4/2/2023 0 Comments George packer![]() ![]() In addition to emphasizing the country’s past and current failings, Packer also laid down some ideas for a path toward the reconciliation of America’s parts and the rectification of its inequalities. Recent data shows that increasing numbers of wealthy adults were also born into affluent families, he said, rather than truly being rewarded for their talent alone, as the concept of meritocracy implies. Packer emphasized the rigidity of the country’s structures of inequality and the “mirage” of equal opportunity and meritocracy. Nations like France or Russia aren’t at risk of self-destruction, according to Packer, because they aren’t “defined by something as fragile and tremendous as an idea.” “Individually and collectively, we’re losing the skills that we need to be able to govern ourselves together,” he said. In stark contrast to Congressman Jamie Raskin, the first Point/Counterpoint speaker of the semester and an avid optimist about the future of American democracy, Packer seemed solemnly resigned to the very real threat of its “suicide.” He offered the examples of Congresswomen Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Marjorie Taylor Greene, who emerged from Just and Real America, respectively although on opposite sides of the political spectrum, Packer said, both are building brands and “distinguishing themselves from the establishment by shocking.” Packer also explained a curious link between the seemingly polar-opposite Real and Just America - arguing that both are more concerned with dogma than with legislation. does not offer equal opportunity and instead reinforces historic hierarchies between oppressor and oppressed. “Smart America,” the Clintons’ and Obamas’ division of the Democratic party that supposes education to be the “only path to a good life,” was supplanted by “Just America,” a “rebellion” against the other three narratives, which holds that the U.S. Packer diagnosed a similar split in “blue” America. “Real America is essentially the white Christian heartland of the country,” Packer said. “Free America,” an elite, somewhat antiquated, libertarian sector of the Republican party to which former President Ronald Reagan belonged, clashes with “Real America,” a relatively new sector of the party whose ideals are unconcerned with individual pursuit and talent, instead seeking to identify “who really belongs. Packer explained that categorizing Americans as “red” or “blue” was too simple, and that opposing ideals existed within these classifications.Īccording to Packer, “red” America can be divided into two further classifications that often come into conflict. Much of the lecture was focused on Packer’s “four Americas” concept. Grosfeld Professor of LJST Lawrence Douglas and Professor of Philosophy Nishi Shah moderated the event, prompting Packer with prepared questions for about an hour before opening the discussion to questions from the audience. Among attendees were “Progress?” students, students taking classes or majoring in the Law, Jurisprudence, & Social Thought (LJST) department, and President Michael Elliott. Currently a staff writer for The Atlantic, Packer has had work featured in The New Yorker, and is known for his account of the U.S.-Iraq War in his 2005 book “The Assassins’ Gate: America in Iraq.”Īt his lecture in Fayerweather Hall’s Pruyne Lecture Hall, Packer addressed an overcrowded audience, many of whom were forced to stand or sit on stairs. Packer also spoke to members of the newly formed student organization Amherst Students for Democracy about ways that students can actively participate in democracy. Packer was the second of three guest speakers in this year’s Point/Counterpoint lecture series, “Democracy at a Cross Roads,” held Thursday evening. At the morning event, Packer provided additional insight for first-year students into his July 2021 article “How America Fractured Into Four Parts” for The Atlantic, which is derived from his 2021 book “Last Best Hope: America in Crisis and Renewal.” 3, at the first of three events he would speak at that day. “In 2020, I began to think that American democracy was at risk of committing suicide.”Īward-winning journalist, novelist, and playwright George Packer delivered these harrowing words to students in all sections of the first-year seminar “Progress?” on the morning of Thursday, Nov. In addition to describing his concept of “four Americas,” Packer laid out his fears and hopes for American democracy. ![]() 3, as part of the college’s Point/Counterpoint series. Award-winning journalist, novelist, and playwright George Packer spoke to the campus community on Thursday, Nov. ![]()
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