The Fate of America

By Michael Gellert

Book Overview

The Fate of America examines the national character of the United States against the backdrop of its history, popular culture, and media. Michael Gellert suggests that the deterioration of America's... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1574884719
• ISBN13: 9781574884715
• Release Date: July 2002
• Publisher: Potomac Books
• Length: 400 Pages
• Weight: 1.20 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.8" x 1.3" x 5.8"

Customer Reviews

a profound discussion of the issues facing America

This is a book of profound and timely importance Michael Gellert delineates the dilemma facing contemporary America at the turn of the new millenium with the insight of a scholar and the heart of a sage. His philosophic understanding of American character as played out in our national history is both unique and deeply engaging. In drawing out the fantasies, cults and motifs that have shaped our heroic sense of mission, our belief in unlimited possibilities and our quest for salvation in material wealth, he shows how we have drifted from the vision laid down by our founding fathers. Particularly insightful is, in his first chapter, his treatment of the dichotomy between (in the spiritual and psychologial sense) authority and youth. He relates these two archetypes of the collective unconscious as bipolar and yet interdependent. The spirit of youth moves toward the spirit ofauthority for guidance and completion and the spirit of authority moves toward the spirit of youth for rejuvenation and rebirth. Youth without authority stays forever young and becomes stagnant, authority without youth dries up and dies. The early settlers embodied the spirit of authority (civilization, order and tradition), but the fierce wilderness of the continent encouraged the emergence of the primitive spirit of youth. The raw energies of this spirit were needed to transform the land and build the new nation. The consequence of this for the American character Mr. Gellert sees as a disposition toward barbarism, juxtaposed by a heritage of culture and spirituality-a schism between the spirits. What was lacking over much of our history and Puritanism, internationalism and isolationism, freethinking and religiosity, have characterized the American identity. First one pole of a pair is predominant, then the other. When one becomes extreme or exhausted it flips into the other, rather than evolve to a higher level. Other chapters deal with the cult of motion and speed, the cult of celebrity, and the quest for "height" (transcendence through high achievements). Mr. Gellert's astute analysis of fanaticism and fundamentalism predates the events of "9/11," yet establishes a firm foundation for understanding the many forms "true belief" embodies. He shows how modern Christian evangelicals and followers of the New Age movement exemplify the dichotomy between authority and youth. The serious reader of history and philosophy will find thought-provoking information and ideas in this eloquently written book by Michael Gellert.Selwyn Mills, Ph.D.Gestalt Psychotherapist, AuthorGreat Neck, NY

The Fate of America

I found Michael Gellert's book a great comfort in the days following September 11. His view of the need to understand the impact of the heroic ideal on American history and culture could not be more timely. His ability to weave the social, the political, and the historical with the psychological, universal patterns of human behavior is truly impressive. Steven J. Frank, Ph.D., Jungian Analyst, Director, Kieffer E. Frantz Clinic, C. G. Jung Institute of Los Angeles