A Primer on Moral Renewal in America

Part diatribe, part supplication, this book is a full-on entreaty for Americans to, in a nutshell, treat each other better, respect each other, and so on. Chapters include science, ignorance, friendship, tolerance, honesty and integrity, love and hate, religion, hunger, money, and of course politics.
While it accurately depicts the problem, other than a vague “we must do better without regard to politics” there’s no solution offered. Maybe the author wasn’t trying to offer a solution, but if that’s true then this is only a summation of problems that the people who would actually read this already know.

In A Primer on Moral Renewal in America T.L. Wiley breaks many of the problems currently facing society into distinct categories, such as science and criticism, then elaborates on each topic. By his own admission he is not an expert on every topic covered but then neither are most of the people who speak as experts. That said, he has extensive experience and education in areas which are both scientific as well as sociological in terms of policy and application. This background allows him to perceive the problems from a somewhat more nuanced position and to appreciate the value of having good information on which to base an opinion and more importantly action.

The positive aspect of his approach is that his discussion is not jargon filled but written as from one concerned and informed citizen to another. He cites sources and makes his interpretations clear.

The suggestions Wiley makes are not so much policy based as they are individual action based. He certainly suggests what some ideal policy outcomes might be but first and foremost he advocates for informed citizenry to put aside partisanship (I don't mean necessarily political only but the tendency to form opinions based on belonging to some group then rationalizing that opinion using either cherry-picked facts or downright lies) and make ethical decisions based on a compassionate understanding of the facts.

Perhaps this book can best be appreciated as an appeal to everyone to be active, use factual information when forming action plans and start with some of the issues he addresses here. Even if you don't agree with every assessment he makes about today's problems just be sure to have something other than "common sense" or superstition as your counter argument.

I would recommend this short book to anyone interested in the problems we face. Sometimes it helps to be reminded to curb one's immediate reactions to a problem and approach it more critically, and if this book helps people to do just that then it will have made a positive contribution to the world.

Reviewed from an ARC made available by the publisher via NetGalley.