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AMERICA

FACES THE FUTURE

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A.M. (HARVARD): PH.D. (COLUMBIA)
Professor of Philosophy at Vassar College
Author of Problems of Conduct, Problems of Religion,
Shall We Stand by the Church? etc.

New York

THE MACMILLAN COMPANY

1922

All rights reserved

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PREFACE

Many books have been written to explain to foreign peoples what we are; such books naturally tend to self-congratulation and eulogy of our virtues, for it is an instinct to speak highly of ourselves to others. This volume takes a graver and more critical attitude; it has been written not as a description of what we are but as a reminder of what we ought to be. Its readers are asked to consider in these pages what our priceless heritage of American ideals actually is, and how far we are being faithful to our inheritance.

There is perpetual need of thus clarifying and fortifying our own traditional ideals, of renewing our understanding of them and evoking within our breasts a deepened loyalty. For the American spirit is continually endangered by sectionalism, class rifts, the selfishness of the fortunate and the bitterness of the unfortunate, the cynicism of the sophisticated and the complacency of the prosperous. We do not want to rubber-stamp our fellows; but we do want to produce a common devotion to the dreams that have made our nation great, and a widespread demand for their realization. Our future will be safe if we can instil into all classes and groups a true American-mindedness.

With this end in view the book has been divided into five Parts, each of which describes one of our fundamental national ideals, and discusses its application to various contemporary problems, each chapter treating of one such sphere of application. The reading-lists have been carefully selected from the

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