Robert Rosenkranz’s One Nation Undecided by Peter Schuck
In an age of “fake news,” radical opinions and seemingly never-ending controversies, Peter Schuck’s “One Nation Undecided” does what so many have struggled to do as of late – give careful thought and consideration to some of the nation’s most polarizing issues, and respectfully analyze the opinions and arguments of both sides in doing so.
Page by page, Schuck delves into five of today’s most controversial topics, exploring immigration, campaign finance, poverty, affirmative action, and gay marriage and transgender rights while explaining key concepts and providing thoughtful commentary along the way. Rather than take a strong stance on most of these hot-button issues, however, he instead takes an often-unbiased perspective, encouraging readers not so much to take one side over the other, but to think through the arguments of both sides rationally and precisely while abandoning hot tempers and strong emotions in doing so.
That being said, he does make some of his personal opinions clear throughout the work, among them his skepticism about affirmative action, his desire to combat poverty through increasing tax credits and his belief that America needs to reform its immigration policies to help meet the needs of the modern economy. Even when voicing his own opinions, however, Schuck’s main objective remains obvious, and it involves encouraging others to carefully contemplate issues and form their own opinions thoughtfully, respectfully and analytically.
Schuck divides his book into sections, so readers can peruse his thoughts and musings on each of the five topics independently or out of order from one another, working their way through subjects of particular interest to them without having to cover all five to get the full story. Throughout his overview of all five key issues, his primary argument remains the same: Americans should rely on reason and clear-thinking when analyzing critical issues, regardless of which side of the fight they ultimately choose to support.
