Review of The Age of American Unreason in a Culture of Lies by Susan Jacoby, Vintage (2019)

Olson, Mark

English

ScholarWorks at WMU

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare Volume 47 Issue 2 June Article 13 2020 Review of The Age of American Unreason in a Culture of Lies by Susan Jacoby Mark Olson Illinois State University Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/jssw Recommended Citation Olson, Mark (2020) "Review of The Age of American Unreason in a Culture of Lies by Susan Jacoby," The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare: Vol. 47 : Iss. 2 , Article 13. Available at: https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/jssw/vol47/iss2/13 This Book Review is brought to you by the Western Michigan University School of Social Work. For more information, please contact wmu-scholarworks@wmich.edu. 193Chapter TitleBook ReviewsSusan Jacoby, The Age of American Unreason in a Culture of Lies. Vintage (2019), 400 pages, $17.00 (papercover). Published originally in 2018, this book couldn’t be timelier in view of the upcoming presidential election. It supplements an	 edition	 first	 published	 in	 2008,	 documenting	with	 critical	insights our country’s path toward a “post-truth culture.” Describing Donald Trump as “a commercially generated image” (p. 324), the author provides a persuasive argument that American society has been on an ongoing path of intellectual decline, in which acceptance of the administration’s post-truth doctrine is a logical consequence rather than primary cause.     	 Riffing	on	Richard	Hofstadter’s	famous	1963	essay	on	American	anti-intellectualism, Jacoby cites his work as a forewarning to the insidious	 influence	 of	 “mind	pacifiers,”	 such	 as	 television	 and	social media. Highlighting Hofstadter’s warning, she contends, “Start engaging in these pastimes a few hours a day, though, and you are well on your way into the world of thoughtlessness” (p. 324).  The consequence of giving in to the pull of social media for entertainment, information, and social connection, is a general state	of	distraction	that	makes	it	difficult	to	distinguish	fact	from	fiction,	let	alone	promote	substantive	understanding	of	complex	issues.  Yet more than the familiar critique of our dependence on technology and ever-increasing forms of diversion, the book details cycles of anti-intellectualism and its sources at various points in American history.       Depicting the enduring tension between cultural ideals of Enlightenment reason and rugged individualism, Jacoby reminds us that anti-intellectual posturing is not unprecedented in American politics. What is unprecedented is the current dominance of social media, the 24-hour news cycle, and the increased prevalence of media-generated images and soundbites in place of thoughtful analysis and discourse. At the risk being called a modern Luddite, Jacoby’s description of a multi-billion-dollar video industry for infants (despite research documenting detrimental	effects	in	language	acquisition	and	reading)	clearly	bolsters her argument.                 Perhaps the most valuable of Jacoby’s insights is how our media-saturated culture elevates extremism on both the right and left. When discourse is reduced to buzzwords intended to grab 194 Journal of Sociology & Social Welfareattention,	only	the	most	extreme	voices	garner	significant	notice.	Jacoby	identifies	this	phenomenon	as	a	primary	source	of	political	polarization.	This	suggests	that	we	can’t	necessarily	point	the	finger	at boorish leaders and political pundits as the principal cause of our fragmented political state. On the contrary, Jacoby argues that anti-intellectualism and the decline in civil discourse has served to elevate the status of illiberal and proudly anti-intellectual leaders. Modifying	this	state	of	affairs	requires	challenging	the	ubiquitous	presence of these sources of distraction, which have become so habitual they often go unrecognized.      	 What	 receives	 less	 attention	 in	 Jacoby’s	 critique	 is	 the	influence	 of	 neoliberal	 economic	 policies,	 and	 their	 effect	 on	critical social systems and institutions such as higher education and the press. For example, the author notes the increased focus on	pop	culture	in	university	course	offerings	and	indicts	faculty	for their failure to defend academic freedom and gravitas. At the same time, Jacoby fails to address higher education’s shift to a corporate university model, in which students are viewed	as	 consumers,	 and	 the	objectives	 for	 recruitment	 and	retention compete with the goals of a liberal education. Within this model, members of the business community are often over-represented on university governing boards, bringing a hierarchical approach to academic governance. This relatively recent transformation not only undermines the traditional emphasis on shared governance in academe, but ultimately subverts the university as a unique space for critical thought and discourse.   Similarly, corporate consolidation has normalized a market-driven approach to the news media. The unfortunate result is a glut of consumer-driven news outlets designed to appeal to narrow	ideological	perspectives	and	to	confirm	existing	biases.	Reasoned debate on serous issues is replaced with simplistic sloganeering and cues to tribal alliance. Meanwhile, American elections appear to have turned into yet one more form of mass entertainment. This was made alarmingly clear by one network president’s waxing enthusiasm over the ratings garnered by the circus-like atmosphere of the 2016 presidential election, re-portedly saying “It may not be good for America, but it’s damn good for CBS!”195Chapter TitleBook Reviews Nevertheless, Jacoby suggests the future may not be completely dire and refers again to Hofstadter, who posited inevitable “cyc-lical	 fluctuations”	 in	 the	 struggle	 between	 reason	 and	 anti-intellectualism. As an example, she cites John McCain’s insistence that the economy was sound in the face of a collapsing housing market and devastating pension losses, which forced many Ameri-cans to seek the counsel of previously denigrated “experts” during the recession of 2008. Likewise, Jacoby points to the common association of intellectualism with anti-Americanism in the 1950s. She argues that this perception shifted to a renewed appreciation for science and technology following the successful launch of the Soviet satellite, Sputnik. The author suggests that history reveals the practical necessity for reason and knowledge, particularly in times	of	crisis.	Accordingly,	Jacoby	contends	that	it	is	only	a	matter	of when, not if, the current phase of American unreason is reversed by	a	critical	event	such	as	a	major	cyber-attack.				 Perhaps the most valuable message of Jacoby’s detailed analysis is that our present age of American unreason is not a sudden cultural shift, but one in a series of historical cycles. Still, as Jacoby herself acknowledges, the unprecedented presence and	 influence	of	 technology	 in	contemporary	culture,	as	well	as an increasingly market-based conceptualization of social institutions and interactions, present unique challenges for affecting	significant	change.	Toward	this	end,	her	admonishment	to the academic community to be more assertive against the forces of anti-intellectualism is well taken. Educators have a responsibility to forcefully advocate for academic freedom and shared	 governance,	 drawing	 attention	 to	 its	 incompatibility	with current trends in higher education toward bureaucratic and administrative bloat. Perhaps more importantly, rather than privileging a market-based, consumer-oriented approach to learning, educators must be willing to assert the value in the slow, often laborious process of knowledge building and intellectual growth.Mark OlsonIllinois State University 