The Moral Center

A “new liberal with old values” argues nothing is the matter with Kansas—and that the Democratic party needs to lead America out of its moral crisis (The New York Times).

In this insightful book, the author of The Cheating Culture addresses the anxieties that many Americans share, pointing out that the problems most people care about are not hot-button partisan issues like abortion and gay marriage, but rather deeper subjects that neither party is addressing—the selfishness that is careening out of control, the effect of our violent and consumerist culture on children, and our lack of a greater purpose. As Republicans veer into zealotry, liberals can find common ground with the moderate majority. But to achieve electoral victories, they need a powerful new vision.

In The Moral Center, David Callahan articulates that vision—and offers an escape from the dead-end culture war. With insights garnered from in-depth research and interviews, he examines some of our most polarized conflicts and presents unexpected solutions that lay out a new road map to the American center.

“Brilliant, challenging, practical and hopeful.” —E. J. Dionne Jr., author of Why Americans Hate Politics

“Callahan shows why progressives often seem not to have such a [moral] center, ceding values to the Right, and why they need to get one to win the political battle.” —Benjamin R. Barber, author of Consumed and Jihad vs. McWorld

“Callahan wants . . . to create a new public morality that is concerned about both poverty and video game violence, both wages and rap lyrics. He wants to soften the jagged edges of the culture wars.” —Michael Tomasky, The New York Review of Books