DIVIDED WE FALL: Gambling With History in...

DIVIDED WE FALL: Gambling With History in the Nineties by Haynes Johnson (Norton: $12.95; 443 pp.) and IN DEFENSE OF ELITISM by William A. Henry III (Anchor: $10; 212 pp.). Haynes Johnson traveled across America, interviewing citizens about their hopes and fears for the country. He offers a disturbing portrait of a disillusioned people who feel powerless to make the changes they desire. His subjects express concern that the nation’s social services net, physical infrastructure and educational system are crumbling while the federal government caters to wealthy interest groups. No recent politician has dared to buck the historical American aversion to making long-term investments that yield delayed gains. But Johnson observes that even if a dynamic leader did appear, the deficits run up during the Reagan-Bush years have left the country unable to pay for major new programs. Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist William Henry III maintains that in recent decades, “nearly every great domestic policy debate has revolved around the poles of elitism and egalitarianism--and that egalitarianism has been winning far too thoroughly.” He argues that post-World War II educational and social policies have focused on underachievers and the mediocre, instead of talented individuals who could make significant contributions. (Of every $100 spent on primary and secondary education, only 2 cents goes to programs for gifted students.) Although some of his arguments seem ingenuous, he adds a thoughtful voice to the ongoing debate over the future of America.