The ideological conflicts of the twentieth century have faded. Inthis book,we
find no need to deconstruct competing ideologies. Instead, certain habitual
attitudes of our nation – embedded in our public culture (hodgepodge
of political beliefs and nonpolitical wishful thinking) – now exercise an
influencemore powerful than the strongest of the ideologies of the past. The
public culture is stronger because there is less opposition to it than there
would be to a monolithic ideology because wishful thinking is continually
reinforced by all elements of society – political, intellectual, and media. Its
hold on our minds is stronger than ever was the hold of an ideology on
our hearts. Hence, there is a compelling need to compare public culture to
reality, and to point to the dangers of the illusions inherent in our public
culture.