartz, but both say government may actively promote virtue through social policy—a stance some other contributors reject. The move to work-centered welfare in the 1990s represented not just a change in government policy, but a philosophical change in the way people perceived government, its functions, and its relationship with citizens. Welfare Reform and Political Theory offers a long overdue theoretical reexamination of democracy and citizenship in a workfare society.
Even in the midst of an economic boom, most Americans would agree that our civic institutions are hard pressed and that we are growing ever more cynical and disconnected from one another. In response to this bleak assessment, advocates of "civil society" argue that rejuvenating our neighborhoods, churches, and community associations will lead to a more moral, civic-minded polity. Christopher Beem argues that while the movement's goals are laudable, simply restoring local institutions will not solve the problem; a civil society also needs politics and government to provide a sense of shared values and ideas. Tracing the concept back to Tocqueville and Hegel, Beem shows that both thinkers faced similar problems and both rejected civil society as the sole solution. He then shows how, in the case of the Civil Rights movement, both political groups and the federal government were necessary to effect a new consensus on race. Taking up the arguments of Robert Putnam, Michael Sandel, and others, this timely book calls for a more developed sense of what the state is for and what our politics ought to be about. "This book is bound to incite controversy and to contribute to our ongoing grappling with where our own democratic political culture is going. . . . Beem helps us to get things right by offering a corrective to any and all visions of civil society sanitized from politics."—Jean Bethke Elshtain, from the Foreword "[Beem] makes an impressive case. At the end of the day, there really is no substitute for governmental authority in fostering the moral identity of the body politic."—Robert P. George, Times Literary Supplement
The insurrection of January 6, 2021, demonstrated conclusively that tribalism in the United States has become dangerous. The “other side” is no longer viewed as a well-intentioned opponent but as an existential threat. If we don’t change course, American democracy is far from assured. This book outlines specific steps that average citizens can take to back the nation away from the brink. Instead of looking to political leaders, institutions, or policy for solutions to extreme partisanship, Christopher Beem argues that concerned citizens can and must take up the cause. He spells out seven civic practices we can all follow that will help us work against our antidemocratic tendencies and reorient the nation toward the “more perfect union” of our Founders. Beem’s road map to restore our democracy draws on thinkers from Aristotle and Thomas Aquinas to James Madison, Hannah Arendt, Abraham Lincoln, and Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Empathetic and eminently reasonable, The Seven Democratic Virtues presents practical advice for what each of us can do to change the political discourse and save our democracy. This is necessary reading for our politics today—and in the future.
American politics is in a state of crisis but it is not clear why. Nor do we know what to do about it. Reinhold Niebuhr helps us understand what is wrong with our politics and research into the workings of the brain confirms his analysis. Call it sin or motivated reasoning and confirmation bias, the bottom line is that all of us are what Niebuhr calls “Children of Light.” We are all vain and self-righteous about our beliefs and values, and far too quick to reject any information that goes against them. The unprecedented rise of talk radio and cable news helps to account for why things are so bad. We all want to hear that our group is smarter and more moral than others. To restore a democracy that functions, we need to understand ourselves better and develop the humility that such knowledge should engender.
This book provides a concise historical outline of religion in Poland up until its entry into the European Union in 2004, together with a longer presentation of contemporary religious issues. Albeit largely mono-ethnic and overwhelmingly Catholic after the loss of its large Jewish population to the Holocaust, and subsequent post-World War II border shifts, traces of an historic diversity remain in Poland to date, playing a greater role than mere numbers would suggest. Poland's fairly robust religious life is affected by the country's continuing modernization and its various institutions, and this is discussed within a broad context. One of the unfortunate legacies of decades of communism is a stunted civil society; while at different levels there are conflicts involving religion, at the grassroots it is one of the few forces building much needed trust in present-day Polish society.
Throughout history, battlefields have placed a soldier's instinct for self-preservation in direct opposition to the army's insistence that he do his duty and put himself in harm's way. Enduring Battle looks beyond advances in weaponry to examine changes in warfare at the very personal level. Drawing on the combat experiences of American soldiers in three widely separated wars-the Revolution, the Civil War, and World War II-Christopher Hamner explores why soldiers fight in the face of terrifying lethal threats and how they manage to suppress their fears, stifle their instincts, and marshal the will to kill other humans. Hamner contrasts the experience of infantry combat on the ground in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, when soldiers marched shoulder-to-shoulder in linear formations, with the experiences of dispersed infantrymen of the mid-twentieth century. Earlier battlefields prized soldiers who could behave as stoic automatons; the modern dispersed battlefield required soldiers who could act autonomously. As the range and power of weapons removed enemies from view, combat became increasingly depersonalized, and soldiers became more isolated from their comrades and even imagined that the enemy was targeting them personally. What's more, battles lengthened so that exchanges of fire that lasted an hour during the Revolutionary War became round-the-clock by World War II. The book's coverage of training and leadership explores the ways in which military systems have attempted to deal with the problem of soldiers' fear in battle and contrasts leadership in the linear and dispersed tactical systems. Chapters on weapons and comradeship then discuss soldiers' experiences in battle and the relationships that informed and shaped those experiences. Hamner highlights the ways in which the "band of brothers" phenomenon functioned differently in the three wars and shows that training, conditioning, leadership, and other factors affect behavior much more than political ideology. He also shows how techniques to motivate soldiers evolved, from the linear system's penalties for not fighting to modern efforts to convince soldiers that participation in combat would actually maximize their own chances for survival. Examining why soldiers continue to fight when their strong instinct is to flee, Enduring Battle challenges long-standing notions that high ideals and small unit bonds provide sufficient explanation for their behavior. Offering an innovative way to analyze the factors that enable soldiers to face the prospect of death or debilitating wounds, it expands our understanding of the evolving nature of warfare and its warriors.
This practical, extensively illustrated handbook covers the procedures that are undertaken in andrology and ART laboratories to analyse and assess male-factor infertility, and to prepare spermatozoa for use in assisted conception therapy. The content is presented as brief, authoritative overviews of the relevant biological background for each area, plus detailed, step-by-step descriptions of the relevant analytical procedures. Each technical section includes quality control considerations and the optimum presentation of results. In addition to the comprehensive 'basic' semen analysis, incorporating careful analysis of sperm morphology, the handbook provides established techniques for the use of computer-aided sperm analysis and sperm functional assessment. The interpretation of laboratory results in the clinical context is highlighted throughout, and safe laboratory practice is emphasized. Fully revised, incorporating the new ISO TS 23162 on basic human semen analysis throughout, this is an invaluable resource to all scientists and technicians who perform diagnostic testing for male-factor infertility.
The Beebles Continuance serves as a bridge between the events of the first two major Beebles plays, The Beebles Accord and The Beebles Refrain. This short play begins with Mary Ann, recently having engaged in self-evaluation, coming to terms with her character and her role in the Beebles universe. She is quickly joined by Brannon and Law, who are with her during her epiphany. Within a few minutes, the characters are visited by an iconic character from English literature, who sets into action the events that will lead into The Beebles Refrain. This short one-act play has comic elements, yet it pulls together the logical and emotional strings of The Accord and provides the characters with the arc that leads them to the search for meaning explored in The Refrain.
Infectious Diseases of the Fetus and Newborn Infant, written and edited by Drs. Remington, Klein, Wilson, Nizet, and Maldonado, remains the definitive source of information in this field. The 7th edition of this authoritative reference provides the most up-to-date and complete guidance on infections found in utero, during delivery, and in the neonatal period in both premature and term infants. Special attention is given to the prevention and treatment of these diseases found in developing countries as well as the latest findings about new antimicrobial agents, gram-negative infections and their management, and recommendations for immunization of the fetus/mother. Nationally and internationally recognized in immunology and infectious diseases, new associate editors Nizet and Maldonado bring new insight and fresh perspective to the book. Get the latest information on maternal infections when they are pertinent to the infant or developing fetus, including disease transmission through breastfeeding Diagnose, prevent, and treat neonatal infectious diseases with expert guidance from the world's leading authorities and evidence-based recommendations. Incorporate the latest findings about infections found in utero, during delivery, and in the neonatal period. Find the critical answers you need quickly and easily thanks to a consistent, highly user-friendly format Get fresh perspectives from two new associate editors—Drs. Yvonne Maldonado, head of the Pediatric Infectious Disease program at Stanford, and Victor Nizet, Professor of Pediatrics & Pharmacy at University of California, San Diego and UCSD School of Medicine. Keep up with the most relevant topics in fetal/neonatal infectious disease including new antimicrobial agents, gram- negative infections and their management, and recommendations for immunization of the fetus/mother. Overcome the clinical challenges in developing countries where access to proper medical care is limited. Apply the latest recommendations for H1N1 virus and vaccines. Identify and treat infections with the latest evidence-based information on fighting life-threatening diseases in the fetus and newborn infants.
Regarded as the definitive source of information in the field, Infectious Diseases of the Fetus and Newborn Infant remains your indispensable source for authoritative, state-of-the-art answers. Edited by Drs. Wilson, Nizet, Maldonado, Remington, and Klein, this fully updated reference helps you apply the latest evidence-based recommendations in the prevention, diagnosis, and management of infections found in utero, during delivery, and in the neonatal period in both premature and term infants. Consult this title on your favorite e-reader. Form a definitive diagnosis and create the best treatment plans possible using evidence-based recommendations and expert guidance from world authorities. Locate key content easily and identify clinical conditions quickly thanks to a consistent, highly user-friendly format now featuring a full-color design with hundreds of illustrations, and fresh perspectives from six new authoritative chapter lead authors. Explore what’s changing in key areas such as: - emerging problems and concepts in maternal, fetal, and neonatal infectious diseases - anticipation and recognition of infections occurring in utero, during delivery, and in the neonatal period Stay on the cutting edge of your field with new and improved chapters including: obstetric factors associated with infections of the fetus and newborn infant; human milk; borella infections; tuberculosis; bordetella pertussis and other bordetella sp infections; herpes simplex; toxoplasmosis; pneumocystis and other less common fungal infections; and healthcare-associated infections in the nursery Keep up with the most relevant topics in fetal/neonatal infectious disease including new antimicrobial agents, gram- negative infections and their management, and recommendations for immunization of the fetus/mother. Overcome clinical challenges in developing countries where access to proper medical care is limited. Expert Consult eBook version included with purchase. This enhanced eBook experience allows you to search all of the text, figures, references, and videos from the book on a variety of devices.
Infectious Diseases of the Fetus and Newborn Infant, written and edited by Drs. Remington, Klein, Wilson, Nizet, and Maldonado, remains the definitive source of information in this field. The 8th edition of this authoritative reference provides the most up-to-date and complete guidance on infections found in utero, during delivery, and in the neonatal period in both premature and term infants. Special attention is given to the prevention and treatment of these diseases found in developing countries as well as the latest findings about new antimicrobial agents, gram-negative infections and their management, and recommendations for immunization of the fetus/mother. Nationally and internationally recognized in immunology and infectious diseases, new associate editors Nizet and Maldonado bring new insight and fresh perspective to the book. Form a definitive diagnosis and create the best treatment plans possible using evidence-based recommendations and expert guidance from world authorities. Locate key content easily and identify clinical conditions quickly thanks to a consistent, highly user-friendly format now featuring a full-color design with hundreds of illustrations, and fresh perspectives from six new authoritative chapter lead authors. Explore what's changing in key areas such as: - emerging problems and concepts in maternal, fetal, and neonatal infectious diseases - anticipation and recognition of infections occurring in utero, during delivery, and in the neonatal period Stay on the cutting edge of your field with new and improved chapters including: obstetric factors associated with infections of the fetus and newborn infant; human milk; borella infections; tuberculosis; bordetella pertussis and other bordetella sp infections; herpes simplex; toxoplasmosis; pneumocystis and other less common fungal infections; and healthcare-associated infections in the nursery Keep up with the most relevant topics in fetal/neonatal infectious disease including new antimicrobial agents, gram- negative infections and their management, and recommendations for immunization of the fetus/mother. Overcome clinical challenges in developing countries where access to proper medical care is limited. Expert Consult eBook version included with purchase. This enhanced eBook experience allows you to search all of the text, figures, references, and videos from the book on a variety of devices.
Christopher Morley (1890-1957) was an American journalist, novelist, essayist and poet. He went to New College, Oxford University for three years on a Rhodes Scholarship, studying modern history. He moved to Philadelphia where he got his start as a newspaper reporter and then columnist for various publications. In 1920, he returned to New York City and took a job writing the column The Bowling Green for the New York Evening Post. He was one of the founders and long-time contributing editor of the Saturday Review of Literature. Out of enthusiasm for the Sherlock Holmes stories, he became the founder of the Baker Street Irregulars and wrote the introduction to the standard omnibus edition of The Complete Sherlock Holmes. Author of more than 100 books of essays, poetry, and novels, he is probably best known as the author of Kitty Foyle (1939), which was made into an Academy Award-winning movie. His works include Parnassus on Wheels (1917), Shandygaff (1918), The Haunted Bookshop (1919), Where the Blue Begins (1922), Thunder on the Left (1925), The Trojan Horse (1937), and The Old Mandarin (1947).
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