Renewing American Culture:
The Pursuit of Happiness
"Our culture is in need of a dynamic, creative renewal and this book shows the way brilliantly. The issues the American people and all humankind face today--the threat of war and biological attack; care of the poor, the elderly, the very young, the disabled; the search for economic justice and opportunity at home and abroad—cannot be left solely to the experts. We must educate ourselves to participate fully in the public debate over these and other crucial social and ethical questions. This means that education in the humanities is critical."
John Brademas, Founder of the National Endowment for the Humanities and President Emeritus, New York University
“This book sets forth a vitally important paradigm to understand and maximize for healthy personal and public well-being and growth. As a venture capitalist, I believe that the concept of the pursuit of happiness and spiritual capital are essential for the economy, for business, culture, and the future of our families. This is great stuff.”
Tom Zucosky, Chief Investment Officer, Discovery Capital, New York
“Progress in 21st century America is driven by science and technology and often measured in purely economic terms. Yet history tells us that it is great intellectual concepts—social, spiritual, artistic, and political—that truly shape our destiny. Humankind rises beyond the mundane goals of survival and comfort because of our ability to make moral choices and to envision a more perfect world. This ambitious book focuses some of America’s best minds on the most important questions that face our nation.”
Martin Jischke, President, Purdue University
“In a world filled with wonders—no matter the media’s delight in featuring the pockets of chaos—let us applaud Scott T. Massey and Theodore Roosevelt Malloch for their positive vision for the future of the world.”
Martha Ingram, Chairman of the Board, Ingram Industries
“A magnificently old fashioned book that offers a fresh and absolutely appropriate guide for living in the new global age.”
Rodney Stark, author of ‘The Victory of Reason: How Christianity Led to Freedom, Capitalism, and Western Success’
“In this invigorating book the authors show that the pursuit of happiness has been the core American value, and one that continues to provide a shared moral and spiritual foundation to the American people. In opposition to those who argue that globalization and the new challenges of the 21st century demand a new curriculum and a break with the liberal humanism of the past, the authors show that the tradition of humane education is exactly what Americans need in facing the challenges of the future. The pursuit of happiness is as real a goal for Americans today as it was for the Founders, and humane education is the key to it.”
Roger Scruton, author of ‘The Meaning of Conservatism’ and ‘Modern Philospphy’.
"At a time when our nation cries for an affirmation of shared cultural values--such as those embodied in the humanities--Dr. Massey and Dr. Malloch provide us with this book a compelling occasion to engage with ideas that matter and explore the values that define us as Americans."
Michael Sartisky, President, Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities
"These days the literate are mostly willing to be very explicit about virtually everything, including their own private lives. But there is an exception, marked by an almost Victorian reticence: the question of values. Yet there is no question that they are the only possible foundations of any human institution, from ephemeral street gangs to the United States of America, or indeed the United Nations--for even absolute multi-culturalism does not permit a purely relativist absence of values. Theodore Roosevelt Malloch and Scott T. Massey are not embarrassed to consider the question of values, and are not afraid to propose humanist values as normative. This is therefore an original work, and an important one.
Edward N. Luttwak, Senior Fellow, Center for Strategic and International Studies and
Author of ‘Strategy: the Logic of War and Peace’.
"Turbulent times, complex trends, quick fixes, and barked sound-bites do not make a happy combination, and so we are very fortunate to have Ted Malloch and Scott Massey on the case. ‘Renewing American culture’ is not something that can be done with the ease of flipping a light switch, but requires us all to draw fresh insight and strength from our foundational documents, principles and ideals. Their remarkable book helps lead the way."
Stephen Klimczuk, Principal, A.T. Kearney and former Director, World Economic Forum
“Here, for the first time under one roof, is a serious and provocative consideration of the relationship between human capital, social capital, and spiritual capital. This is a cutting edge commentary on the necessary and sufficient conditions for the pursuit of happiness in the twenty-first century”.
Gordon Lloyd, Professor of Public Policy, Pepperdine University
"America has been, is, and, according to most indications, is likely to remain one of the most religious societies on the face of the earth. It is one of the virtues of ‘Renewing American Culture: the Pursuit of Happiness’ that it places the humanities within our history, our virtues, and our lack of virtues. It is another that it places its discussion within the international currents of our world. And, finally, it suggests how we should respond and act."
Paul Marshall, Senior Fellow, Freedom House's Center for Religious Freedom
“America’s strength at home and abroad is in no small part based upon its ideas—ideas constantly reformulated through education and generational change. How our intellectual heritage will be passed through the generations in the age of the Internet and easy travel is the profound question explored by Malloch and Massey. The answer will dictate our future. This is a profound contribution to America’s place in the world!”
Herman Pirchner, Jr. President, American Foreign Policy Council (AFPC)
“At the dawn of a new century, the promise of America remains ahead of us while the means to achieve it are within our grasp. With clarity and conviction, Malloch and Massey show us how being faithful stewards of the humanities tradition leads not only to the flourishing of our individual lives but also contributes to the very renewal of American culture-an ideal we all seek. The pursuit of happiness enlivens the prospect of American possibility, and as this book demonstrates, the future is, indeed, bright!”
D. Michael Lindsay, Professor of Sociology, Princeton University
"There's a debate about the future of America. In the long term I'm a pessimist, but I have never seen the case for optimism put better than in ‘The Pursuit of Happiness’.”
Digby Anderson, Founder of The Social Affairs Unit, London
"The Pursuit of Happiness", as VS Naipaul aptly puts it, '"Familiar words, easy to take for granted; easy to misconstrue". Malloch and Massey appeal to America's soul to reject "happiness" as "selfish pleasure" and to honor it anew as an inalienable human "right" and a revolutionary, civic "obligation". How blessed are those who heed this truth!”
Christopher Hancock, Former Dean of Bradford Cathedral and Oxford University
"A bracing, ebullient book that brings readers face to face with their most valuable and overlooked asset: spiritual capital."
Roger Kimball, Co-Editor and publisher of The New Criterion
“Ultimately it is the culture that determines the direction of a society. In this book Ted Malloch and Scott Massey make a clarion call to return to America's original purpose of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. These are the things that will restore the American identity and thereby restore American culture.”
Alfred S. Regnery, Publisher, The American Spectator
“The intelligent optimism—and boundless verve—of Drs. Massey and Malloch allows these pages to transcend academic debates and enter the sphere of humanistic philosophy. Their vision of a renewed culture and a new humanities encompasses all professions, all needs, all beliefs, and resonates with the philosophy and principles that form the basis of the work of the Lincoln Center Institute. We, too, feel that learning and intellectual creation are the keys to embracing all mankind in a global society and culture. To understand the world through reason and imagination and art—that is education.”
Scott Noppe-Brandon, Executive Director, Lincoln Center Institute
“Drs. Malloch and Massey succeed where so many have fallen short: in clear and certain terms they delineate the essential role that the humanities play in our lives and argue that it is through the humanities that we can renew both ourselves and our national culture. Bravo!”
Stanley Romanstein, President & CEO, Minnesota Humanities Commission
“The future strength and vitality of America depend in great measure on the extent to which her leaders and citizens as a whole adhere to our nation's core values ("life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness") while at the same time, adjust to the incredible changes taking place in the world today. This enormous challenge is powerfully addressed in this encouraging book. The authors set forth strategies as possible ways for Americans to prepare creatively for the future, while building toward an ever-more humane nation and world.”
George Gallup, Jr., Founding Chairman, The George H Gallup International Institute
"As an American citizen of Latino descent, born and raised in this culture and raised by hardworking, God-fearing, dream-pursuing, emigrant parents, I find the waning understanding of the "core-values" of the American Experiment among the so-called "educated" masses of this generation to be alarming. To re-affirm these core-values and to make them the foci of our educational system, and to re-educate our leadership base of the importance and necessity of them, as advocated in "Renewing American Culture and the Pursuit of Happiness," is a fundamental requirement if we are going to continue to be the beacon of hope for continued generations of dream-pursuing native-born AND emigrants alike, and if we are going to continue to educate world leaders of the highest moral and ethical character who will lead their nations with utmost integrity to the highest levels of human achievement. I applaud Drs. Malloch and Massey for their deeply insightful analysis of our human need and their suggestions for re-establishing the pursuit of the uniquely American answer to that need."
Jim Ortiz, Pastor: My Friend's House and President, Latino Coalition for Faith & Community Initiatives
“First, Luther's 95 Theses. Now, Malloch and Massey's 36 Propositions. At stake? A 21st century reformation of America -- a deep cultural renewal of its core values -- that will offer to future generations profound hope and guarantee the continued pursuit of happiness.”
Robert Hamrin, Founder and President, Great Dads
“When the headlines increasingly read of corporate and government scandal, many are wondering whether there is any hope for America—especially as it relates to it’s “moral compass.” Malloch and Massey are to be commended for a fresh look at the American promise. Eschewing easy formulas and simple answers, they draw the reader back to the basic questions about life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, all within a moral framework which acknowledges dependency on God. Read this book and gain a new perspective on what America could become if its citizens were truly committed to the pursuit of the common good.”
Ronald P. Mahurin, Ph. D.,Vice President, Council for Christian Colleges & Universities
“Too often Americans take for granted their rich national and spiritual heritage or reduce its founders to mere heroes and icons. It is refreshing to see this attempt at recovery and renewal of the great American experiment in the emerging global setting. In reaching back to America's religious and intellectual well springs and relating these to the contemporary challenges of politics, commerce and the academy through the unifying concept of spiritual capital, Malloch and Massey have made a defining contribution to substantive reflection about the underlying factors that make any culture or civilization lasting and significant.’
Justin D Cooper, President of Redeemer University College, Canada
“Historically, great societies all come to crossroads where the choices that will determine both the moral character of their people and ultimately the strength of their nation must be made. Scott Massey and Theodore Malloch rightly perceive that America is at just such a place of crisis and opportunity, and their vision for our moral and intellectual renewal is comprehensive and compelling."
The Very Rev. Kenneth Swanson, Ph.D., Dean and Rector, Christ Church Cathedral, Nashville, Tennessee
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