Age of Abundance The

Untilthe1950s,thestruggletofeed,clothe,andemploythenationdrovemostofAmericanpoliticallife.FromslaverytotheNewDeal,politicalpartiesorganizedaroundeconomicinterestsandengagedinferventdebateoverthebestallocationofagonizinglyscarceresources.Butwiththeexplosionofthenation'seconomyintheyearsafterWorldWarII,anewsetofneedsbegantoemerge—asearchformeaningandself-expressionononeside,andaquestforstabilityandareturntotraditionalvaluesontheother.InTheAgeofAbundance,BrinkLindseyoffersaboldreinterpretationofthelatterhalfofthetwentiethcentury.InthissweepinghistoryofpostwarAmerica,thetumultofracialandgenderpolitics,theriseofthecounterculture,andtheconservativerevolutionofthe1980sand1990sareportrayedinanentirelynewlight.Readerswilllearnhowandwhythecontemporaryideologiesofleftandrightemergedinresponsetothenovelchallengesofmassprosperity.Thepoliticalideasthatcreatedtheculturewars,however,havenowgrownobsolete.AstheWashingtonPostaptlysummarizedLindsey'stakeonthecontradictionsofAmericanpolitics,"RepublicanswanttogohometotheUnitedStatesofthe1950swhileDemocratswanttoworkthere."Strugglingtoreplacetoday'sstaleconflictsisanewconsensusthatmixesthesocialfreedomoftheleftwiththeeconomicfreedomoftherightintoapotentiallypowerfulethosoflibertarianism.TheAgeofAbundancerevealsthesecretformulaofthisremarkablealchemy.Thebookisabreathtakingreevaluationofourrecentpast—andwillchangethewaywethinkaboutthefuture.