Word: mankind
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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Unsurprisingly, Berger idolizes Walt Whitman, another writer-lover, for beginning the democratization of art. When art rejects elitism, it "achieves...a spontaneous continuity with all of mankind. It is not an art of the princes or of the bourgeoisie. It is popular and vagrant." In this spirit, Berger spins his own stories...
...Egyptian negritude, though it is true that the racism of traditional historians when dealing with the cultures of Africa has been appalling. Most of them refused to believe African societies had a history that was worth telling. Here is Arnold Toynbee in A Study of History: "When we classify mankind by color, the only one of the primary races . . . which has not made a single creative contribution to any of our 21 civilizations is the black race...
...same time, he gives short shrift to the spread of Islamic fundamentalism and the resurgence of nationalism, seemingly because neither phenomenon fits his paradoxical thesis that mankind is entering a state of grace and risking terminal boredom. To cope with the awkward fact that the red star still flies over the head of 1.2 billion Chinese, he argues that the Beijing regime no longer qualifies as totalitarian; it "has become just another Asian authoritarian state." This distinction would not impress the victims of Tiananmen...
...justification of the gulf war in the State of the Union message last January, the President said nothing about jobs or oil. Instead he invoked a loftier theme: "We are Americans, part of something larger than ourselves." The U.S., he continued, was fighting for "the universal aspirations of mankind -- peace and security, freedom, and the rule...
This being the late 20th century, Americans participating in these epiphanies are doing something about it: networking. Says Mimi Kelly of Louisiana's Mir ((Peace)) Group: "People come back with a burning desire to do something good for mankind." Some 300 groups of Medjugorje believers exist across the U.S., publishing at least 30 newsletters and holding a dozen conferences a year. There are 70 telephone hot lines that feature the Virgin's messages from Yugoslavia: in Alabama dial MOM-MARY. Over the past 16 months a Texas foundation has put up 6,500 billboards inspired by Medjugorje. The huge signs...