Rebuilding an Enlightened World: Folklorizing America

In Folklore, Bill Ivey, former chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts, argues that the world today is being reshaped by the end of the Enlightenment. In the 18th and 19th century, imperialism and colonialism spread Enlightenment values around the world. Through the 20th century, civilization believed this universal commitment to human rights would be permanent. Today that assumption is under threat everywhere. Contemporary public intellectuals have entirely missed this truth, leadi...