The Politics Of Meaning: Restoring Hope And Possibility In An Age Of Cynicism [Hardcover]

Michael Lerner (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 25, 1996

Drawing both on religious traditions and the insights of psychotherapy, Michael Lerner here proposes and provides a detailed plan for a “politics of meaning” that would reshape our economic and political lives in the twenty-first century.Lerner, the editor of Tikkun magazine and a practicing psychotherapist, shows how liberals and progressives can reconstitute themselves as the pro-family and pro-values force in American society. They must, he argues, he argues, accept as legitimate Americans; hunger for meaning in their lives, which until now has led many to embrace the political Right.The Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal have described Lerner as “the guru of the White House,” and Rush Limbaugh has singled him out for lengthy attacks. Still, Lerner argues that even President Clinton and the Democrats have lost the nerve to pursue a true politics-of-meaning program.The author contends that we and our politician can no longer separate healing of the soul from healing of our political and social world. The selfishness and cynicism that is at the root of our spiritual and values crisis must itself be addressed to fix our “broken politics.” Unfortunately, out competitive market rewards precisely those narrow-minded qualities that lead us to treat others as means to our own narrow ends.The most obvious manifestation of this crisis is in the growing difficulties many Americans face sustaining their families and loving relationships, and in the increased crime and violence in our society. But just as corrosive, the author argues, is Americans’ growing willingness to accept as unchangeable, aspects of our economy and society that are in fact within our power to change—unemployment, environmental destruction, hunger, and homelessness.Michael Lerner’s book will be essential reading for the closing years of the twentieth century. At a moment in American history when public life feels increasingly debased and irrelevant, Lerner’s vision of a society based on caring for our soul and recognizing each other as infinitely precious offers a way of doing politics that no longer forces people to choose between their deepest spiritual longings and their desire to have impact on the world.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Michael Lerner, former radical and crusading editor of the magazine of Jewish thought,Tikkun, has never lost his idealism. Until now Lerner has been promoting his ideas, dubbed "the politics of meaning," through his magazine and in lectures and workshops around the country. He won praise from Hillary Clinton, although that soured under media spotlight. This book lays out his analysis of America's spiritual emptiness, encouraging direct political action to enlarge the sense of community. He rejects both the right's profit-oriented bottom line and the left's splintering of society into minority rights ghettoes. Though his ideas are rooted in Judaism, his concept of God is broadly inclusive, and his critique is relevant to all Americans.

From Library Journal

As ongoing editorial leader of the Jewish-ecumenical Tikkun, Lerner has long been among the more humanistic and balanced thinkers rooted in the New Left. Here he writes explicitly in response to the premature pronouncements that the American public has decisively embraced a New Right orientation. He is not that concerned with the particulars of current politics, which is a pity for readers who will otherwise accept his basic orientation. Lerner's thesis boils down to the notion that Americans today are hungry for values and that through "politics of meaning," not mere materialism but ethical behavior and community-thoughtfulness, they can achieve an alternative orientation to an alienating market that presently wears down family and spirituality. The book's final pages, which regret that the Clintons have not stood by principles that at moments seemed harmonious with Lerner's, are rousing, even remarkable, and his thoughts on an array of controversies from affirmative action to movies merit respect. But Lerner's ideas, whatever their quality, are overwrapped in redundant platitudes and wearisome slogans. Overall, a boring book filled with significant notions.?Scott H. Silverman, Bryn Mawr Coll. Lib., Pa.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 355 pages
• Publisher: Basic Books; 1St Edition edition (April 25, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0201479664
• ISBN-13: 978-0201479669
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 6.5 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,494,101 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A vital book for the new millennium, May 7, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Politics Of Meaning: Restoring Hope And Possibility In An Age Of Cynicism (Paperback)

This book was a clarion call to the utter self-destruction of American politics and progressivism that we have witnessed with Monicagate and Clinton's even more public affair with "the inexorable logic of globalization." Lerner offers the best explanation I have ever read of why and how conservatives have been so successful during the past two decades in transforming the public debate to their agendas, and why the traditional Left remains incapable of offering a coherent reply to the seeming triumph of the neo-liberal, hyper-consumerist world view that increasingly dominates our culture. I would urge anyone who wants to move beyond the sterile and outdated philosophies and politics of Left/Right and Democrat/Republican to read this book!

14 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A brilliant reply to the self-centered "New Right", February 14, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Politics Of Meaning: Restoring Hope And Possibility In An Age Of Cynicism (Paperback)

Lerner both points out the moral bankruptcy of the neo-right's "every man for himself" (particularly men, particularly white and wealthy) world-view, and also provides a vision for the future of compassionate *and* workable politics, economics, and community. Like Robert Theobald's "Reworking Success," or Thom Hartmann's "The Last Hours of Ancient Sunlight" and "The Prophet's Way" (all highly recommended and available on amazon.com), Lerner courageously confronts us with the problems we face and offers realistic solutions. Highly recommended!

12 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful Book About an Idea Whose Time Has Come, September 5, 2001

By 

"clementineojukwu" (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Politics Of Meaning: Restoring Hope And Possibility In An Age Of Cynicism (Paperback)

Rabbi Dr. Lerner has written a wonderful book about an idea whose time has come. If the media and politicians would act upon these ideas, our national life would benefit immeasurably. Rancor and discord would be replaced by harmony and dialogue. Senator Hilary Clinton embraced this book, and her espousal of its ideas no doubt helped her win election as our junior senator from New York.

Dr. Lerner is in the forefront of Jewish thought today. He seeks to engage the culture at large in a way that is beneficial for Jews and Gentiles alike. His efforts in this book and elsewhere are to be applauded.