Abstract

The Past in Ruins examines tradition as a cluster of feelings organized around a presumed past which is both evoked and used deceitfully. David Gross contends that politicians and others have shaped traditions according to their changing needs. He is particularly persuasive in showing how “nostalgia” is created by a host of manipulators, from advertisers and script writers to politicians. One illustration that comes to mind is the shifting image of past presidencies that became associated with Ronald Reagan. Once in office Reagan changed his mind about the oppressiveness of the government he came to head. He assumed its custodianship and thereafter spoke of supply-side economics instead of calling for a scaling back of the managerial state.