Dreams and Nightmares (The Legacy Left for the Lower Class in the 1960s)

Author: [US] Macon Maguire
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-01-01
Features: This book is called "the most important book George W. Bush has read other than the Bible," and is hailed as "the book that helped George W. Bush become President." In reviewing this book, Bush said, "The Dream and the Nightmare clearly outlined for me the profound impact of the failed culture of the 1960s on American values and society. The so-called new culture fostered dependence on government, undermined the family, and promoted moral decay, challenging the values that have stood the test of time and are crucial to every American aspiring for a better future. The Dream and the Nightmare: The Legacy of the 1960s to the Underclass is hailed as 'the book that helped George W. Bush become President,' and this praise is well-deserved. On January 5, 2001, Bush told a Wall Street Journal reporter that The Dream and the Nightmare is the most important book he has read other than the Bible. Bush's chief strategist Karl Rove called this book 'the map that guided Bush to develop his philosophy of compassionate conservatism.' Bush once described this book as follows: 'The Dream and the Nightmare clearly outlined for me the profound impact of the failed culture of the 1960s on American values and society. The so-called new culture fostered dependence on government, undermined the family, and promoted moral decay, challenging the values that have stood the test of time and are crucial to every American aspiring for a better future.'"
This book led Bush to reconsider the role of government. Compassionate conservatism, in essence, means the government should interfere as little as possible. The "underclass" refers to a mindset and lifestyle, a cultural state rather than an economic condition. The poverty of the underclass is not simply a lack of money but a moral and spiritual poverty. Therefore, the poor who are not part of the underclass may escape poverty through hard work, but the poverty of the underclass often persists across generations. The rapid expansion of the underclass, which is 60% Black and 20% Hispanic, is devouring the urban centers, becoming one of the most alarming social issues in the United States. The author of this book, Macon Maguire, was once an editor of Fortune magazine and is currently the editor-in-chief of the quarterly journal City at the Manhattan Institute in New York, specializing in urban and poverty issues.