America-Lite: How Imperial Academia Dismantled Our Culture (and Ushered In the Obamacrats)
October 10, 2012
- Author:
- David Gelernter
- Publisher:
- Encounter Books (6/26/2012)
America-Lite (where we all live) is just like America, only turned into an amusement park or a video game or a supersized Pinkberry, where the past and future are blank and there is only a big NOW. How did we come to expect no virtue and so much cynicism from our culture, our leaders—and each other?
In this refreshingly judgmental book, David Gelernter connects the historical dots to reveal a stealth revolution carried out by post-religious globalist intellectuals who, by and large, “can’t run their own universities or scholarly fields, but are very sure they can run you.” These imperial academics have deployed their students into the top echelon of professions once monopolized by staid and steady WASPs. In this simple way, they have installed themselves as the new designated drivers of American culture.
Imperial academics live in a world of theory; they preach disdain for mere facts and for old-fashioned fact-based judgments like true or false. Schoolchildren are routinely taught theories about history instead of actual history—they learn, for example, that all nations are equally nice except for America, which is nearly always nasty.
With academic experts to do our thinking for us, we’ve politely shut up and let second-raters take the wheel. In fact, we have handed the keys to the star pupil and teacher’s pet of the post-religious globalist intellectuals, whose election to the presidency of the United States constituted the ultimate global group hug.
How do we finally face the truth and get back into the driver’s seat? America-Lite ends with a one-point plan.
Comments (30)
by Klaatu
What does Ray K say about returning to those good old
days of WASPyness. Like the decades of anti-Semitism
at a U in Tenn where the chancellor just apologized
publicly. Sounds lke recycled Pat Buchanan who could
finesse the same questions for 50 years
until the southern BS gave out.
by shagggz
I hope this ludicrous laundry list of GOP talking points of a book isn’t indicative of any sort of trend for KurzweilAI.
by Guido
It hilarious that the term “obamacrats” drive some people to insane drivel. It’s OK, the truth hurts only a little bit’
by paulwhois
Okay, galilleowasright, you got me. Not all conservatives believe in angels. (I was hyperventilating at the time.)
But let’s get real here. Can anyone believe that America-Lite is not a political screed after seeing “Obamacrats” scornfully referenced in the sub-title and then again in the conclusion of the review?
“In fact, we have handed the keys to the star pupil and teacher’s pet of the post-religious globalist intellectuals, whose election to the presidency of the United States constituted the ultimate global group hug.”
Think about it: “Post-religious globalist intellectuals.” Doesn’t that describe 99 percent of the forward-thinking folks who subscribe to this newsletter, regardless of their political persuasions?
Want to challenge the establishment and reinvent education? Great. Let’s do it. But it strikes me as the height of naiveté and poor judgment to alienate the majority of the folks whom you’d think the author would want to recruit, just to advance a narrow, politically-driven agenda.
by Satan
Sounds like none of you read past the word obamacrats
- typical of lefty- righty thinking.
by PMK
Sure, there’s a lot of knee-jerk outrage in these comments, but if the author didn’t want it, he shouldn’t have used a loaded word like “Obamacrat” in the title. The synopsis (which is probably provided by the publisher) is also full of terminology that sets off the “conservative ideologue” sirens in my head.
That said, I don’t think the book appearing on this site necessarily means that Ray endorses its thesis. There have been other books spotlighted on here that espouse opinions I doubt he shares. But, excluding a voice from the discussion because it runs contrary to your biases isn’t what science is about. This book is probably here because Ray knows and respects the author, and he’s shown in the past that he can respect a person’s work and intelligence while strongly disagreeing with their opinions. Heck, he debated Gelernter on whether machines could be conscious or not, and we all know what side Ray falls on in that argument.
by Editor
PMK: Ray is not involved in selecting books (or other content) for mention on our site, aside from providing overall guidelines for our editorial focus. As I explained below, I chose to post the book because of its promised radical ideas for online education, and because Gelernter is an outstanding futurist and computer scientist whom both Ray and I respect. His political views are irrelevant.
by thane stroop
I think the example about america being taught as nasty and every other country as nice is so blatently fallacious that the article should have been immediately suspect… however I do recognize that it is hard to say no to a close friend with whom you share other values… I also don’t know if he donates to y’alls organization, but you don’t bite the hand that feeds you.
by Andrew Gibson
Are political views irrelevant, period? You don’t think that perhaps somebody’s core assumptions/prejudices might influence their “outstanding futurism”? That’s chillingly naive.
by Editor
The objective is to minimize irrelevant arguments and flames, not to exclude all political considerations, so I agree.
by Bri
I don’t know, and it’s my opinion, but after reading the article and the posts, I think everybody has been drinking koolaid spiked with LSD. I don’t see it from any of these perspectives. Not one person is in agreement with the others, except in condeming the book. I don’t have any interest in reading it. It sounds like how a person distorts reality, when they are on acid.Unfortunately I think the posts aren’t to different.There are many currents in America, and the world. Very hard to discern which one are good or bad. It really is a matter of opinion. I won’t state mine. I’d have to write a book.
by Klaatu
Ever hear Ray K deflect & get huffy when AGW is mentioned?
And I never did listen to the RK being interviewed by Glenn Beck.
Let’s hear a conversation between Gelernter and Rep. Dr Broun MD
about the theories behind “evilution” much less carbon dating
outside of marriage. I’m sure both can filibuster a blue streak
when confronted.
by Klaatu
Commentor Galilleowasright (right wing?) & the old “long list
of scientists who think man made global warming uses flawed data”.
“Scientists” with degrees in broadcast meteorology?
Rep. Broun MD of Georgia (USA not Europe) on the *sceance* committe
talking about *evil-ution* academic conspiracies?
Deniers4hire know the Republican South will be in trouble if
projections prove too “conservative”, & will need a major fix besides
air conditioning to save their ass-ets. Co2 filters? Sun deflectors in space?
Buying time means deny deflect & lie about “Obamacrats” & their theories.
by asiwel
Like nanotechnology, even the best educational technology can lead to “gray gue.” But I don’t think either one should be necessarily “banned.” This is sort of like saying “guns don’t kill, people do.” On the other hand, all three technologies can be raised to the level of assalt weapons and at that point (or a bit before then), reconsideration might be necessary.
by Thomas Murphy
This certainly exposes some heretofore undisclosed Kurzweil biases. Wow! Pining for the good ol’ WASPy days, no less. Makes me think twice about lending any credibility to this site. Whatever happened to “Accelerating Intelligence”?
by Thomas Jackson, MD
What an embarrassment to Ray Kurzweil. He has wisely demonstrated great caution regarding politics. His belief is that our hope for the future of mankind lies in science, not politics. I am left wondering why his editors have allowed this nonsense to contaminate this lofty website.
by PMK
It came as somewhat of a shock to see this on the site. The author may be a colleague of Ray’s, but I feel that partisanship has no place on KurzweilAI. Indeed, one of the things I find so refreshing about Ray’s talks and writings is that he distinctly avoids an overt political bias. I tend to attribute the ideals he espouses to social Progressivism, and thus somewhat left-leaning (and therefore in alignment with my biases :P ), but that’s entirely my interpretation, as I haven’t seen a definitive statement from him on the subject.
by Antonio Carvalho
This post made me think twice about subscribing to this website, but I respect Kurzweil too much leave it.
I won’t even delve into the terrible tone and substance of the book here, the public on this website is intelligent enough to detect it from a distance.
by galilleowasright
To Paulwhois..so in your black/white either/or world it is one or the other. Could you open your mind a crack to admit that theory and practice are not the same. Hence we have an academic president practicing his “theories” on 330 million people. Also refer to Venn diagrams. Just because some conservatives believe in angels does not mean all do. In addition, check out the long list of scientists who think man-made global warming theory uses flawed data.
by Editor
My impression is that our educational and political (all parties) systems are stuck in dysfunctional top-down dominator hierarchy mode, while the new online people are in the process of creating new dynamic egalitarian systems that are bypassing these dying systems.
by T'Ail Chou
Five against and one for should tell even Kurzweil Editors something????
by Editor
Yes, sounds like they are concerned about politics issues. Hopefully, some one will take a look at it and provide a critique on his educational technology ideas (I’m not interested personally in the politics). We have been covering David Galernter’s pioneering research, and he is an esteemed colleague of Ray, so I’m looking forward to learning about his new ideas on educational technology.
by Jkl
What is this doing on kurzweilai?
by Editor
I haven’t read the book yet, but according to Prof. Gelernter, he has developed radical new ideas for online education that sound interesting.
by Antonio Carvalho
This author is strongly pro-religion, full of partisanship, subtly against the theory of evolution (when he mentions how schools are making american children “atheists”). And even though no mention of his “radical new ideas” are found anywaware in any of the books reviews (dumping all “knowledge” inside computers online, as if we were not doing that already), you still give this guy such a huge space in this website?
As an editor you should reconsider this by looking at how out of sync this material is to the essence and goals of this website.
If someone decides to strip the “radical new ideas” from all the adjacent filth, it could perhaps have a place here.
by Boristabby
One point plan? Sounds like armageddon. Or maybe Kentucky-Senator-style racial cleansing? Will the stalags be non-profit? Or will we market the watermelon crops?
by G Money
why is kurzweil giving a voice to this discredited new american century drivel?
by John Deere
This kind of book makes me embarrassed to be American.
by Harmil22
“This kind of book makes me embarrassed to be American”…or a Kurzweil website visitor. If the editor hasn’t read the book surely she read the description which is hardly more than a brief rightwing rant. Very disappointing on what I assumed was a science site.
by paulwhois
I see. And the “other party,” the non-Obama party, that doubts evolution, believes angels are real, and global warming a left wing plot, they are the REAL intellectuals?