Word: gardners
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Lost Elan. John W. Gardner's essay is the bridge book to the past. It comes closest to the old American liberal attitude of decent expectation. Yet the title clearly implies that a vital national elan has been lost−and must be found again before the American dream may be further pursued. In fact, the slightly retreating titles of Mr. Gardner's previous books reflect the pressure of the times. From the absolute of Excellence (1961) he has strategically withdrawn to Self-Renewal (1964), No Easy Victories (1968), and now The Recovery of Confidence...
...Gardner takes a precautionary peep or two at Armageddon, and he says: "We are in trouble as a species." As one responsible man of good will to another, he drops warnings: "This free society begins with us. It mustn't end with us." But his emphasis lies with the affirmative, albeit a beleaguered affirmative: "We still have a choice...
...substantive sections of his book, Gardner takes up the national crises as separate problems conventionally defined−housing, transportation, environment, consumer protection. He has the faith of a reformer that the country can solve these difficulties within the tradition if only it can summon up the will−roll up its sleeves and do it: "Our problem is not to find better values but to be faithful to those we profess...
...Gardner is a thoughtful, honorable leader who knows−and says−that peopie must hope in order to act. But his exhortations now have a little of the artificiality of cheerleading. They seem to have been designed for earlier and lesser crises. "Hope is out of style," he writes in rueful recognition of the new American climate...
...rolling up of sleeves in the Gardner spirit will do for Braden. What Gardner takes to be the problems−racism, poverty amid affluence, and so on−Braden takes to be simply the symptoms of a sick society. Like Gardner, he wants to believe that America can be saved from its apocalypse, and all his interviews, all his quick-tour surveys are really devoted to looking into ways and means...