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Kresta in the Afternoon – May 27, 2024 – Hour 2

We examine the origins of the “Achieving Individual” with Dr. Lawrence Mead.  

 

Cultural Differences and American Freedom

There is a truth about Western culture, especially American culture that is often ignored: the US sees itself as an individualist society whose people seek to realize personal goals in the world, while most of the non-West has a more passive, deferential temperament. In other words, the West sees life as a project while many others are simply trying to survive rather than achieve. This serves as a massive obstacle for those trying to assimilate in America and will be a challenge to the country. Dr. Lawrence Mead joins us to examine these cultural differences.

Lawrence M. Mead is Professor of Politics and Public Policy at New York University. He's the author most recently of Burdens of Freedom: Cultural Difference and American Power and his many previous books defined the theory behind the radical welfare reform of the 1990s, which for the first time required many welfare recipients to work as a condition of aid. Since the 1980s, he has been an influential advisor to social policy makers in Washington, at the state and local level, and in several foreign countries.

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Kresta Comments: The Origins of the “Achieving Individual”

Al follows up on our discussion with Dr. Mead, looking at the origins of the Western concept of an achieving individual.

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