What’s gone wrong with America’s democracy? It’s a question that Al Gore takes a hard look at in his recent (and well-reviewed) book, The Assault on Reason. Below, Gore gives you the gist of his argument in a half-hour video. It’s a bit heady. He’s invoking the Ancient Greeks, the Enlightenment, Edward Gibbon, Adam Smith and John Stuart Mill. What’s more, his thinking is heavily informed by Jurgen Habermas and his writings on rational political discourse. And it all loops into an explanation of how we’ve taken a wrong turn on the Iraq war, the environment, civil liberties and beyond. Yes, it’s heady stuff. But if Open Culture readers can’t handle it, who can?
The link to the original video is here.
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