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Behold, America: The Entangled History of "America First" and "the American Dream" | 
Freedom without responsibility means anarchy. --Dorothy Thompson
Broken promises may gradually defeat a civilization, but it is only when it has no promises to offer that it dies.
(Continued)...in a short period of time.
This was from an editorial written in the Lis Angeles Times in 1938.
“Loaded phrases slamming into each other with sufficient force could detonate into real violence; slogans are not mere words when they create political realities.“
Behold, America covers the history of the terms 'America First' and the 'American Dream' and how they often encourage toxic patriotism and violence and suppression against people deemed 'un-American'.
I thought this quote was particularly timely and relevant.
pickI picked this book up after I heard the author on a podcast, and holy CATS is it fascinating and impactful (and horrifying and depressing, but still). I really recommend it if you‘ve recently asked yourself “how did we get here” in regards to the current political climate.
As Dorothy Thompson warned...
In five years, the World noted, the Klan had grown from thirty-four members to almost 500,000 nationwide .... the Klan was, to paraphrase later historians, America's most successful racist pyramid scheme.
Scary stuff.
It was astonishing, but 'the voters saw him, heard him and chose him'.
I loved her last book about F Scott Fitzgerald and the history in The Great Gatsby, so looking forward to this one.
