Meaning in life and why it matters

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Martin L. Gross

Watching the nation's tradition of fairness and individuality decline, Martin L. Gross describes how it is giving way to a reign of conformity and error, including the insidious "Political Correctness." The crisis he describes goes beyond an attack on reason - actually heralding the end of sanity in American life. Spearheaded by what he calls the "New Establishment" - a coalition of anti-intellectual academics, bureaucrats, politicians, judges, military leaders, social workers - the concepts that made America great are being thrown onto the cultural scrap heap in favor of a new "experimental" society that favors the few and ignores the many. Gross argues passionately, with fact and reason that the theories of the New Establishment, which have gained control of virtually every American institution, are a peril to society. One result is that they have replaced the ideal of a single America with separatism. In The End of Sanity, the New Establishment is unmasked as a secular theocracy, a pseudo-religion that gains its power through dogma, which it demands be enforced. But, says the author, there is a cure for America's ailment once we have diagnosed how deeply social and cultural insanity have infected the nation. Gross gets to the root of the problem, including examining the "gods" of the New Establishment, then provides remedies that can reverse the wrong-headedness.

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Dick DeVos

"Drawing on his experiences as the head of one of America's most successful businesses and on his abiding belief in the values that underlie the power and prosperity of America, Dick De Vos describes the rich rewards we can earn through self-discipline and hard work.". "De Vos explores 24 basic values - from honesty and compassion to initiative and leadership - demonstrating how they are the very foundation of our freedom. Including inspirational examples of everyday Americans who have applied these basic principles to their lives and work, Rediscovering American Values offers the guidance we need to carry us into the twenty-first century. It is essential reading for anyone who believes that the American Dream can still be ours."--BOOK JACKET.

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Ellen G. Friedman, Corinne Squire

Morality USA traces our ethical conundrum to rapid social change and events that have acted as moral breaks with the past. The Holocaust, the Kennedy and King assassinations, the civil rights and antiwar movements of the sixties, feminist and gay rights campaigns, Watergate, the Hill-Thomas hearings, and the Clinton sex scandals have progressively eroded confidence in moral universals. Stripped of grand moral narratives, people are left with mere cost-benefit analyses of their ethical options or with only a personal sense of right and wrong, a privatized moral order.

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Peter J. Ucko

Theory in Archaeology: a world perspective examines important questions about the diversity in theory and practice in archaeology which are facing the discipline in the 1990s. For example, what is the relationship between theory and practice? How does 'World' archaeological theory differ from 'European' archaeological theory? Is it possible to be a good archaeological practitioner without theory? This unique book includes contributions from many different parts of the world - Africa, Indonesia, India, Australia, Canada, South America, Japan, and many other countries - to give the first truly global perspective on archaeological theory. It examines the nature of material culture studies and looks at the problems of ethnicity, regionalism and nationality. It also considers one of the fundamental questions in archaeology: whether empirical facts can be found and recorded through 'objective' research, or whether the past is in fact only the relativistic creation of a particular age or society. The diverse range of authors brings together very different perceptions of the past and also sheds new light on the dynamics of nationalism, providing a framework for considering such immediate questions as the disintegration of the former Soviet Union and Yugoslavia. The book's scope and interest should guarantee an international readership amongst students and academics alike.