The Twilight of American Culture

Feb 22, 2008 Richard rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: cultural-criticism

I had previously read Berman's book Dark Ages America: The Final Phase of Empire. Both books have a similar theme, although Twilight was written before 9/11 and Dark Ages was published more recently.

I found myself largely in agreement with Berman's analysis of the current state of American culture. The lack of critical thinking, the emptiness of mass consumerism, the “infotainment” nature of cable news, the “corporatization” and globalization leading us in a “McWorld” direction were among many t...more

3 likes · like · see review

Nov 16, 2007 Glen rated it 4 of 5 stars

This book gives an accurate account of current social, educational, economic, and political structures in America. In addition, Berman suggests a variety of future possibilities for America, along with ways of preserving our culture in the future. Overall, the book was very thought-provoking and influenced me to add about a dozen books to my 'to-read' shelf. I'll have to give Berman 5 stars if his predictions come true in 50 years or so. I'm betting that his predictions pertaining to higher educ...more

1 like · like · see review

Aug 07, 2011 Stephen added it · review of another edition

An insightful and provocative book on a subject that has become my new obsession; it used to be scathing, critical books on Georgie Boy, now it is scathing and critical books on the trainwreck and clusterfuck of America and what we have become as a country. In a nutshell, America is the laughing stock of the world. This book, written before 9.11 offers a cornucopia of how far we have fallen as we have become more and more enamored with corporate capitalist consumer behavior - we have embraced Mc...more

like · see review

Jun 23, 2012 Lumpenprole rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012, borrowed, economics, history, philosophy, politics, favorites

I'm glad I didn't notice that this book had a glowing blurb from neo-con stooge Victor Davis Hanson (VDH henceforth) until after I'd already finished it. Let's just say he's not one of my favorite public figures, and I'd have thought anything he'd endorse is typically not the sort of thing I'd want to waste my time on. In fact, to what passes for my mind, he's the sort of bloviating jerk-off Berman was WARNING all and sundry about in this jeremiad -- whatever my personal opinion of the man. So e...more

like · see review

Mar 19, 2012 Tom rated it 4 of 5 stars

Morris Berman wrote this book in 2000...or at least, that's when it was copyrighted. Since then, we've experienced 9/11 and the resulting fear-based war on terrorism. After 9/11, I think many more Americans would side with Berman that the American culture is and has been on a downhill slide to something similar to the Dark Ages. The book is a good read but that's if you can stand the alarming nature of Berman's thesis that we should be gathering our 'culture' and storing it in secret places so t...more

like · see review

Feb 08, 2012 Jen Padgett Bohle rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: nonfiction, sociology, history-of-ideas, against-corporatocracy, cultural-critique-mcworld

Essentially, America is one big hustla and corporatocracy has us in its death grip. Democracy, according to Berman, has come to mean the right to choose between Burger King and McDonald's or Target and Wal-Mart or other equally banal places where one can part from one's money. Furthermore, the sun is setting on the formerly flourishing American empire because our literacy levels and basic cultural and historical knowledge are declining; our youth all want to be celebrities and can barely write c...more Essentially, America is one big hustla and corporatocracy has us in its death grip. Democracy, according to Berman, has come to mean the right to choose between Burger King and McDonald's or Target and Wal-Mart or other equally banal places where one can part from one's money. Furthermore, the sun is setting on the formerly flourishing American empire because our literacy levels and basic cultural and historical knowledge are declining; our youth all want to be celebrities and can barely write coherent sentences or read over a middle school grade level. His evidence for this isn't always what I imagine discerning readers would like, but we've all seen the idiocracy for ourselves in all probability. I want to say this is all alarmist bunk from a crotchety malcontent (after all, who hasn't been crying the end of some culture or another at pretty much every point in history?), and I suppose it is indeed bunk to some --- but only if you're fine with slogans replacing nuanced thinking, buying and branding replacing true choice and self-awareness, and knowledge and education as pure commodities, to be bought and sold like anything else.

The problem is that no period in history has had a population full of intellectuals or even literate people. And haven't folks always wanted material goods and to be either aspirational consumers or conspicuous ones? Berman is right, though, to emphasize that the extent corporations have provided bread and circus for the population is now hindering real thought and action, that this "democratizing of desire" has virtually swept the population adrift. All of this allows the wealthy to become even wealthier and virtually purloin the American economy, according to Berman.

He convincingly argues that the decadence of the U.S. parallels that of Rome in its decline, but that premise is staid and nothing new, honestly. More interesting is his solution to the demise of an intellectual America: a scattered class of New Monastic Individuals (NMIs) who reject corporate consumerism and business and commercial success to embrace the liberal arts and a life lived away from celebrity culture, malls, and 24 hour news cycles.

I like the NMI idea, but I also like activism, and Berman is unwilling to consider that civil disobedience, protest, and alternative news sources,among other things,can begin to awaken people from a corporation and commodities- induced zombie state. (We should not go gentle into that goodnight!)

Admittedly,I was fairly appalled by Berman's wholesale dismissal of postmodernism and multiculturalism/political correctness (his rebuttal might be that I can't see past the cultural constructions that I've been subjected to. You see how these rebuttals could go on and on and on...ad infinitum) As with anything, there are ridiculous extremes to these movements, but there are valuable elements to these -"isms" and, in fact, -"isms" can be productive. For example, in Berman's diatribe against them and group identification, he rails against women describing themselves as "feminist", saying that an NMI would call herself an "independent woman", not a feminist. It seems to me that cohesive communities of like-minded people are useful to the political life of a nation as well as the soul of a person, and where I come from (rural KY) I find a fearless identification with what is viewed as subversive and abnormal important (i.e. feminism to those in the bible belt). One can be a critical and independent thinker and still find group identities important and more than simply labels, as long as a dialectic is possible and the groups don't become ideological straightjackets.

This book, though, has changed my reading list for the next few years and further inspired me in my thus far pitiable and inadequate attempts to renounce (at least partially) Feudalism 2.0. I am inspired to take bits and pieces of Berman's New Monastic Individual idea and combine that with other philosophies and values I find important. (less)

1 like · like · see review

Jun 04, 2012 J Sietsema rated it 4 of 5 stars

Recommended to J by: thenewinqury.com

Shelves: social-and-political-philosophy

Morris Berman offers a summary of the decline of American culture and paths forward - a reassertion of Enlightenment values tempered with the good parts of postmodernity.

His summary of what is wrong with America is by now well known - the dismal state of public education, the corporatization of the university, the globalized wealthy elite that can make money without really even trying while the middle class disintegrates and the poor get poorer, the insolvency of America's fiscal policy.

Very g...more

like · see review

Feb 23, 2012 Richard Kearney rated it 4 of 5 stars

Scholar and critic Morris Berman has written about a great many topics during his distinguished career, but for the last decade his central focus has been on what he perceives as the assured collapse of American culture and civilization, a process that is well under way and impossible to reverse. Berman does not expect readers to find this proposition convincing without some evidence and argument, and so he provides it, along with some practical suggestions about how at least some of us might un...more Scholar and critic Morris Berman has written about a great many topics during his distinguished career, but for the last decade his central focus has been on what he perceives as the assured collapse of American culture and civilization, a process that is well under way and impossible to reverse. Berman does not expect readers to find this proposition convincing without some evidence and argument, and so he provides it, along with some practical suggestions about how at least some of us might undertake the important work of cultural preservation.

When The Twilight of American Culture was first published in 2000 its thesis must have seemed a little strange to anyone enraptured by the "prosperity" decade of the 1990s, but even then the major long-term trends Berman identifies as central to cultural decline were already clearly evident and even accelerating (they would shortly go into hyperdrive, providing fodder for Berman's subsequent books). The first part of the book is devoted to an examination of four important tendencies at the heart of U.S. cultural decline: (a) rapidly increasing social and economic inequality; (b) the increasing ineffectiveness of "organizational solutions" to our socioeconomic problems, even on those occasions when we are prepared to invest resources in such projects; (c) a staggering decline in literacy and all of the intellectual skills rooted in literacy; and (d) a kind of "spiritual death" expressed in the overwhelming triumph of kitsch in our culture. Berman amasses statistical and anecdotal evidence, arguing his points in a manner that is largely convincing. At several points he invokes comparisons with the transition from antiquity to feudalism in the west, and these are carefully considered rather than superficial, but even without the historical parallels his argument is persuasive.

Berman holds out no hope that the decline he outlines can be reversed, and he expresses disdain for the many who suggest otherwise, claiming that their proposals amount to little more than band-aids that take no account of the long-term, social-structural magnitude of the changes that have already done much to ensure our decline will continue.

So what can be done? Berman offers hope through what he calls the "monastic option" of working to preserve those aspects of our culture - the arts, sciences, history, and practices representing the best of our inheritance - through modest yet determined effort. To become what Berman calls the "new monastic individual" is to set oneself against the dominant tendencies and embrace the social ostricism likely to result from such work. But Berman insists this is work worth doing because it offers the best hope for cultural re-invigoration over the long term. Because Berman does not expect either the process of decline or renewal to transpire in less than a century, those who are now willing to undertake "monastic" work cannot reasonably expect to see the fruit of their efforts rewarded during their own lifetimes. Nevertheless, Berman argues that the "monastic option" constitutes a sound and genuinely hopeful way of confronting our present condition and avoiding the despair that might otherwise swallow us up.

It's hard to say whether you'll find Berman's arguments persuasive or convincing, but even if you disagree with his assessment of the current climate and his proposals for dealing with it, I think The Twilight of American Culture is a book worth reading, arguing with, and thinking deeply about. Berman has much to teach us, and no American who cares about the future of our society should ignore the evidence he presents here.(less)

like · see review

Jun 29, 2012 Al rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

A real doom-and-gloomer. Berman's thesis is that American culture has entered a period of irrevocable decline, akin to that of the Roman Empire which presaged the Middle Ages. "Irrevocable" is the key word here; Berman repeatedly stresses his belief that this decline cannot be reversed. The obvious question then, is what does one do in the face of this coming decline? Berman terms his answer the "monastic option," patterned as it is on the activities of cloistered medieval monks who, via transcr...more A real doom-and-gloomer. Berman's thesis is that American culture has entered a period of irrevocable decline, akin to that of the Roman Empire which presaged the Middle Ages. "Irrevocable" is the key word here; Berman repeatedly stresses his belief that this decline cannot be reversed. The obvious question then, is what does one do in the face of this coming decline? Berman terms his answer the "monastic option," patterned as it is on the activities of cloistered medieval monks who, via transcription and the creation of illuminated manuscripts, preserved much of high Western culture that may otherwise have been lost. Given the differences of our current period to that of the end of Rome, Berman isn't necessarily suggesting that we become hoarding archivists, but more that we emulate the spirit of these medieval monks - the idea is to keep alive the Enlightenment spirit, and this can be accomplished through any number of methods, though they principally involve a conscious rejection of the profit imperative. Interestingly, the current boom of artisanal crafts fits into this conception, as Berman notes (through a citation) that slow, methodical submersion in any task is a tacit rejection of post-industrial corporate culture.

A significant difference that Berman points out regarding the declines of Rome and America is that our decline will have some characteristics that typically would not be associated with decline, but with growth. Primarily this involves the fast-paced "information society" in which we now live. There are seemingly new advances every day, especially in the realm of consumer electronics/entertainment. However, while these are certainly technological advancements of some stripe, they do little more than advance corporate profit, argues Berman. (For a corollary to this argument, see David Graeber's article from the most recent Baffler. Available right here: http://thebaffler.com/past/of_flying_..., and highly recommended.)

Berman's commitment to Enlightenment ideals means he lands in a very odd place in our current political spectrum. He is stridently anti-corporate (he regards the law responsible for the creation of the modern American corporation as a key component in the acceleration of our current decline), and if not necessarily anti-capitalist, he at least thinks it has outlived its usefulness. He sees the widening gap between the richest and poorest as key signpost of cultural decline. However, when it comes to cultural matters, his perspective is much more in line with what we would expect from a conservative. He stridently objects to post-modern thought and identity politics in nearly all of their forms. While he recognizes the value of civil rights and equality in a token sense, he seems to chafe at activism. He clearly states that he is opposed to everything that becomes an -ism, as they inevitably become totalitarian. While there is certainly some truth to this belief, a conscious rejection of all -isms creates a situation in which instituting social change would be a very slow process, if one that happens at all. And this brings about the central problem of Berman's conception of the monastic option: all we can do, he argues, is individually adopt this monastic mentality and hope that it eventually catches on. Berman himself doesn't even think this is a terribly likely scenario (he is stridently anti-Utopian, and too strong a belief in this scenario could easily turn Utopian). Thus, social change, in general, seems only something that can (or should) come about via some weird collective/atomic force of will (monastic types do not work in consort, rather, they pursue their ends individually, though they do so in similar spirit) and commitment to enlightenment principles. The hope is that if/when a new, enlightened culture eventually arises, it will just work. It will be just because everyone just knows that justice is good. Or something. Again, one can't really call this "too hopeful," because Berman himself notes that it's practically impossible. So, in the end, what this book is is too bleak. Not only are we in irrevocable decline, but there's essentially nothing we can do about it. Collective action inevitably becomes totalitarian. All we can do is hunker down to our studies or crafts and try to ignore the world around us as it burns.(less)

like · see review

May 08, 2011 Silvia rated it 4 of 5 stars

I finished the first round of this book. I will surely read it again, but I enjoyed simply reading it. It has many references to other books, movies, events... the last chapter is a fantastic culmination of the whole analysis of the book. Berman proposes different historic scenarios after this transitional time of now.

I have a few discrepancies, but all in all, his view is very well grounded and deeply thought. The book introduced me to this concept of NMI, new monastic individual. And it helped...more

like · see review

Feb 05, 2008 Zach rated it 2 of 5 stars

Recommended to Zach by: Professor Freyfogle

A book about the decline of civilization. The author says we are headed into a dark ages and need modern-day monks to be preserving for the future what knowledge we have.

At the very least, this book makes you think about stuff.

But the evidence he sites is hardly empirical in nature and suffers from anchoring bias.

2 likes · like · see review

Sep 27, 2011 Stewart rated it 5 of 5 stars

Morris Berman’s alarming book of 183 pages was written in 2001, and I read it a year or two later. I was curious to reread the book and see its relevance 10 years later. Closing the book, I think that its analysis of the decline of American culture is as true now as a decade ago. In fact, the situation is much worse.
Berman looked at the cult of money and consumerism that permeates U.S. life, the dominance of hype and propaganda, the squeezing of the middle class, and the redistribution of weal...more Morris Berman’s alarming book of 183 pages was written in 2001, and I read it a year or two later. I was curious to reread the book and see its relevance 10 years later. Closing the book, I think that its analysis of the decline of American culture is as true now as a decade ago. In fact, the situation is much worse.
Berman looked at the cult of money and consumerism that permeates U.S. life, the dominance of hype and propaganda, the squeezing of the middle class, and the redistribution of wealth upward (sound familiar?). He described the widespread solipsism and resentment of so much of the residents of this country. He saw colleges and universities becoming no more than providers of job training. He also examined the corporate oligarchy that devalues our democracy and the anti-intellectualism (and indeed anti-science attitude of one of our major political parties) that coarsens public discussion.
He wrote that the U.S. has reached the stage depicted by Ray Bradbury’s "Fahrenheit 451." However, unlike the situation in that 1953 book, now the government doesn’t have to ban books; people these days are ceasing to read books, magazines, and newspapers – and are abandoning critical thinking and the pursuit of knowledge – quite on their own. “It may even be the case that the number of genuinely literate adults in the United States amounts to fewer than 5 million people – that is, less than 3 percent of the total population.”
Little of this is new, but Berman was one of the earlier people to sound the alarm.
Berman thinks we are in a Dark Age and it is getting darker all the time. As was the case in medieval Europe where monasteries preserved the wisdom of ancient Greece and Rome until the flowering of the Renaissance, Berman proposes the “monastic option” in the 21st century. “We can include in it traditions of craftsmanship, care, and integrity; preservation of canons of scholarship, critical thinking, and the Enlightenment tradition; combatting the forces of environmental degradation and social inequality; valuing individual achievement and independent thought; and so on. But central to all these examples is the rejection of a life based on kitsch, consumerism, and profit, or on power, fame, and self-promotion.”
Anyone who reads this review and wants to study my manuscripts and discuss literature, music, philosophy, movies, politics, language, or the meaning of life is always welcomed to my monastery -- in person or my e-mail. I will even share my red wine.
(less)

1 like · like · see review

Aug 28, 2009 John rated it 4 of 5 stars

Berman is a doomsayer w/ yet a little hope. His enemy is gigantic Corporate America, which spreads its consumer values across the globe without regard for any of the people that it stomps & steamrollers. Berman is a classy writer; his prose is a model of clarity & persuasiveness. As a solution, he advocates people living lives of a sort of new monasticism, making their lives models of good living: honorable, respectful, et cetera. The hope is that this way of life will spread into the ge...more

1 like · like · see review

Feb 12, 2012 David Calhoun rated it 4 of 5 stars

This is really just a guidebook for those who've already made up their minds about whether America (and its culture) are in decline. Plenty of arguments for this position are given, but not enough attention is given to the opposite opinion. What if America is simply undergoing radical change and isn't really in a decline? This isn't really a position taken seriously here. In short, if you're looking for something that provides a true voice to either side of this issue, this isn't the book.

Howeve...more This is really just a guidebook for those who've already made up their minds about whether America (and its culture) are in decline. Plenty of arguments for this position are given, but not enough attention is given to the opposite opinion. What if America is simply undergoing radical change and isn't really in a decline? This isn't really a position taken seriously here. In short, if you're looking for something that provides a true voice to either side of this issue, this isn't the book.

However, if your mind is already made up, then this book is for you. This is a book to ensure your thoughts about America's declining culture become well-entrenched. Don't get me wrong, I actually agree with most of it, but there's really no digging yourself out of this hole once you read this book. If you've already started digging, this book will help you dig deeper.

There is something constructive and hopeful about the general message of the book. Much of the book is an argument that we're entering another Dark Ages, and an argument that we need to prepare for another inevitable Renaissance where we recover what was once trashed. Then our task is to be guardians of this knowledge - scribes who might not even know the meaning behind these works, but who at least preserve it for the ages to come, when civilization begins to appreciate them again.

There's also a strong anti-consumerist and anti-globalization message behind this book, which is welcome in these uncertain times. There's no call to protest or any general hope in this book that these things can be fixed any time soon. In fact, the optimistic estimate for a fix for these things is about 20-30 years after this was written (around the year 2000). And that's only if there's some miracle!

Another current here is an anti-postmodern message. If renaissance and modernist thinkers swung the pendulum too far in one direction, the postmodernists swung it too far in entirely the opposite direction. The failure of renaissance thinking was to assume that we could know everything, and the failure of postmodernism was to assume we could know nothing. Instead, a balance must be struck between the two. Until then, we're cursed with the results of postmodernism, which unfortunately means that many still hold all opinions to be equal weight, resulting in more culture death. If one man's Mozart is another man's preference for junkfood, then Mozart effectively becomes drowned out in a sea of junkfood.

If anything, the big glaring flaw of this book is the assumption that this decline is happening worldwide, but the arguments and statistics used to support this are all from America. The author writes as if it's a bygone conclusion that globalization and consumerization is happening to the world (which of course it is, in different degrees), and that this is the cause for the massive decline of American and world society. This is also forgetting that the dark ages happened to Europe in general, while the East and the Arabic world in general arguably flourished. Then we have another position which hasn't been argued: the position that America is in fact in a decline, but there are some other parts of the world that are not, or at least are in a less steep decline. There's no objective way to measure decline, but surely there's no reason to think all countries are declining at the same rate (if they are all declining, that is). (less)

like · see review

David Calhoun This is really just a guidebook for those who've already made up their minds about whether America (and its culture) are in decline. Plenty of argumen...more This is really just a guidebook for those who've already made up their minds about whether America (and its culture) are in decline. Plenty of arguments for this position are given, but not enough attention is given to the opposite opinion. What if America is simply undergoing radical change and isn't really in a decline? This isn't really a position taken seriously here. In short, if you're looking for something that provides a true voice to either side of this issue, this isn't the book.

However, if your mind is already made up, then this book is for you. This is a book to ensure your thoughts about America's declining culture become well-entrenched. Don't get me wrong, I actually agree with most of it, but there's really no digging yourself out of this hole once you read this book. If you've already started digging, this book will help you dig deeper.

There is something constructive and hopeful about the general message of the book. Much of the book is an argument that we're entering another Dark Ages, and an argument that we need to prepare for another inevitable Renaissance where we recover what was once trashed. Then our task is to be guardians of this knowledge - scribes who might not even know the meaning behind these works, but who at least preserve it for the ages to come, when civilization begins to appreciate them again.

There's also a strong anti-consumerist and anti-globalization message behind this book, which is welcome in these uncertain times. There's no call to protest or any general hope in this book that these things can be fixed any time soon. In fact, the optimistic estimate for a fix for these things is about 20-30 years after this was written (around the year 2000). And that's only if there's some miracle!

Another current here is an anti-postmodern message. If renaissance and modernist thinkers swung the pendulum too far in one direction, the postmodernists swung it too far in entirely the opposite direction. The failure of renaissance thinking was to assume that we could know everything, and the failure of postmodernism was to assume we could know nothing. Instead, a balance must be struck between the two. Until then, we're cursed with the results of postmodernism, which unfortunately means that many still hold all opinions to be equal weight, resulting in more culture death. If one man's Mozart is another man's preference for junkfood, then Mozart effectively becomes drowned out in a sea of junkfood.

If anything, the big glaring flaw of this book is the assumption that this decline is happening worldwide, but the arguments and statistics used to support this are all from America. The author writes as if it's a bygone conclusion that globalization and consumerization is happening to the world (which of course it is, in different degrees), and that this is the cause for the massive decline of American and world society. This is also forgetting that the dark ages happened to Europe in general, while the East and the Arabic world in general arguably flourished. Then we have another position which hasn't been argued: the position that America is in fact in a decline, but there are some other parts of the world that are not, or at least are in a less steep decline. There's no objective way to measure decline, but surely there's no reason to think all countries are declining at the same rate (if they are all declining, that is).(less)
Jan 23, 2012 08:16pm

Oct 20, 2011 Arrivederci rated it 4 of 5 stars

Berman relates to Rome and the U.S. governments and dictates that the cause of the Fall of Rome will bring the downfall of U.S.
He mentions four ways that brought about the collapse of Rome:
-Social and economic inequalities
-Declining marginal returns in investments and socio-economic problems
-Drop rates in literacy and intellectual awareness
-Spiritual death

He uses statistics to prove that America is experiencing the same turn about as Rome.

Lately, the topic of the Fall of Rome has stricken man...more

like · see review

Jun 12, 2012 Christopher rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: own-it-want-to-read-it-again

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Berman quotes other authors liberally in this work so I've done the same:

"The wiring of every individual into the warm embrace of the multinational entertainment oligopoly...is the crowning triumph of the marketplace over humanity's unruly consciousness...we will be able to achieve no distance from business culture since we will no longer have a life, a history, a consciousness apart from it" -Thomas Frank

"The new monk is a sacred/secular humanist, dedicated not to slogans or the fashionable pat...more Berman quotes other authors liberally in this work so I've done the same:

"The wiring of every individual into the warm embrace of the multinational entertainment oligopoly...is the crowning triumph of the marketplace over humanity's unruly consciousness...we will be able to achieve no distance from business culture since we will no longer have a life, a history, a consciousness apart from it" -Thomas Frank

"The new monk is a sacred/secular humanist, dedicated not to slogans or the fashionable patois of postmodernism, but to Enlightenment values that lie at the heart of our civilization: the disinterested pursuit of the truth, the cultivation of art, the commitment to critical thinking, inter alia. Above all, he knows the difference between culture and kitsch, and he seeks to preserve the former in the teeth of a culture that is drowning in the latter...He elects, in short, to save his life via the Monastic Option."

"...defines kitsch as 'something phony, clumsy, witless, untalented, vacant, or boring that many Americans can be persuaded is genuine, graceful, bright or fascinating.'" --Paul Fussell

"...the monk of the 21st century will not be pursuing his or her activity for grand, heroic outcomes, but for the sense of worth and meaning that the activity itself contains."

"The central thrust of our consumer culture...is 'buy in order to be'"

"'I was one of those...who feel that the most satisfactory end in life is knowledge: not money or power or prestige, but an understanding of people and the world they inhabit'" --Alvin Kernan

"This is a world in which 'the good' equals goods, and 'value' equals marketability"

"The Twilight of American Culture" was written pre-9/11 and before the Great Recession of 2006-2008 so in a way its (unsurprisingly) prescient in its predictions of what an empire in decline would look like. When a civilization allows its culture to die it is only a matter of time before the civilization itself dies. Among the warning signs are an antagonism toward intellectual curiosity ("elitist behavior"), the rise of moral relativism, degradation of standards and a disregard for the arts and the hoarding of wealth amongst a small group to the detriment of the larger population, all of which are present in spades in 2012.

As of this writing there exists the "Occupy" movement--, popular music is vapid, other forms of fine art are rapidly becoming irrelevant/non-existent if not already so (poetry, theater, classical music, etc), the #1 movie in the country is based on a board game and the top book is an S&M fantasy--not to mention both political parties serve corporate interests and not their constituents (who themselves are woefully un(der)informed due to the news-tainment shows they watch--"nuzak" as Berman refers to it) And then there's the Kardashians.

In a swipe at "The Secret"/Deepak Chopra-esque New Age fluff books, Berman offers no easy answer to this issue, instead advising people who love culture to hold on to it so that it will live on amongst their families and like-minded individuals when the greater society collapses. Berman advocates for the Monastic Option; a rejection of modern culture and a return to classical values and intellectual curiosity for its own sake. Called the Monastic Option because it is a life choice of substance that will build character but, because these values are not held in high esteem by the larger culture, will cause the "monk" to live an ascetic life by necessity and to have to forego any hope of popularity and prosperity.

I dont necessarily agree with Berman's assertion that if one creates art that is embraced by the masses, the work must be lacking in some way. Or, put another way, the wages of great art are obscurity and poverty. Berman posits that the artist should use this as a litmus test to determine if their work has merit. I disagree and would point out that this book itself was a bestseller and is one of many books Berman has published (by publishing companies who themselves are owned by the "multinationals" Berman accuses of helping to bring down civilization)

To his credit, Berman succeeds in not writing a "back-in-my-day-everything-was-better", reactionary book. The book does deal with the issues rather dispassionately and as I said does not even advocate for a happy ending to the story by somehow averting the collapse of civilization. He simply says it's coming and gives an option, the Monastic Option, for how to deal with it when it does.

**note: as I was reading this Ray Bradbury passed away whose work, "Fahrenheit 451", is referenced by Berman as being a fairly accurate prediction of where our actual society is headed**

(less)

like · see review

Jul 26, 2011 Ronald rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Published in 2000, this is what one might describe as a good and honest Liberal's report on the status of American culture (horrible), it's future (worse), and the options of "monastic" persons for the preservation of the best of Western Civilization (limited). Victor Davis Hanson described the book as charting the "abyss between the multicultural Left and the utilitarian, corporate Right" where an increasingly "besieged and bewildered American middle class" is falling. I most appreciated the vo...more

like · see review

Nov 17, 2008 Poiema rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: history/culture buffs

Book Review: The Twilight of American Culture by Morris Berman

"History repeats itself" is a well-known aphorism, one which Morris Berman would agree with only in part. When history comes full circle, the rebound would more closely resemble a helix, a bit more complex than a simple replay of the past. Each time a culture rises to power, a decline is inevitable but seeds of rebirth lie within that cultural decay. Like the mythical phoenix bird, new life may emerge from the ashes.

The book The Twili...more

like · see review

May 21, 2008 Ancient rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: essays

Eh, not as great a book as I was hoping it might be. In summary, the author tells us what a lot of us already know - America is getting dumber, inequality between rich and poor continues to grow, we all exist only to serve as consumers of what the corporations sell us, etc. The problem is I don't think that most people who are going to read Twilight would dispute any of these ideas before having read the book. Is America in relative cultural, intellectual, and societal decline? Absolutely. That...more Eh, not as great a book as I was hoping it might be. In summary, the author tells us what a lot of us already know - America is getting dumber, inequality between rich and poor continues to grow, we all exist only to serve as consumers of what the corporations sell us, etc. The problem is I don't think that most people who are going to read Twilight would dispute any of these ideas before having read the book. Is America in relative cultural, intellectual, and societal decline? Absolutely. That being the case, what more does the author have to say beyond this fact? Nothing much.

Not to say the book is a complete waste. There is admittedly a certain kind of morbid pleasure in reading about how absolutely ignorant some Americans are, not excluding those who are post-secondarily edumacated. (The author helps confirm my own view that the value of an advanced degree has become so overinflated in the last 50 years so as to make it virtually meaningless. That is to say there is no reason to assume someone with an advanced degree is necessarily better educated or learned than someone without one.)

But again,the question is, so what? What disappoints me is that some of Berman's ideas seem to be kind of simplistic and out-of-date. (And I don't mean the way he complains about the popularity of New Age thinking.) Berman seems to have this faith in Enlightenment rationalism as the answer and the ultimate good. "If only people were better educated, more scientific, more knowledgeable, things would be better." But this philosophical idea has been in question since Kant's critiques at the tail end of the so-called Age of Enlightenment (and long before that, even).

The value of Enlightenment rationalism has been shown to be wanting by thinkers during the last couple of centuries. One cannot just assume that a better educated people will be a better people. (The machine gun, world wars, poison gas, atomic bombs, colonialism, etc. are all products of the modern, scientific, post-Enlightenment world.) One can no longer just take it for granted that knowledge and reason have value in and of themselves or that their acquisition will provide satisfying answers to life's questions. These larger philosophical issues seem to have eluded Berman.(less)

2 likes · like · see review

Mar 20, 2007 Carlos rated it 3 of 5 stars

Bueno el análisis comparativo de la decadencia estadounidense con la del Imperio Romano. Buena la teoría de las oscilaciones entre culturas idealistas y culturas pragmáticas
Estimulante la propuesta de aspirar a un rol monástico para los tiempos de decadencia.
Cuestionables sus ejemplos de personajes monásticos (sobre todo, por supuesto, el ejemplo de Michael Moore)
Siempre que uno lee libros o mira películas que pretenden dar un diagnóstico sobre la cultura estadounidense, se tiene la sensación de...more

1 like · like · see review

Feb 16, 2012 Owen rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: american, culture, cultural, criticism, deterioriation, pop, dark, ages, monasticism, history, elitism, literacy

The only thing I took from this was that the author thinks younger people are stupid because they never learned to memorize Robert Browning poems in school, and that this was a sure sign the culture was falling into ruin. I'm sure there were some good bits in this, but they escape me now, and so couldn't have been all that brilliant.

like · see review

Nov 12, 2012 James Wheeler rated it 3 of 5 stars

Great book. Helpful critique of the decline of learning and critical thought in america. Great new word: infotainment. Berman comes off pretty pessimistic at times though he does encourage the great existentialist ideal of one person who can stands against the herd. Indeed he calls this stand the "monastic option." Inspiring language for evangelical, catholic, lutheran folks who feel the church slipping into irrelevancy and want to find pathways to help invigorate and reform it. I like his way o...more

like · see review

Jun 06, 2012 Sabrena rated it 4 of 5 stars

I have nothing much newer to say about this book than has already been said. Yes, it's a great book and everyone should give it a read, keeping in mind that Berman's evidence of intellectual decline and spiritual collapse are subjective in nature and may be challenged easily. Still, a great way to get you thinking.

like · see review

Mar 08, 2009 Rick rated it 4 of 5 stars

interesting assessment of cultural movement of U.S. Expecially enamored with idea of the "new monasticism," that it will require individuals dedicated to an Enlightenment-like spirit to keep alive real learning and knowledge through the next Dark Age.

like · see review

May 08, 2008 J rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shorter Berman: "The children now love luxury; they have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for elders and love chatter in place of exercise. Children are now tyrants, not the servants of their households. They no longer rise when elders enter the room. They contradict their parents, chatter before company, gobble up dainties at the table, cross their legs, and tyrannize their teachers." Sorry that was Socrates 469–399 B.C. Morris basically says we live in a shallow societ...more

like · see review

Mar 14, 2012 Brianna rated it 3 of 5 stars

Not a bad book. I don't get why people don't seem to understand the monastic references. The author doesn't mean people have to be what we think of monks, we need to think for ourselves. The points on education started to bore me though.

like · see review

Oct 08, 2012 Ron Davidson rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

An interesting analysis of the decline of American civilization, with some scenarios/suggestions for the future. I am looking forward to reading the second volume in his series "Dark Ages America").

like · see review

Aug 03, 2011 Janet Oja added it

A dark tale of where America is headed. It was very depressing, with no solutions offered on how to change things.

like · see review

Jan 31, 2009 Mystie Winckler rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: education, 2008

MCL. Would like to own. It's the monastic option for us! Liberal, but good analysis and solution-theory.

1 like · like · see review

Jan 27, 2009 Rho added it

A congenial and pleasant read, but I don't think I gained much in the way of new insights on the topic.

like · see review

title link	preview: The Twilight of American Culture
avg rating	preview: The Twilight of American Culture Goodreads rating: 3.78 (302 ratings)
small image	preview: click here [close]
med image	preview: click here [close]
BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/29399.The_Twilight_of_American_Culture?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1347600332l/29399.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/29399.The_Twilight_of_American_Culture?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]The Twilight of American Culture by Morris Berman[/url]

The Twilight of American Culture (Decline of the American Empire #1)

Friend Reviews

Lists with This Book

Community Reviews

new topic
Discuss This Book

combine
Other Editions (3)

Genres

Readers also enjoyed similar books

About Morris Berman

Books by Morris Berman

Share This Book

Share This Book on Your Website

Trivia About The Twilight of A...