Actually, Only One Cheer Alan

Alan Wolfe reviews two books about Americanism, pro and con, on by our dear Mr. Brooks. While Wolfe's outing of the non-revelations of Revel is welcomed (two cheers indeed), he is far too sunny about Brooks. Snap Judgment in particular doesn't think that the grubby strivers are who somehow make this country great. More than not, there are lot of casualties in a gold rush, and we all know (from Sunday School), being lucky does not make you great. It just means that there is more work to do. I am surprised, too, because Wolfe has been discussing about religion can being meaningfully injected into academic and public culture, but he ignores how very materialist--get all the gold you can, animate ambition, etc--Brooks' case for American "greatness" is. Are we really simply about the bottom line? Or having the most toys when we die? If so, SJ utters a gulp for humanity.