Dimensions: 6.75'' x 9.75'' 100 pages AEI Press  (Washington) Publication Date: September 1984 Paperback ISBN: 0671606417 Price: $ 14.50 Add to Cart   Examination Copies

This book gives the first broad-scale, easily understandable, demographic portrait of this country with hard data from the U.S. Census and many other sources.

Have we been hearing the truth about American life? For the past dozen years or so, the media have been informing us that the quality of our lives is declining, our economy is stagnant, our values are eroding, our political process is for sale to the highest bidder, and American influence overseas is diminishing. But the received wisdom on television and in the newspapers does not reflect what's really happening.

The quality of life has never been better. Our economy has continued to grown, despite recent shocks. Our values have indeed changed, but mostly for the better--and Americans remain patriotic, work-oriented, and traditional. After an explosion of participatory democracy, our politics may never be healthier than they are today. And America remains the leader of a strong and free world.

It's not that the media have been getting these stories wrong; they been telling us the wrong stories. In search of the truth about the American condition, Wattenberg examines the latest social, economic, attitudinal, and demographic data and ends up telling a lively and witty story. He also warns of the danger of the bad new bias; if we don't recognize the progress we've made, we may risk sacrificing some of it, or fail to solve our real problems.

Ben J. Wattenberg is a senior fellow at AEI.