Review of Philip Gura's "American Transcendentalism" which explains the difficulty in defining it. Emerson with self-realization emphasis, and Thoreau with a more activist model, are two early authors discussed. Distinctions between the early 1800 model and how it played out in the mid-1900s are drawn. Still, Utopias vanish largely because food production wanes. |
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Margaret Bassett passed away August 21, 2011. She was a treasured member of the Opednews.com editorial team for four years.
Margaret Bassett--OEN editor--is an 89-year old, currently living in senior housing, with a lifelong interest in political philosophy. Bachelors from State University of Iowa (1944) and Masters from Roosevelt University (1975) help to unravel important requirements for modern communication. Early introduction to computer science (1966) trumps them. It's payback time. She's been "entitled" so long she hopes to find some good coming off the keyboard into the lives of those who come after her.