INTRODUCTION: RAFTS

This is the introduction to a new book entitled AN AMERICAN CIVILIZATION. Regular readers — and thank you for your support and patience these past long months — may notice that there is in this chapter some recycled material, although none from the SILENT AMERICA essays. In this one case, I could not think of a better way to express an idea I had played with back in 2004.

[UPDATE: This post has been substantially re-written since it was first posted.]

There is a British tradition at Christmas time, a tradition I would love to see transplanted to these American shores. It