Christopher Lasch (1932–1994), professor of history at the University of Rochester, wrote, among many other works, The True and Only Heaven: Progress and Its Critics and the best-selling Revolt of the Elites and the Betrayal of Democracy.
"An extraordinary book by one of our wisest social and political observers. Lasch's brilliant analysis of our secular dreams and hopes, our blind spots and foolishness, ought to help us all figure out what we believe and where we are headed." -- Robert Coles "Christopher Lasch has written a great book about the most important things. As a major contribution to public discourse, The True and Only Heaven will be at the center of discussion for years to come." -- Robert Bellah, coauthor of Habits of the Heart "The battle that has been going on for the past two decades among historians and philosophers, nothing less than a struggle to define the historical nature of America's political soul, has been joined by Christopher Lasch. His provocative and learned book offers fresh perspectives on many topics and illuminates the relevance of Christian and classical thinkers for our troubled era." -- John Patrick Diggins "Powerful and moving... A magisterial synthesis." -- Michael Stern - San Francisco Chronicle "A profound and intellectually honest work of breathtaking historical scope that could easily set the terms of political debate in a post-cold-war world in which the ideologies of right and left seem totally exhausted... A cleareyed study of our usable past." -- Kirkus Reviews
"An extraordinary book by one of our wisest social and political observers. Lasch's brilliant analysis of our secular dreams and hopes, our blind spots and foolishness, ought to help us all figure out what we believe and where we are headed." -- Robert Coles "Christopher Lasch has written a great book about the most important things. As a major contribution to public discourse, The True and Only Heaven will be at the center of discussion for years to come." -- Robert Bellah, coauthor of Habits of the Heart "The battle that has been going on for the past two decades among historians and philosophers, nothing less than a struggle to define the historical nature of America's political soul, has been joined by Christopher Lasch. His provocative and learned book offers fresh perspectives on many topics and illuminates the relevance of Christian and classical thinkers for our troubled era." -- John Patrick Diggins "Powerful and moving... A magisterial synthesis." -- Michael Stern - San Francisco Chronicle "A profound and intellectually honest work of breathtaking historical scope that could easily set the terms of political debate in a post-cold-war world in which the ideologies of right and left seem totally exhausted... A cleareyed study of our usable past." -- Kirkus Reviews
The thrust of Lasch's polemic is that progressives mistakenly cling to a faith in progress, i.e., the belief that a steady, indefinite rise in living standards is possible. The world's diminishing resources and America's shrinking middle class effectively doom the idea of such progress, he suggests. Lasch identifies a constellation of thinkers--Carlyle, Emerson, William James, Reinhold Neibuhr, syndicalist Georges Sorel, American populists--who were skeptical of material progress and its presumed benefits. He links their views to the ``petty-bourgeois sensibility'' of the lower-middle class, said to be rooted in family, neighborhood, respect for workmanship, loyalty, thrift, self-denial and a recognition of human limits. As self-appointed champion of lower-middle-class values, Lasch is less cogent than in his jeremiad, The Culture of Narcissism. He uses liberals as a whipping-post to advance his debatable thesis, accusing them of unrealistic optimism and a shallow secularism. (Jan.)
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