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Zusatztext The scholars brought together by Ohio State historian Conn persuasively demonstrate how the growth of 'big government' throughout the 20th century has benefited ordinary Americans so comprehensively and unobtrusively that they have often taken it for granted. Informationen zum Autor Steven Conn is Professor and Director of Public History at Ohio State University. His books include Do Museums Still Need Objects?, Metropolitan Philadelphia: Living with the Presence of the Past, and History's Shadow: Native Americans and Historical Consciousness in the Nineteenth Century. He is the founding editor of the online magazine Origins: Current Events in Historical Perspective. Klappentext An antidote to Tea Party anger, this book examines ten aspects of American life - from education to communication, from housing to health - and demonstrates, in engaging well-written essays by some of the nation's foremost scholars, that the federal government plays a central role in making our society function, and it always has. Zusammenfassung Americans love to hate their government, and a long tradition of anti-government suspicion reaches back to debates among the founders of the nation. But the election of Barack Obama has created a backlash rivaled only by the anti-government hysteria that preceded the Civil War. Lost in all the Tea Party rage and rhetoric is this simple fact: the federal government plays a central role in making our society function, and it always has. Edited by Steven Conn and written by some of America's leading scholars, the essays in To Promote the General Welfare explore the many ways government programs have improved the quality of life in America. The essays cover everything from education, communication, and transportation to arts and culture, housing, finance, and public health. They explore how and why government programs originated, how they have worked and changed--and been challenged--since their inception, and why many of them are important to preserve.The book shows how the WPA provided vital, in some cases career-saving, assistance to artists and writers like Jackson Pollock, Dorothea Lange, Richard Wright, John Cheever, and scores of others; how millions of students from diverse backgrounds have benefited and continue to benefit from the G.I. Bill, Fulbright scholarships, and federally insured student loans; and how the federal government created an Interstate highway system unparalleled in the world, linking the entire nation. These are just a few examples of highly successful programs the book celebrates--and that anti-government critics typically ignore.For anyone wishing to explore the flip side of today's vehement attacks on American government, To Promote the General Welfare is the best place to start. Inhaltsverzeichnis Chapter 1: Looking for Government in All the Wrong Places Brian Balogh Chapter 2: From Franklin to Facebook: The Civic Mandate for American Communications Richard R. John Chapter 3: "Roads Will Everywhere Be Shortened": Transportation and the Uniting of the Nation Zachary M. Schrag Chapter 4: Banking on Government: The Federal Role in Credit, Finance and Banking Michael S. Barr Chapter 5: One Third of a Nation: Big Government and the Search for Security Kevin Boyle Chapter 6: How the Federal Government Built the American Dream Thomas J. Sugrue Chapter 7: From Hook Worm to HIV: Solving the Nation's Number One Health Problem(s) Karen Kruse Thomas Chapter 8: Uncle Sam at the Blackboard: The Federal Government and American Education Jon Zimmerman Chapter 9: Art and Culture in the Public Interest Steven Conn Chapter 10: Government's Greatest Hits in Peril Paul C. Light ...
