Warnings
The Holocaust, Ukraine, and Endangered American Democracy
by Leonard Grob and John K. Roth
Imprint: Cascade Books
Old friends--one a Jew, the other a Christian--Leonard (Lenny) Grob and John K. Roth are philosophers who have long studied the Holocaust. That experience makes us anxious about democracy, because we are also Americans living in perilous times.
The 2020s remind us of the 1930s when Nazis destroyed democracy in Germany. Carnage followed. In the 2020s, Donald Trump and his followers endanger democracy in the United States. With Vladimir Putin's ruthless assault against Ukraine compounding the difficulties, democracy must not be taken for granted. Americans love democracy--except when we don't. That division and conflict mean that democracy will be on the ballot in the 2024 American elections. Probing the prospects, Warnings: The Holocaust, Ukraine, and Endangered American Democracy features exchanges between us that underscore the most urgent threats to democracy in the United States and show how to resist them. What's most needed is ethical patriotism that urges us Americans to be our best selves. Our best selves defend liberal democracy; they strive for inclusive pluralism. Our best selves resist decisions and policies like those that led to the Holocaust or genocidal war in Ukraine or conspiracies to overturn fair and free elections in the United States. Our best selves reject antisemitism and racism; they oppose hypocrisy and autocracy. Our best selves hold lying leaders accountable. Our best selves believe that, against all odds, democracy can win out if we never give up trying to be our best.
Leonard Grob is professor emeritus of philosophy at Fairleigh Dickinson University.
John K. Roth is Edward J. Sexton Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at Claremont McKenna College. Other books they have published together include Encountering the Stranger (2012), which focuses on Jewish-Christian-Muslim relations, and Losing Trust in the World (2017), a protest against torture.
“Half philosophical cri de cœur, half political education, this book is a passionate call for the defense of democracy. Informed by a deep understanding of the Holocaust, Leonard Grob and John K. Roth call out the calculated incitements to hatred by Hitler, Putin, and Trump. This book is needed in our troubled times.”
—Björn Krondorfer, professor of religious studies, Northern Arizona University
“Philosophers and Holocaust scholars, Leonard Grob and John K. Roth have drawn from all their accumulated wisdom and marshalled all their strength to offer insights gained from a lifetime and warnings learned from the Holocaust to understand the issues of our day—the Russian invasion of the Ukraine, the Trumpian assault on democracy, the polarization of American society, the lure of authoritarianism, and the assault on truth. The result is challenging, engaging, illuminating, even foreboding.”
—Michael Berenbaum, professor Jewish studies, American Jewish University
“Powerful, provocative, and challenging, Warnings is an important book. It is elegantly written and carefully argued. The authors remind us that democracy is fragile, that American democracy is fragile. They urge us to pay attention to history, to learn from the Holocaust. Read this book. Learn from it. Pass it on.”
—Carol Rittner, RSM, professor emerita of Holocaust studies, Stockton University
“Warnings is a conversation between two philosophers, Leonard Grob and John K. Roth, with significant work on the Holocaust. Drawing on ancient sages and citing parallels to 1930s Germany, they discuss recent trends that threaten to destroy the foundations of our nation, and they call for courage to restore mutual respect, fundamental equality, and justice for all. Warnings is an urgent message to the nation to preserve the noblest and enduring ideals of America.”
—Myrna Goldenberg, professor emerita of English and philosphy, Montgomery College
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