The Moral Center - by David Callahan (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Nothing's the matter with Kansas: Americans voting their values are responding to a real moral crisis. And in this forceful follow-up to The Cheating Culture, David Callahan argues that the problems for most Americans are not abortion and gay marriage but rather issues that neither party is addressing--the selfishness that is careening out of control, the effect of our violent and consumerist culture on children, and our lack of a greater purpose. As Republicans veer into zealotry, liberals can find common ground with the moderate majority. But to alleviate the moral anxieties that drove GOP electoral victories they need a powerful new vision.

In The Moral Center, Callahan articulates that vision and offers an escape from the dead-end culture war. With insights garnered from in-depth research and interviews, he examines some of our most polarized conflicts and presents unexpected solutions that lay out a new road map to the American center.

From the Back Cover

Callahan seems intent on wresting moral issues out of the hands of conservatives. Liberals, he says, should . . . stake out moral values as their own turf. The New York Times
Americans on both the right and the left agree that America is in a moral crisis. For most citizens, this crisis is not about abortion, gay marriage, or the war on Christmas, but about a growing culture of self-interest and a lack of greater purpose. We can restore our core beliefs of personal responsibility and duty to others, but we need a clear vision. In The Moral Center, now with a new preface and updated throughout, Callahan explains how progressives and moderates can find common ground to build a new majority and a unified America.
A brilliant, challenging, practical and hopeful vision . . . Everyone running for president . . . should read this book, and so should the people whose votes they seek. E. J. Dionne, Jr., author of Why Americans Hate Politics
Callahan shows why progressives often seem not to have such a [moral] center, ceding values to the Right, and why they need to get one to win the political battle. Benjamin R. Barber, author of Consumed and Jihad vs. McWorld
Callahan wants . . . to create a new public morality that is concerned about both poverty and video game violence, both wages and rap lyrics. He wants to soften the jagged edges of the culture wars. Michael Tomasky, The New York Review of Books
DAVID CALLAHAN is cofounder of and senior fellow at the public policy center Demos. Author of six previous books, including The Cheating Culture, he writes frequently for the New York Times, the Washington Post, and other publications. He received a Ph.D. in politics from Princeton University and lives in New York City.
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Review Quotes

PRAISE FOR THE CHEATING CULTURE

"Read this book . . . for [Callahan's] eye-opening portrait of the way we live now, his sobering analysis of how we got here and his prescient warning of where we may be headed if we don't get back our bearings."--Los Angeles Times

"Everything you ever wanted to know about what's gone wrong with ethics in our society is explained in David Callahan's remarkable and readable new book. For its meticulously researched, thoughtful and damning look at our broken moral compass, this should be required reading."--The Philadelphia Inquirer

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About the Author

DAVID CALLAHAN is cofounder of and senior fellow at the public policy center Demos. Author of six previous books, he writes frequently for the New York Times, the Washington Post, and other publications. He received a Ph.D. in politics from Princeton University and lives in New York City.