Detoxifying the Culture

Blessed with a mind that foresees the long-range consequences of changes in what Americans believe, respect, and want, John Howard has provided a steady voice of caution about the popular supposition that whatever is new is better, and whatever is traditional should be set aside. In 1962 he enlisted a group of college and university presidents to try to convince The Congress that massive federal subsidy of the colleges would be harmful to higher education. It has been. Vital Speeches chose to publish an address he gave on that subject. It is a chapter in this book as are three other analyses that have appeared in that periodical. The twenty-three chapters of Detoxifying The Culture range from a consideration of Woodstock’s gross offensive against morality, decency, and public law, the radical campaign to cripple and dismantle capitalism, and the dire impact upon the natural family of the no-fault divorce law, to a sampling of the wholesome and inspiring literature of the latter half of the 19th Century, the Christian idealism of the founder of Mount Holyoke College, and "Some Unremembered Dimensions of Leadership."