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The History of Self-Absorption

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Most people who look at the cultural decline of the United States will say it started in the 1960s with the sexual revolution and the drug culture. But according to New York Times columnist David Brooks, it began not in the psychedelic Sixties, but in the frumpy Forties.

"By the fall of 1945," Brooks writes, "Americans had endured 16 years of hardship, stretching back through the Depression. They were ready to let loose."

As Brooks notes, this led to a shift from a more self-denying culture to one that celebrated individualism, and we could add, libertinism. And it actually started in pop culture, advertising, and, interestingly, books.

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Notions of sin and service were out. Self-actualization and self-expression were in. A 1946 book by Rabbi Joshua Liebman titled "Peace of Mind," topped The New York Times' best-seller list for 58 weeks and told readers to relax and start loving themselves. Liebman even offered a new list of commandments, including "Thou shalt not be afraid of thy hidden impulses."

Read more at http://www.christianpost.com/news/from-serving-others-to-serving-self-dealing-with-tectonic-cultural-shifts-139261/

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