An Englishman once watched his first American football game. He looked intently as the team gathered into a huddle after each play. His American host asked him what he thought of the proceedings. "Not a bad sport", remarked the visitor, "but they do seem to engage in an excessive number of...

To Myrdal, the most salient and historically unique characteristic of modern America is that the upper two-thirds of the population live in affluence of a kind which can potentially lead to satisfaction of long-held liberal and even Utopian ideals.