Losing Our Way: An Intimate Portrait of a Troubled America

Former New York Times columnist Herbert (America's Urban Crisis and the Advent of Color-blind Politics) describes how the "great promise of America" has been tarnished by foreign policy decisions, chronic unemployment, income inequality, and political gridlock. As in his columns, Herbert ardently defends those being left behind in this current "winner-take-all" economy. As he travels across the U.S. interviewing the jobless and wounded, as well as noted educators, economists, activists and political leaders, he focuses on the four issues most pressing to him%E2%80%94infrastructure, employment, public education, and ending our "profoundly debilitating," military commitments in Iraq and Afghanistan. What emerges from his chronicle is a devastating portrait of a country where one in six people is officially poor; the top three private sector employers (Wal-Mart, Yum! Brands and McDonald's) provide non-unionized, low-wage, part-time jobs with few benefits; 12% of the nation's bridges are "structurally deficient"; and suicide among veterans is at record levels. Herbert convincingly argues that while public schools are doing better than detractors indicate (American test scores are dragged down by the U.S.'s greater social inequality), reforms like high-stakes testing, vouchers, and charter and online schools have not helped. Herbert ends by urging bold new leadership against an "intolerable status quo" and pointing to encouraging examples of citizen groups rising up across the country. (Oct.)