Selections from Moyers on Democracy
Published by Penguin Random House Audio
4.5/5
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About this audiobook
Bill Moyers on America today:
"Here in the first decade of the twenty-first century the story that becomes America's dominant narrative will shape our collective imagination and our politics for a long time to come. In the searching of our souls demanded by this challenge . . . kindred spirits across the nation must confront the most fundamental liberal failure of the current era: the failure to embrace a moral vision of America based on the transcendent faith that human beings are more than the sum of their material appetites, our country is more than an economic machine, and freedom is not license but responsibility-the gift we have received and the legacy we must bequeath.
"Although our sojourn in life is brief, we are on a great journey. For those who came before us and for those who follow, our moral, political, and religious duty to make sure that this nation, which was conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all are equal under the law, is in good hands on our watch."
-from "For America's Sake"
People know Bill Moyers mostly from his many years of path-breaking journalism on television. But he is also one of America's most sought-after public speakers. His appearances draw sell-out crowds across the country and are among the most reproduced on the Web. "And one reason," writes noted journalist Bill McKibben, "is that Moyers pulls no punches. His understanding of America's history is at least as deep as his understanding of Christian tradition, which is an integral part of his background . . . With his feet firmly planted in the deepest American traditions, Bill Moyers is helping to keep alive an oratorical tradition that is fading after two centuries. Trained by his career in broadcasting, he writes for the ear, his cadences and his repetitions timed to bring an audience to full realization of its role and its power."
And that is the message of this book. Moyers on Democracy collects many of Bill Moyers's most moving statements to connect the dots on what is happening to our country-the twinned growth of private wealth and public squalor, the assault on our Constitution, the undermining of the electoral process, the accelerating class war against ordinary (and vulnerable) Americans inherent in the growth of economic inequality, the dangers of an imperial executive, the attack on the independence of the press, the despoiling of the earth we share as our common gift-and to rekindle the reader's conviction that "the gravediggers of democracy will not have the last word." Richly insightful and alive with a fierce, abiding love for our country, Moyers on Democracy is essential reading.
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Reviews for Selections from Moyers on Democracy
20 ratings3 reviews
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5So many of the people we admire are too often "de-throned" because a scandalous aspect of their lives is brought to truth. And it takes a little piece of "you" with it. If ever there were to be a bad story about Bill Moyers, that might do it for me, because Moyers is one of those people that seems to be good and honest; hard working and forthright; opinionated, yet respectful and mindful of the ultimate goal of his profession: truth. In this book of commentary and speeches, Moyers reminds us -- of so many, and perhaps too many -- ways in which we as a nation, as a people still struggle with truth. But it is only through truth that honest discourse can take place and democracy thrive and prosper. I've always felt that as a nation, 'we don't always do the right thing and we certainly make mistakes ... but at least ... at least we try'. Moyers emphasizes that to keep trying is the cornerstone of a democratic and free society.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A collection of speeches given by Bill Moyers in the last twenty years, covering topics related to our society, including government, the press, religion, and history. As a journalist, he does not lose sight of Finley Peter Dunne’s injunction to “comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable”; he assails Democrats and Republicans alike when they fail to live up to their responsibilities, and in answering charges of liberal bias:“All I can say is that if reporting what happens to ordinary people because of events beyond their control, and the indifference of government to their fate, is ‘liberal,’ I plead guilty.”Moyers' speeches are filled with powerful words of caution and hope. He is a Baptist with a divinity degree and a faith strong enough that it is deepened, not weakened, as he learns from Buddhists, Sufis, Jews, Hindus, and Confucianists, and he is ever mindful of Christianity’s focus on the poorest of humanity. He is a true patriot, with love for the promise of the American dream and the ideals embodied in the Constitution, and stern words for the powerful who lose sight of it.This one's worth getting in hardcover, folks.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5This is a collection of Moyer's speeches over many years that touch on the subject of democracy. If I could, I'd give a copy to everyone in the world to read. Forget Nicholas Cage movies, Bill Moyers is THE National Treasure.Mr. Moyers probably doesn't believe in reincarnation - though he would respect my right to do so - but I think in one of his previous lives he must have been a bard, and in another one of those court jesters who was the only person to tell the king the truth. For he has both the journalistic integrity to be dedicated to finding the truth and to sharing it with the public. The speech he gave on Hubert Humphrey is one of the best pieces of writing, fiction or non-fiction, I've ever read in my life, and many of the other pieces are of similar quality.It is hard to give a sense of the book, because it wanders many places in talking about democracy. There are obituaries here, to such people as Barbara Jordan, William Sloane Coffin, and Fred Friendly. There is a commencement address. Issues of media, politics, and religion are discussed. And always, Moyers gives us history, often history of the relatively unknown and their struggles to be free. It is an inspirational book, one that sets the mind alight to preserve and restore freedom and its handmaiden, responsibility.