Many Americans are longing for an alternative politics that is rooted in strong communities, a recognition of limits, and respect for the natural world. These issues are not the possession of one political party. Rather, they refer to ideas rooted deeply in the best aspects of our common tradition, and they represent yearnings that many, regardless of political affiliation, share. This book articulates a cultural and political vision that leads off the couch and into the garden, out of the shopping mall and into the farmer's market, away from Washington and in the direction of home. In this postpartisan call to action, Mitchell develops the concept of the "politics of gratitude," which is centered around four ideas: creatureliness, gratitude, human scale, and place, culminating in a distinctive, fruitful view of human nature and community at odds with the prevailing norms of individualism (and, not so paradoxically, statism), giantism, and hypermobility. Going beyond the liberal-conservative factionalism that has reduced our political and cultural discourse to clichés and vitriol, he urges us to become responsible stewards of the earth who are committed to family and community and who abide in gratitude, taking nothing for granted.The result is a political and cultural vision that is at once local, limited, modest, republican, green--and grateful. Mark T. Mitchell teaches political theory at Patrick Henry College. He earned his PhD at Georgetown University. He is the author of Michael Polanyi: The Art of Knowing and coeditor of The Humane Vision of Wendell Berry. In 2009, he cofounded the webzine Front Porch Republic, which brings together a variety of writers, from across the political spectrum, to advance the ideas of limits, human scale, sustainability, and care for the natural world. He lives with his wife and four children on a small farm in Virginia.