A prophetic examination of Western decline, The Twilight of American Culture provides one of the most caustic and surprising portraits of American ...
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Feb 22, 2008
Richard
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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 More...
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 More...
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Nov 16, 2007
Glen
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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 e
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Aug 07, 2011
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
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Jul 26, 2011
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 fall
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Feb 08, 2012
Jen
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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
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May 08, 2011
Silvia
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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. A More...
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. A More...
Feb 05, 2008
Zach
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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.
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.
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Sep 27, 2011
Stewart
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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 More...
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 More...
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Aug 28, 2009
John
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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 general
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Feb 12, 2012
David
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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.
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Oct 20, 2011
Arrivederci
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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.
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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.
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Nov 17, 2008
Poiema
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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 as More...
"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 as More...
May 21, 2008
Ancient
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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.
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Mar 20, 2007
Carlos
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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 tie More...
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 tie More...
Sep 26, 2009
Mika
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Overall, pretty good. Thought that his evidence was sometimes too much in the anecdotal category and would like it to have more empirical mass.
Most of what he discussed wasn't new to me, but I did come away with a more hopeful feeling about the future rather than the dispair that other books stir up. I think this is partially because Berman emphasizes the need for minute actions by individuals and letting that mass build up, rather than trying to change the whole sweep of history
Most of what he discussed wasn't new to me, but I did come away with a more hopeful feeling about the future rather than the dispair that other books stir up. I think this is partially because Berman emphasizes the need for minute actions by individuals and letting that mass build up, rather than trying to change the whole sweep of history
Mar 08, 2009
Rick
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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.
May 08, 2008
J
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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 sha
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May 27, 2011
Vernon
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i pretty much agree with everything he says. our culture, our politics, are cesspools of submediocrity. but all this talk about the meaningless of consumerism made me want to go out and buy some new threads. which i did.
Aug 03, 2011
A dark tale of where America is headed. It was very depressing, with no solutions offered on how to change things.
Jan 31, 2009
Mystie
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MCL. Would like to own. It's the monastic option for us! Liberal, but good analysis and solution-theory.
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Jan 27, 2009
A congenial and pleasant read, but I don't think I gained much in the way of new insights on the topic.
Jan 04, 2010
Tim
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Definitely an eye opener, I have several friends working in education and they can back up most everything Berman describes. It's a terribly pessimistic view on things but an enlightened and realistic one. Anyone who knows me well, knows I eat this whole "down with commercialism" stuff up so it was a good read for me...
Sep 10, 2008
Jason
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So far, this book brings up some really interesting parallels between modern american society and the years before the roman empire fell. However, it's a bit cynical for my tastes, and I find some of the figures presented about american ignorance to be highly specious. For instance, he says that 60% of high schoolers didn't know how the US came into being and that 30% of acults believe they have communed with the dead. If true, we need more supreme court rulings about gun ownership like to most
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Apr 03, 2010
Austen
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Disappointing. I ended up just skimming through a lot of this. Berman presents an interesting topic, but this feels like a five page essay spun out to book length. His analysis is pretty superficial. In describing the decline of American culture he seems to be "preaching to the choir" as they say. The best parts are his personal anecdotes about teaching experiences, but those alone don't support his premise.
May 08, 2008
Andrew
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We all read a lot, so we know the world is ending and that the country is falling apart. This book will remind you of that, boring detail after boring, already-well-known detail. It's like reading a textbook from a communications class at a shitty state university (see: My Life 2002-2005,) and even includes the citations.
Sep 20, 2010
S.
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This was intereting and certainly on target. I found it, however, a bit disappointing that as it criticizes self-help books, it goes on to dole out advice in a similar way. Still, definitely worth picking up and nodding along to, and nodding and nodding....
Mar 25, 2008
Nate
rated it:
American education = job training.
We can either leave the country or live like monks.
Depressing (and possibly a little too obvious to anyone paying attention,) but he makes an interesting case nonetheless.
We can either leave the country or live like monks.
Depressing (and possibly a little too obvious to anyone paying attention,) but he makes an interesting case nonetheless.
Dec 16, 2009
Seanald
rated it:
what. a. jackass. manages to disregard all non-western history amongst swathes of irrelevant, pretentious rhetoric.
