Essay on Cornel West: Towering Public Intellectual & Critic of American Society

Cornel West is among the most influential American towering public intellectuals to have ever existed courtesy of his written works that cite the most pressing issues in the society. It is because of the open and eloquent criticisms of the American society that have been mostly perpetuated by the leaders. It was his culture to attack the complacent attitudes that were very prominent in American society. In his book, it is depicted through his strong views on how we can best realize the American promise of democracy by the many approaches that he has found to express them.

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In his book "Democracy Matters," West has dwelled much on the issues that affect democracy of the people and the practiced global justice. In respect to the title of the book, the author has focused on the impact of imperialism. According to him, imperialism seemed to have been the root cause of the declining democratic impulse in modern American society and its people at large (West, 15). A closer look and analysis of the book reveals the above to be the general theme that runs throughout the book.

The author argues that there is evidence of nihilism that has broadly spread in American culture. It is because of the great control and monitoring of the political, economic, and social institutions in the whole country. The above is implemented and achieved by a few individuals that brand themselves to be elites of the larger American group. Nihilism in the society was marked by cultural escapism, political apathy, and cynicism.

The characteristics emphasized a critical and debate in the public sphere that was democratic with respect to some vital issues that the people in the American society experienced. The notion of nihilism was worsened by the belief that existed among the majority of the people of disillusionment courtesy of the forces that were responsible for the shaping of their society since they seemed to be beyond their capability (Flinders, 37).

As claimed by the author, he particularly highlights the market forces that contribute to the American society that has saturated in a bid to creating a market morality that triggers the diminishing of a sense of meaning to the people and the purpose that they have towards each other. In this case, the market morality referred to the increased consumption power coupled with the pursuit of profits through all means by the few individuals that considered themselves to be the elites in the society.

West confirms that as much as the elites who fool people to be practicing democracy, they glorify capital and money, which form part of the significant contributing factors in influencing the people in American society. In his book, West argues that the forces of democracy and imperialism have significantly shaped the political history of the country. Imperialism has been highlighted to dominate the political landscape of America in various ways, such as free-market fundamentalism, aggressive militarism, and escalating authoritarianism.

As such, it can be concluded that the country is at a critical crossroads. West terms free-market fundamentalism as related to a religious one, regarding the impact and the influence it has on people. He identifies that the traditions of the nation towards religion possess the same contradictions as the political traditions. The above implies deprivation of the peoples' rights in a bid to adhere to the dictations of a few influential people. West dates back to religion and relates it to political purposes.

West believes that Christianity, for instance, had the purpose of supporting and rationalizing the imperial power just the same way it is used in the modern days to support American imperial aspirations. Christianity, in comparison to democracy, stands against the following of the earthly wealth and struggle for power, and instead, it advocates for enhancement of justice for the victims of imperialism.

According to West, the ideas that are in charge of encouraging greediness, corruption, among other vices and instead go-ahead to increase the importance of material success among those who consider themselves to be elites in the society, has contributed to the draining of free energies in the American population. West identifies the ideologies to be perpetuated and reinforced by American politics. American politics are dominated by two political parties which are; the Republicans and the Democrats that are only entitled to the serving of the economic elites instead of the whole American population.

For instance, he criticizes the Republicans terming them as individuals that are influenced by religious delusions of dominating America. On the other hand, the terms Republicans comprising of John Kerry as a personalistic nihilist who can openly accept a corrupt system. There is also the element of the majority of the news organizations that immensely contribute to the rottenness of society through sacrificing the truth for what destroys and damages society (Scalvini, 56). In his book, West tries to make an impressive effort in portraying people the essence of democracy towards living in a free society, especially in America.

References

West, Cornel. Democracy matters: Winning the fight against imperialism. Penguin Group USA, 2005.

Flinders, Matthew. Defending Politics: Why democracy matters in the 21st century. Oxford University Press, 2012.

Scalvini, Marco. "Book review: democracy and public space: the physical sites of democratic performance." LSE Review of Books (2012).