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by Spencer Critchley (Author)
America is in a Cold Civil War, between people who see each other as threats to the country - but themselves as patriots. How can that be?They are Patriots of Two Nations.In this book, national media commentator and presidential campaigns veteran Spencer Critchley shows why our current hyper-partisan division has been inevitable since the founding of the United States, as has the election of Donald Trump or someone like him.That's because America is actually two nations occupying the same territory. The two nations have different worldviews: cultures, values, and ways of understanding reality itself. One nation - the dominant one - is descended from the Enlightenment, and the establishment of reason as the ultimate source of authority. But the other nation is descended from the Counter-Enlightenment, and it has never stopped believing in the primacy of faith, tradition, culture, ties to the land, and ethnic identity.Because the Enlightenment worldview is so dominant, the Counter-Enlightenment largely has been forgotten by history. But as Critchley reveals, in many ways it's more active now than ever - and the failure of many of us to understand it is a crucial source of our division.Uniting the two nations will require that they finally do see and understand their different realities. This book shows how we might still be able to make that happen - and why we must, if democracy is to survive.Spencer Critchley is a writer, producer, and communications consultant with experience in journalism, film, digital media, public relations, advertising, and music. He is the Managing Partner of communications consulting agency Boots Road Group.He has been interviewed or quoted by ABC News, the Associated Press, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, CBS Radio, the Christian Science Monitor, Fox News, The Hill, ITV (UK), the LA Times, NBC, NPR, Sky News (UK), and others.As a consultant, Spencer has worked for both of Barack Obama's presidential campaigns, former Congressman Sam Farr, the US Department of Labor, the University of California at Berkeley, the Monterey Jazz Festival, and many others.As a digital media producer, his clients have included David Bowie, Moby, Santana, Britney Spears, and others while he was with Thomas Dolby's Beatnik Inc; the Silicon Graphics-Time Warner-ATT interactive TV system; Silicon Gaming; and the multiple award-winning Choosing Success multimedia program for CCC/Viacom, described by Wired magazine as "the most inspired piece of educational software ever created."As a journalist, he reported stories for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, National Public Radio, the Associated Press, and others, winning awards for investigative reporting from the Associated Press and Public Radio News Directors Inc. His reporting exposed a cult operating in eight US states, and human rights abuses and murders in post-Gulf War Kuwait.For CBC Radio, he was a correspondent and guest host for the national entertainment and popular culture show Prime Time, the host of the syndicated Canada Rocks record review, and a contributor to The Entertainers and other programs.He has written for the Huffington Post, O'Reilly Radar, Business Insider, Stanford Social Innovation Review, and other publications, and is the host of the Dastardly Cleverness in the Service of Good podcast.As a composer and music producer, he was signed to Warner-Chappell Music Publishing. He created music for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation including for the Peabody Award-winning CBC Radio drama "Paris from Wilde to Morrison" and the series shows Prime Time, Radio Banned, and Metro Morning. He composed the score (with collaborator Marco D'Ambrosio) and produced the music, dialog, and sound design for the Emmy-winning PBS documentary Blink.
