"Until true individualism--meaning not the continuation but the overcoming of egoism--has the strength to win through against and transform the artificially galvanized group spirits [from the past], the task of culture cannot be fulfilled. Group interests will continue to act as mutual enemies." -- Bernhard Behrens These essays, written just after World War II by a German economist who arrived in the United States in 1940, provide an unexpectedly helpful contribution to an understanding of our present moment, writ large. Today, when the U.S. is coming to terms with its destiny and its true (as distinct from geopolitical) place in current and world history, seems a propitious time to republish these essays, which first saw the light of day in the mid-twentieth century. Updated from the 1950s, the view of the challenges and possibilities that Bernhard Behrens provides remain as perceptive and insightful now as when written, especially in regard to economics and democracy.