Book Description
John Agresto spent a little over nine months in Iraq. His job, was to help Iraq rebuild its once highly regarded education system. As he left Iraq, Agresto was asked by the Pentagon to write a few paragraphs for the future about this formative and transitional time; from those paragraphs Mugged by Reality was born.
Customer Reviews:
He almost changed his mind.......2007-09-13
One of the most frightening things about today's world is that nobody ever changes their mind about anything. If discourse is at all meaningful people should occasionally be convinced that they were wrong but that happens very rarely, if ever. It makes one wonder what is the point of reading or discussing things if you always end up where you started.
Agresto comes close enough to merit the 5 stars.
He doesn't quite admit that he was wrong. He writes: "Nevertheless, given all this, forgive me if I am hesitant to join in the chorus of commentators, usually on the left, who now find it easy to call our venture in Iraq a "mistake." If "mistake" implies mistaking our goals, or having irresponsible intentions, then the war was not a mistake. But if mistake implies an inability fully to understand not the ends but the means, if it implies not knowing exactly what to do, when to do it, or even how to do it, then mistakes were made aplenty. Good intentions do not ensure success, and nice guys often do finish last. In that sense, looking at our failures of execution rather than of aim, I now have no hesitation in stating that we should not have undertaken the war." (p.11)
So we were not wrong in devastating Iraq because our hearts were pure -- we just did it wrong. OK -- that is at least a partial admission.
I have other quarrels with him. He writes: "liberal democratic nations might and often do wage war against their ideological enemies--liberal democracies have fought both hot and cold wars with Fascist and Communist states, for example--they rarely if ever wage war against each other. No matter how furious we Americans might get with France or Germany, invading a democratic Germany or bombing France is simply beyond anything we could ever imagine." How does he explain WWI when the liberal democratic nations France, England and the United States ganged up on an even more liberal and Democratic Germany.
On Page 20 he writes: "For a long time after 9/11, the news journals, in referring to the terrorists, seemed fixated on the question "Why do they hate us?" It's a bit of an odd question, for it seems to suggest that the reason for the hatred is somehow our doing--that we are hated because of something wrong about us, or wrong that we have done. It's also an odd question since I cannot envision others who have been attacked--as we were in 2001--naturally asking that question. (Do American Indians ask it? Do Jews ask it about Nazis? Do African-Americans ask it about the KKK? I tend to doubt it.) But there may be a value in answering the question as posed. Perhaps we are hated because of who we are--as well as because of who they are." Would he have written this if he were an American Indian, or an African American or an Iranian who witnessed the mistaken shooting down of an Iranian air liner that was not even greeted with an Oops, sorry, or an Iraqi whose home was bombed by a display of shock and awe (i.e. terror) in the search for people who want to change the world by means of terror (i.e. shock and awe).
As you see I am very critical of this book -- but it is a clear and honest effort to explain the neo-conservative point of view. As far as I can see it is the only such effort and as such it deserves 5 stars.
Outstanding insights for conservatives and liberals on Iraq.......2007-07-29
Agresto offers an unapologetic look at why we went into Iraq. Then, he details what went wrong. It is difficult to find such clarity, with no apparent ax to grind. Prior to reading this book, I was confident that we should stay. Now, I'm not so sure. Agresto's description of our many mistakes in Iraq was difficult for me to read. But, I knew that it was important to do so. The failure of Iraq is one that, as Agresto details, at its core is a failure of the Iraqis themselves. Having been liberated from tyranny by us, the Iraqis have failed to step up. Where we failed, it seems is, under the guise of multiculturalism, essentially failing to recognize the superiority of our own culture and systems. We cobbled together a political process, ignoring the virtues and merits of our own. We permitted al Sadr to roam free, even though he is a known murderer. We permitted a political system that divides based on sect and ethnicity, even though our is rooted in geography and forces ideological accommodation. We permitted looting and common crimes to go unpunished. We were too soft, for fear of being too much like Saddam. Agresto is critical of the military, but in fairness to them, the role of the military is to kill people and break things, not to rebuild civilizations for an ungrateful, cowardly and lazy populace.
Mugged By Fantasy.......2007-07-29
I caught Mr. Agresto on C-SPAN during a book review at the Hudson Institute. No matter how ingeniously he tries to put it, blaming the victim for the conflict in the Middle East is outrageous. His attempt to state the fighting is a result of Muslim fundamentalism rather than American greed is ridiculous, as well. On the one hand, he says Iraq was a nation of great people suffering under the boot of Saddam Hussein. Then, after we invaded and occupied that nation, the people somehow decided extremism and chaos are the new order of the day. He never asks the obvious questions: How did Iraq arrive at this destitute point? Did our invasion and occupation have anything to do with it? Has a successful democracy ever been imposed at gunpoint? What has religion got to do with our invasion and occupation of a nation which did us no harm? How does he justify our mass murder of the Iraqi people and the destruction of their homes? Why won't we leave that nation when the Iraqi people have been polled overwhelmingly supporting our departure? The list of important questions is miles long. The aggressor in the Middle East is America, not the Arabs. Mr. Agresto was mugged by fantasy, not reality. It's time he took the blinders off so that he could see the crimes against humanity America has committed in the Middle East in our name.
Not Really.......2007-07-29
It seems strange that the biggest reality mugging is escaping the writer and the apologist reviewers. THERE WERE NO WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION! THERE WAS NO REASON TO INVADE IRAQ! If Mr Agresto couldn't grasp this huge fact how his analysis gets credibility boggles the mind. If you start with this nugget of information all that Mr Agresto is describing can be seen in a very different light. There aren't ancient hatreds and a medieval culture at the root of problems in Iraq today. Simply consider the following, If someone had attacked us like we attacked Iraq, we would be royally pissed and do everything to make the life of their troops here miserable and the only people who would cooperate with the invading army would be opportunists.
Every culture has its unique nuances and Iraq does too. But perhaps if we start with the really big reality mugging Iraq isn't so difficult to understand and people like Mr Agresto do not serve our national interest's by trying to find explanations when the obvious (we shouldn't have gone to war in Iraq) seems to be the root of all problems.
Best for a Reason.......2007-07-26
This is the best book on Iraq. Nothing else even comes close. It's the best because John Agresto had the education and background to understand what he was seeing once he got off the airplane. In fact, it is largely the lack of such an education and background on the part of our leadership/journalists that has gotten us into the fix we are currently in. Rene R. Daugherty Aztec, New Mexico
Amazon.com
The O'Reilly Factor isn't just the name of Bill O'Reilly's popular talk show on the Fox News Channel anymore--it's also the title of his book, which, appropriately enough, actually reads like a TV show. The narrative rarely proceeds for more than a few paragraphs before a bold-faced "This Just In" or "Bulletin" pops up on the page and breaks the stream of thought--sort of like a commercial interruption. This provides an ideal forum for O'Reilly to sound off on any number of topics with lots of verve but not too much depth. There are breezy chapters here on money, media, religion, race, and sex, among others. O'Reilly dislikes many things, and he isn't shy about sharing his opinions: "SUVs should be immediately outlawed," he rants. Here's O'Reilly on President Clinton: "What a ridiculous waste!" Attorney General Janet Reno is a "ridiculous, incompetent woman" and President Clinton's "primary 'enabler.'"
This is not a subtle book, and its bombastic approach would be even more grating if it weren't for several flashes of self-deprecation, such as when the author shares a negative piece of viewer mail, or when he writes, "In case you haven't noticed, I'm a cocky bastard." Sometimes O'Reilly's put-downs are creative and funny: "If God has a sense of humor, as I believe he does, [Al Sharpton and David Duke] will be sharing a sauna in the netherworld. With one thermostat." And he's good at illustrating his points with outrageous details. In criticizing the bloated federal budget, for instance, he points to these shockers: $230,000 for a study of housefly sex habits, $27,000 for an analysis of why prisoners want to escape, and $100,000 to find out why Americans don't like beets. (To which he replies: "Houseflies mate when no one is looking. Prisoners don't like prison. Beets don't taste good.") O'Reilly is often considered something of a conservative, but he can also play the blue-collar populist: "The rich want us to believe that anyone can make the quantum leap from bowling league to country club by just working a little harder. That's supposed to keep us motivated and quiet." Fans of his TV show will probably appreciate this cantankerous book. --John J. Miller
Book Description
The million-copy New York Times bestseller from the Fox News anchor who’s brought new excitement–and massive amounts of populist common sense and rock-solid honesty–to television news.
Now four seasons strong, Bill O’Reilly’s nightly cable news program, “The O’Reilly Factor,” is one of the hottest shows on the air. In book form, The O’Reilly Factor has sold over a million copies and spent fourteen weeks at the top of the New York Times bestseller list. Obviously, Bill O'Reilly has made his mark. His blunt, ironic, no-holds-barred style has earned him a devoted audience–friends and foes alike–who send him five thousand letters every week. And with the wit and intelligence that have made him one of the most talked-about stars in both television and publishing, O’Reilly continues to identify what’s right, what’s wrong, and what’s absurd in the political, social, economic, and cultural life of America.
Download Description
The million-copy New York Times bestseller from the Fox News anchor who's brought new excitement—and massive amounts of populist common sense and rock-solid honesty—to television news.
Now four seasons strong, Bill O'Reilly's nightly cable news program, "The O'Reilly Factor," is one of the hottest shows on the air. In book form, The O'Reilly Factor has sold over a million copies and spent fourteen weeks at the top of the New York Times bestseller list.
Obviously, Bill O'Reilly has made his mark. His blunt, ironic, no-holds-barred style has earned him a devoted audience—friends and foes alike—who send him five thousand letters every week. And with the wit and intelligence that have made him one of the most talked-about stars in both television and publishing, O'Reilly continues to identify what's right, what's wrong, and what's absurd in the political, social, economic, and cultural life of America.
"A lot of people love Bill O'Reilly, you see. Then again, a lot of people would like to punch Bill O'Reilly in the nose. The joke's on them, though. Bill O'Reilly, this brash New York guy with a brash show and a brash book, is becoming a huge media star."
NEW YORK OBSERVER
"He is a complicated man, at once belligerent and self-effacing, ambitious and determined to remain humble. He can be a loudmouth but also companionable. He is Everyman on a barstool, mad as hell, but with a wink."
NEWSWEEK
"This book bristles with assumptions, assessments, and attitudes that will either have you bobbing your head in agreement or shaking it in disbelief. No wonder O'Reilly's ratings are rising the way the stocks once did."
FORBES
"Personal anecdote meets political discourse in [The O'Reilly Factor] where O'Reilly is in a pure, heartfelt state. He's softhearted and enraged in equal measures. He's hard-driven and bemused by where his drive got him. He's the male sphinx as TV blabbermouth."
JAMES ELLROY, GQ
Customer Reviews:
we all love Bill Oreilly.......2007-09-20
Mr Bill if you read these notes don't forget that we love you alot and thanks for looking out for us
thanks
keep writing Bill we love you :_).......2007-09-16
My grandmother read this book out loud to me and we really enjoyed itI had a glass of warm milk and her cookies and I want her to read it again to me.I want to be just like Bill someday.This book is fun and never boring too.
Surprisely good for a conservative analysis........2007-08-07
OK, so O'Reilly would not label himself a conservative. However, most people have lumped him into that category. I am not sure that in itself is correct. O'Reilly seems intelligent and moderate in many things a conservative would not be. For example, on gay pride, he states that he has nothing against being gay, but don't show your displeasure in goofy marches. Any sex should be kept in the bedroom. This shows the common sense of Bill O'Reilly as opposed the goofy opinions of some conservative commentators. Bill O'Reilly makes intelligent summations in this book that are hard to argue against.
This is an intelligent read for the politically minded. Although, I think O'Reilly has a big ego, his opinions are wise and bear the test of time.
Someone's Opinion. Good or Bad, Treat it as Such........2007-06-04
"Bill O'reilly's personal view of many things affecting our society" pretty much sums this up. The topics range from raising a child to the media as it affects our society. Much of what he writes are his personal views and opinions.
Whether you believe them or not this book is good to read just to become familiar with someone's opinion who regularly reports on the topics written about. Whatever your opinion of him (good or bad) reading a book like this has it's merits either way. If you believe the opinions, you have another reference. If you don't believe the opinions, you have a contrasting viewpoint for your arguments.
What you should NOT do is buy this book hoping to form an opinion for yourself just from his opinions and suddenly agree or disagree what he says without checking into it.
---*** THE BOTTOM LINE ***---
This book is someone's opinion. Treat it as such.
That being said, it is worthwhile to read and would be ideal to borrow, but worth purchasing as well.
A book to share.......2007-01-19
This is a book to share. "It's o.k that you don't know...but once you DO know, you have a responsibly to share the information"
Book Description
Despite its good intentions, mismanagement and corruption plagued the UN's Oil-for-Food Program:
• More than 2,200 companies paid $1.8 billion in illegal surcharges and kickbacks to the Iraqi regime
• The UN Security Council stood by as the Iraqi regime outright smuggled about $8.4 billion of oil during the Program years in violation of UN sanctions
• The Iraqi regime steered oil contracts for political advantage by giving rights to buy oil to dozens of global political figures sympathetic to Iraq's goal to loosen or overturn the UN sanctions
• The Iraqi regime provided Benon Sevan, the UN's chief administrator of the Program, with rights to buy more than 7 million barrels of oil
• UN-related humanitarian agencies collected tens of millions of dollars for costs they never incurred, and some built factories in Iraq that weren't needed or that never worked at all
• Even UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan was tainted by it
But the whole story has never been told in one place.
Customer Reviews:
What Oil for Food Says and Does Not Say.......2007-03-18
Good Intentions Corrupted is an excellent, very readable summary of the Volcker report (much of which I read). It documents the problems with the Oil for Food Program convincingly. It is very thorough about all of the elements of the case that were reported in the press. What it doesn't say, and this is important, that the UN Secretariat -- other than one senior official -- were culpable for the mess. The role of the governments in the Security Council in setting up the program so that it could be abused is clearly set out. For those parts that the United Nations Secretariat administered, within the limits of resources, the program did what it was supposed to. A good companion reading, which looks at Oil for Food from the inside is Hans-Cristof von Sponeck's A Different Kind of War: The UN Sanctions Regime in Iraq (New York: Berghahn, 2006). Von Sponeck, a career UN official, had the unpleasant job of delivering the food that the oil was expected to buy, and like his predecessor in the position, felt that he had to resign rather that try to work under these conditions. There are many lessons from the Volcker report. There is a need for oversight by an effective audit office, which is the "gotcha" lesson. But perhaps the key lesson is to equip the international public sector with the means to implement this kind of program, rather than leaving it to the complex political decision-making of often disinterested States.
Spotlight on Corruption.......2006-09-15
Until reading this book I did not realize how much I missed the forest for the trees in the official U.N. reports of the Oil-For-Food Program. The sheer volume of information in those reports makes it almost impossible to absorb the big picture. These authors, including two of the prosecutors who unearthed the scandal, have performed a commendable public sevice by making the essential facts of the Program's failings accessible, readable and understandable.
The book tells a focused and compelling story of rampant malfeasance at every level of the U.N. and many of its member States. There are also many truly astonishing tales of individual corruption, supported by overwhelming evidence that is summarized clearly and concisely. It is obvious that the authors' detailed recommendations for U.N. reform should be implemented immediately.
This book should be translated into 50 languages and is tailor-made for a Nova documentary. I hope it happens so this important story can be brought to as many people as possible.
Fascinating and readable.......2006-09-08
At last a clear, short, well-written and captivating account of how Saddam Hussein managed to amass billions of dollars under the table during the United Nations Oil for Food Program. Though the book is based on the dreadfully dry, multi-volume report issued by Paul Volcker's investigation, it is actually a pleasure to read. This book explains, without sensationalism or political bias, how United Nations policy, international political compromises, greedy companies, nations, and individuals helped Saddam control the sale of oil and the purchase of humanitarian supplies so that he could receive kickbacks and surcharges. The story is not just one of individual or even U.N. corruption, but the story is at core about the weak will and lack of commitment of the international community to follow through when it administers economic sanctions against rebel regimes. As we face the question of how to handle nuclear proliferation and terrorism, this is a must-read, for if we do not learn from the past we are doomed to repeat it. The book is also a fascinating account of how international cooperation and a crack team of independent investigators, funded by the United Nations, managed to expose the corruption, causing several nations to institute prosecutions and jump-start their own investigations, and forcing the United Nations itself to get serious about institutional reforms. That this international investigation could be so successful shows that international cooperation is possible, and this alone gives me hope that economic sanctions regimes can be better designed and administered in the future.
Amazon.com
Rarely does a book come along that tackles a perennially difficult human issue with such clarity and intelligence. Harold Kushner, a Jewish rabbi facing his own child's fatal illness, deftly guides us through the inadequacies of the traditional answers to the problem of evil, then provides a uniquely practical and compassionate answer that has appealed to millions of readers across all religious creeds. Remarkable for its intensely relevant real-life examples and its fluid prose, this book cannot go unread by anyone who has ever been troubled by the question, "Why me?"
Book Description
As a young theology student, Harold Kushner puzzled over the Book of Job. As a small-town rabbi he counseled other people through pain and grief. But not until he learned that his three-year-old son, Aaron, would die in his early teens of a rare disease did he confront one of life's most difficult questions: Where do we find the resources to cope when tragedy strikes?
"I knew that one day I would write this book," says Rabbi Kushner. "I would write it out of my own need to put into words some of the most important things I have come to believe and know. And I would write it to help other people who might one day find themselves in a similar predicament. I am fundamentally a religious man who has been hurt by life, and I wanted to write a book that could be given to the person who has been hurt by life, and who knows in his heart that if there is justice in the world, he deserved better. . . . If you are such a person, if you want to believe in God's goodness and fairness but find it hard because of the things that have happened to you and to people you care about, and if this book helps you do that, then I will have succeeded in distilling some blessing out of Aaron's pain and tears."
Since its original publication in 1981, When Bad Things Happen to Good People has brought solace and hope to millions. In his new preface to this anniversary edition, Rabbi Kushner relates the heartwarming responses he has received over the last two decades from people who have found inspiration and comfort within these pages.
Customer Reviews:
A incorrect view of God that is devoid of hope.......2007-10-06
I write this review with sensitivity to Rabbi Kushner. He has suffered the great loss of his son. His motivation for writing this book is to distill "some blessing out of Aaron's pain and tears" and perhaps to process and come to grips with how and why God `allows' such incomprehensible and unbearable grief in this life. As Rabbi Kushner says:
"I wanted to write a book that could be given to the person who has been hurt by life--by death, by illness or injury, by rejection or disappointment--and who knows in his heart that if there is justice in the world, he deserved better. What can God mean to such a person? Where can he turn for strength and hope? If you are such a person, if you want to believe in God's goodness and fairness but find it hard because of the things that have happened to you and to people you care about, and if this book helps you do that, then I will have succeeded in distilling some blessing out of Aaron's pain and tears."
Unfortunately I'm not sure this book is helpful because his answer to "the one question which really matters: why do bad things happen to good people?" is untrue. Rabbi Kushner does not believe in scripture other than as a literary and religious work. Therefore he can't find or rely on what God himself says about this question and ends up with only his own speculations.
Rabbi Kushner's God is impotent: concerned by the tragedies of our lives but unable to do anything about it. His belief system started by seeing God as "an all-wise, all-powerful parent figure who would treat us as our earthy parents did, or even better. If we were obedient and deserving, He would reward us. If we got out of line, He would discipline us, reluctantly but firmly. He would protect us from being hurt or from hurting ourselves, and would see to it that we got what we deserved in life." Suffering taught Rabbi Kushner that such an unbiblical world-view was wrong; however his impotent God world view is no less incorrect.
The major contribution of this book is to remind us that people are God's solution to much of this suffering. This is a wonderful corrective to the idea that God should work exclusively by mystical and miraculous methods.
Rabbi Kushner's "only question that matters" can't be answered, not by any secular or religious system. The biblical writers wrestled with the question but didn't offer any neat "fixes" either. The sufferings of Job, for example, were never answered with a reason but only by the character of God himself. I hope that people can find comfort in this book, that Rabbi Kushner's goal has been accomplished. I fear, however, that bad theology (that is lies and misrepresentations about God) only leads to further grief and suffering. What hope or comfort is there in a god that can do nothing in our lives? If a god created this mess and then can't fix it where do we find help?
Far better reading can be found in books by Philip Yancey, C. S. Lewis, and Dallas Willard. Scott Peck's book "A Road Less Traveled" is also helpful, not as an answer but as a guidebook. I also strongly recommend the book "Sacred Romance" by Brent Curtis and John Eldredge.
Emotionally satisfying, but..........2007-10-01
This book claims not to be about theology, but actually that is what it is about from the first word to the last. And Kushner tackles an ancient and difficult theological issue: if God is good and His creation wholly good, why is there evil in the world? Kushner never really answers this question (probably because there is no satisfactory answer to the question as it is stated). And he has the courage to say that he does not really know. In fact, the book is loaded with courageously unanswered questions. This makes the work extremely satisfying on an emotional level. But on an intellectual level, it can leave the reader deeply unsatisfied. Kushner accepts that the world is chaotic; that good people will inevitably have bad things happen to them. He exonerates God by saying God did not create this chaos. In doing so, Kushner wishes to exonerate the God of Judaism from such sins as, among others, the death of innocent children. But by letting God off, he distances the deity from the world. He creates dual realms: one for God and one for us. Kushner's God is not the God of mysticism or pantheism (and some have said, not Judaism). For all its considerable emotional strengths, it seems that Kusnher in this work wants the best of both worlds: he wants to wed the chaotic universe of the atheist, and the good God of the Bible. In the end, it's a troubled marriage.
A great book........2007-10-01
Main reason for purchasing this book was Christopher Barrios death on March 8. He was a six year old Little Angel that became an angel on that date.
His death affected me to no end. It affected my eating and sleeping habits. This book helped me to see things in perspective.
I would recommend this book to anyone trying to cope with the loss of a dear one.
The Only Explanation That Made Sense.............2007-08-20
My mother died of cancer 3 weeks ago (she was only 59) and it made me MAD as hell at God for not saving her. For a while I denied the existence of any diety. A friend recommended this book. I learned I had to change my views about the nature of God.
The traditional "pray to God, he is all powerful, and he will fix everything" belief I was taught as a child no longer applied once my mother got sick and died. Why didn't God answer my prayers? Did he want my mother to suffer, become riddled with tumors, and then die at a young age? Why didn't he help us? Harold Kushner had a similar experience (his son died at age 13) and came to the conclusion that (in a nutshell)God does not heal the sick, stop tornadoes, cure AIDS and Cancer etc. because he can't. He is not all powerful.
I never EVER would have come to this conclusion by myself because it goes against EVERYTHING I was taught as a Christian. If my mother had not died there is NO WAY I would believe God was NOT all powerful. But, in doing some soul searching, that is the only explanation that makes any sense to me. For God to make my mom sick to teach my family a lesson, for a greater good, because she was a bad person, because we did not pray enough, because it was in his divine plan etc. makes no sense to me. All of these explanations offered by my church, my friends, Priests, and fellow believers led me to one conclusion: God did not help me in my time of need and therefore, God was either evil and enjoyed watching us suffer OR there was no God. Now I believe that neither of these conclusions are true. God is simply not omnipotent.
There is no doubt that accepting that God is NOT omnipotent opens up an entirely new can of worms. I had to rethink everything I knew about God and religion. I no longer look to the Bible or to any religious text for answers. I always had my doubts about the Bible. It was written by Men, Gospels were omitted and hidden away etc. It was not written by God himself/herself. Furthermore, each religion has a "Bible" or book of laws, worship, beliefs etc. How is there any way to know which is the correct set of beliefs? In a sense, due to my skepticism about Christianity/Judaism and the Bible's authenticity, it was easier for me to accept that my view of God as an omnipotent diety was flawed. REading this book made alarm bells go off in my head - AHA! Someone else feels exactly how I feel! Someone else, a religious leader, looked around and said "What the hell is going on here?!"
I may not agree with ALL of Kushner's statements (Kushner still believes in the Bible as a holy text, and the word of God, whereas I do not) but I do believe he is onto something. I now believe is that there is a higher power, and that higher power is good. I now look to God for strength - to help me through the tough times. I do not look to him to intervene in my life because I know that, as much as he would like to, he cannot.
Thought Provoking Read. .......2007-07-26
Rabbi Kushner's writing style and brilliant ability to show contrast with real life situations creates an eagerness to read on and an insatiable need to learn more.
From the tone of this book it leads you to assume that Rabbi Kushner is just a lovable human being, rich in modesty and humility.
This is a very short book which will be of value for both religious and non religious people. Whether religious or not, Rabbi Kushner's book has the ability to put a new prayer or creed in your heart, and will also enlighten you to not lose sight of the meaning of life in your life.
People need not wait for some tragedy to come along to pick up this book. Personally, I am not currently dealing with a loss; however, after completing this book I feel more prepared to take on the burden of coping with any unfortunate occurrences, which the future may hold. I bought this book to enable me to pass on comforting words to people close to me which were going through some tough times in their life.
The majority of the readers of this book has mis-interpreted this book primarily from the misquoting of the title of the book. If you get the title wrong then this book will not serve its proper purpose to you.
If you seek a bridge to the New Testament read Melvin Tinker's "Why Do Bad Things Happen To Good People". In Tinker's "Why Do Bad Things Happen To Good People" you will find a more expanded interpretation of the Book of Job and other important passages in the New Testament that delivers what Kushner could not due to his commitment and belief in the Jewish faith. In my judgment, the two merged will give you a wider scope of learning.
Book Description
In this thoroughly researched study of the poorest of the poor in India, we get to see how they manage, what sustains them, and the efforts, often ludicrous, to do something for them. The people who figure in this book tipify the lives and aspirations of a large section of the Indian society, and their stories present us with the true face of development. This is a reprint from 2002.
Customer Reviews:
10 years of living in rural villages in India as a reporter, uncovering a tragedy.......2006-10-21
Mr. Sainath captures the plight, hopes, and loss in rural villages in India. Farmers are committing suicide at an unprecedented rate. People are trying to adjust but hope is lost. As I regularly network with friends in the Telangana, I can honestly say that farmer suicide is a huge issue and a tragedy. Yet we still seem to move resources to the wealthy rather than address the serious issues in rural areas of the world. Even in the US, if we fully understood the tragedy of the destruction of the family farm, we would learn that here too loss leads to suicide. Despair and loss of hope is a horrible thing.
Read this compelling study into a problem happening all over the world. If you get a chance to hear Mr. Sainath speak, make sure you do not miss it. He is fantastic. One of the great investigative reporters in Indian.
Insightful and Sobering........2005-04-12
With the recent hype of globalization and the changes transpiring in India, the myth that poverty has been eradicated, or is at least receding in India has pervaded the media. P Sainath takes this illusion head on and dispels it in this compelling account of the realities of rural poverty in India. Gritty, no-nonsense, Sainath avoids sensationalism and sticks to the facts through well-researched accounts of the living conditions of what is, in truth, a majority of Indians. Over 600 million people still live below the poverty line in India(depending on what source one uses for defining poverty) and Sainath, through years of work in the field, details their plight. He brings to light that hunger is but a single element of poverty--one might meet the minimum caloric intake to be considered "above the poverty line", while in truth living in a state of real poverty. Having had the opportunity to hear him speak live, I can say with the confidence that the book conveys his firebrand approach to the issues; with passion and verve he relates his tales of woe with critical insight and uncompromising integrity.
If this book has a weakness, it is in its repetition of account upon account of despair without offering potential solutions to alleviate the crisis. A great companion book to this excellent work would be Abraham George's "India Untouched: The Forgotten Face of Rural Poverty", which examines the crisis of poverty and offers realistic and pratical solutions that have been implemented.
Things really that bad on the Subcontinent?.......2001-07-17
Anyone who has been to India can be a real pooper at any party by just telling a few road-tales from the subcontinent. But even the most hardcore traveller should marvel at what Indian journalist P. Sainath reveals. Palm Tree-climbers, bicycle-wallahs, well just about anyone outside the outlawed (!)caste-system living on 20 rupees a day could testify, could they only read. Just one thing, the teachers' associations are being favoured by Indian politicians because the profession has a monopoly on counting the ballots in elections. Hence they are a privileged group not to be messed with. Are things really that bad in India? Goittagertbackktacheckiteout!!
Outstanding.......2000-03-14
Sainath's book provides vignettes of soul-destroying poverty and degradation in the poorest states in India. It is an attempt to correct the `event' approach which the majority of the media takes to India's ills, which tends to view India's problems simplistically as singular aberrations, rather than taking a broader `process' approach, which looks to less immediate causes. His writing is angry and passionate, but always clear.
What certainly comes through in Sainath's book is the incredible arrogance of much of the Indian administration. Save a few isolated cases, the examples of the arrogant official class are myriad - the official insistence that they know better than the very natives who had lived in an area for years; the mass sterilisation of perfectly good cattle, already adapted to the environment, in order to make way for a so-called "super cattle", which turns out to be useless; or the mass uprooting of millions of people to make way for useless dams, now brought to the attention of the West through the thankless activism of Arundhati Roy (the author of the God of Small Things). A consistent theme running through Sainath's reporting is a lack of honest and sincere consultation with the very people the `reforms' are supposed to help.
There are hopeful stories too - like the story of women's collectives. Sainath tells of how groups of women have gotten together and formed organised labour, and which do a better, more efficient work than the more `sophisticated' industries and companies. Indeed, industries come across as monopolies only interested in maintaining their corner of the market, and more than willing to resort to nasty tricks in order to maintain their dominance (for instance, creating rival groups to undermine the administration's trust in such organised groups, social ostracism, even physical abuse). Corrupt officials don't help these collectives' chances either - since the collectives' cheaper and more efficient labour threaten the kickbacks the officials get from the industries.
The Indian middle class are also chastised by Sainath. Like their Western counterparts, they require a diet of horror stories to grab their attention. Hence, stories are often reported as ahistorical events, rather than dealing honestly with the process which led to the `event' in question. More than this, the middle classes have become so numbed to the poverty of the majority, that they require exceptional suffering to warrant their time - thus, there are reports of `epidemics' and `droughts' which are often exaggerations or mistruths.
After a while, I felt myself becoming numbed by the stories. There were simply too many tales of woe. This isn't really a complaint about Sainath's reporting, but maybe more of a plea for longer, more detailed stories from him. But this is the nature of his book, which is essentially a compilation of newspaper articles. Although Sainath makes a plea in his book for a view of Indian poverty as process rather than event, sometimes I felt his stories were too short to support the process approach he himself advocates. Still, this should not stop any reader interested in India from reading this book. It is a shocking indictment of the India that should have been.
A standard criticism of works like Sainath's would be that it is merely critical, and doesn't provide any answers. How can one learn from the mistakes of one's predecessors? The impression I got from Sainath was that the best that could be done is more consultation, more historical awareness, more backup studies, more studies of the actual effects of the reform process itself on the environment and the people actually involved, and so on. It's not a particularly innovative conclusion, but it's probably realistic.
Sainath's book opens a window onto the real India........1999-08-16
This timely and important book is a must-read for anyone interested in understanding the India that does not make it onto the covers of coffee table books and glossy magazines. Sainath spent years in the poorest districts in India, attempting to understand how people with absolutely nothing by way of resources manage to eke out a living--one story is about men who transport over 900 pounds of coals on their bicycles, walking marathon-length distances every day, to earn the princely sum of 10 Indian Rupees (25 cents) per day.
Sainath is the most irreverent and committed journalist in India today. His stories, written for the Times of India, are full of pathos, but also of optimism--optimism born of his discovery that the poor in India are organizing to fight for their rights, have maintained a sense of dignity, and continue to live their lives against the most difficult odds.
The stories of government mismanagement of funds earmarked for rural uplift are perhaps not surprising, but for many, the stories of the venality of corporations and the tales of institutions like the Army running roughshod over the rights of hundreds of millions of India might just open eyes that were glued shut to the injustices prevalent in the Indian social matrix. The stories of India's 80 million tribal and indigenous people, Adivasis, are heart wrenching and fantastic--such stories cannot be found in mainstream publications.
Sainath has done an enormous and important task here: I recommend this book to everyone.
Book Description
In this brilliant look at the rise of political Islam, the distinguished political scientist and anthropologist Mahmood Mamdani brings his expertise and insight to bear on a question many Americans have been asking since 9/11: how did this happen? Good Muslim, Bad Muslim is a provocative and important book that will profoundly change our understanding both of Islamist politics and the way America is perceived in the world today.
Customer Reviews:
Essential knowledge on Islamism .......2007-01-10
Whoever wants to talk about Islam, its political and religeous implication on modern world should read this book
The reader learns much about the origins of terrorism, which often has been orchestrated and initiated by
US-Politics and by powerfull US-organizations. I have bought this at amazon.com in it's original english-language version as well at amazon.de in a very satisfying german translation. The german paperback-edition is even much "worthier". This important book should be translated in other languages, also in arabic and hebrew.
A sound bite to counter a sound bite?.......2006-12-09
This is a tough book to review--while it does have some valid points to make, it descends all too often into polemics. And even polemics aside, the book has problems at times. Some problems that caught my attention were:
1) While Mamdani criticizes several writers for characterizing Muslims into the "good" and "bad" camps, he can equally be accused of not recognizing the differences in foreign policies between the Nixon, Reagan, Clinton and Bush administrations.
2) Mamdani takes stance that religion, politics and culture must be viewed separately and are not linked. While I would not disagree that politics can be separated from religion and culture, I have a hard time understanding his stance on separating religion and culture--the way many of us learned anthropology, religion is considered part and parcel culture. (But then again, Mamdani avoids defining culture and what constitutes it.)
3) The historical context of America's proxy wars is told in a very one sided fashion. Missing is the activities of the Soviets, and to a lesser extent the Chinese, in a variety of Third World countries. Furthermore, in terms of the rise of political Islam, terrorism and the modern concept of jihad, his account differs from Kempel's Jihad.
4) The section on the rise of al-Qaeda and the Taliban has a heavy reliance on newspaper articles from the Los Angeles Times and Rashid's book on the Taliban. Missing from his story is Burke's book on al-Qaeda (or his articles from the Guardian), and use of other American, and British or French newspaper sources.
5) The presence of endnotes gives the book a scholarly air, but the reader needs to realize there is a lot missing on a variety of topics. Not only are works like Burke's and Kempel's missing, Mamdani has the tendency to make statements, assuming that they are facts as such and not opinions, need to be referenced and footnoted. One example is on page 92 dealing with how long the South African government could have supported Renamo without US support.
6) Mamdani contradicts himself at times. Probably the best example of this is his critique of co-existence/tolerance on page 173, and his call for it in the closing pages of the book.
While this book does make for compelling reading on America's proxy wars and America's selective use of terrorist groups against its opponents, it is far from a scholarly account. Mamdani's book ends up reading like a set of cobbled together sound bites that are trying to counter a sound bite. A much more nuanced and better referenced book on the topic is Richard Bonney's _Jihad: From Qur'an to bin Laden_.
Misleading Title.......2006-12-05
Labeled Good Muslim Bad Muslim and with an introductory chapter concerning the misconception between fundamental and political Islam in Western discourse, I ASSUMED this book would have something to do with that. Unfortunately, it dissembled as a genealogical history of modern Islamic terrorism which, undeniably, in Mamdani's case, has purely Western, and specifically, American and Israeli roots. In reality this book is nothing more than a indictment of American history, Israeli history, Spanish history, British history, Dutch history, French history, but never Afghani history, Nicaraguan history, Sudanese history. Nothing but diatribe, although, and why I give it three stars - it is incredibly well-written, engaging, beautifully cited, authenticated, and accurate (you know, on that scholarly level which though causes it to be a compact thesis and self-sustaining, doesn't really cover the whole truth).
student,
amherst college
Excellent Writing Deep Thinking Enjoyable Reading.......2006-11-05
Here is a book that will show you what is important about scholarship: not facts, but how they are interpreted and put in the right context. In explaining the roots of "modern" terrorism, Mamdani's main thesis is an anti-thesis to Huntington "Clash of Civilization" which has dominated Western and especially American scholarship. He develops this by using almost exclusively, secondary sources. The book goes above the journalistic approach of most writers who are influenced by the superficial and ideological (good versus evil) analysis of most in the media.
Throughout the book, Mamdani explains (as he has done it elsewhere as in When Victims Become Killers for example) that students of conflicts must learn how to put an emphasis on "political identities" and move away from the almost non-important cultural side of identities. This is important in understand conflicts and other political processes such as terrorism, but as in When Victims Become Killers, Mamdani fails to connect the political dimension of identity politics discourse to its underlying economic dimension. In essence, he overpoliticizes the events he discusses at the risk of forgetting economics and the global economic context in which those events occur. (May God protect us from the fear of being blanded "Marxists"?) For this failure, which is also prevalent in his When Victims Become Killers, I lower my score. But for his success in refuting the anti/a-historical culture and civilization-centered arguments in the discussion of terrorism and for his global perspective in his analysis, I am forgiving and give him a 4. Perhaps I should be a little more generous when I think about the book's scope. But at the same time, I am attempting to cure what I have come to identify as chronic absence in his analysis: economic analysis! The book could have been more important had Mamdani discussed deeper the dangers (or advantages if any) of political Islam. But to this he may answer that it wasn't his point. And I would agree with him because political Islam has been disscussed extensively (under different names) elsewhere.
What an interdisciplinary son Africa has given to the world!His books should be required reading for all students interested in a global perspective of global conflicts. The so-called "Third World" students of "international" politics will find his intellectual ability very inspiring. He shows how American education (Mamdani is a Harvard educated scholar from those early times when American education was serious, but seriously ideological, too--but is it different today?) can be good to Africans, Asians and other "developing" area students.
I recommend two more books from him, namely, Citizen and Subject and When Victims Become Killers (The first few chapters will be enough if you're not interested in learning about Mamdani's interpretation of the Rwandan history and genocide. It goes without saying that the later is perhaps the most important explanatory work you'll ever read on the Rwandan genocide despite its errors in facts!) for those who want to know where he comes from.
Of course the book and (sadly) the author have been and will continue to be attacked by those who are not ready to move way from the non-sense idea or ideology of "American Exceptionalism" and "The City Upon a Hill" slogans. Perhaps a reading from John Dinges' The Condor Years and Stephen Kinzer's Overthrow will help refute those who are not yet convinced about the ideology behind the so-called goodness of America. Every good American patriot should learn that America cannot be helped by self-denial, self-congratulatory and crooked histories.
Every student who attempts to understand violent human events has always been attacked. It is as if we, human beings, prefer to keep those events obscure and classified among the "irrational" actions that are "demonic" in nature. However, without an attempt to understand what such violent events mean in the history of humanity, humans are headed towards distinction. Let Mamdani's work be critiqued and criticized, but let's refrain from using "uncivilized" attack toward this intellectual.
I highly recommend this book. It will revolutionize the way you study and more importantly the way you watch the news.
Yours trully from the Greatest City in America,
Student Forever
Good for stimulating intelligent debate but a little too biased for my taste.......2006-06-14
First I must say this book is very well written and easy to read.
The stated purpose of the author is to stimulate a deeper and more intelligent debate on how to tackle the problem of terrorism. To solve a problem, one needs to first understand it. The author explains why common presumptions often based on ignorance and racism should be dismissed since they are too simplistic and too inaccurate to provide a real understanding of the complex problem of radical political extremism. His thorough discussion of the various political and religious movements in the middle east (and in the US) helped me understand the various philosophies and alliances that have influenced politics in the middle east in the last few decades.
In the second half of the book, Mamdani spends much time on the emergence of the jihadist movement in Afghanistan. He shows how an ideology that had gathered only marginal support since the 60's became so influencial as a result of the Russian invasion, and the involvement of Pakistan and the US. This section was very well written and very informative.
Up to this point, I found the content of the book to be extremely enlightening and it indeed fulfilled its goal of stimulating a more intelligent debate on terrorism.
When it came to discussing the post-9/11 period (namely, the US invasion of Iraq and Israel's policy in the occupied territories), I found more bias and partisan views than I found scholarly analysis. This disappointed me, it gave me the impression that the author finished the book in a hurry and just spoke with his heart instead of his mind... Instead of promoting rational debate, this section was more similar to the ridiculous partisan and self-interested debates we hear from our politicians!
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Good Government and Law: Legal and Institutional Reform in Developing Countries
Manufacturer: Palgrave Macmillan
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Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 0333669967 |
Book Description
Elaborating on the concepts first introduced in Global Public Goods, this book addresses the long overdue issue of how to adjust the concept of public goods to today's economic and political realities. The production of global public goods requires the orchestration of initiatives by a large number of diverse actors across different levels and sectors. It may require the collaboration of governments, business and civil society, and in most cases it almost certainly calls for an effective linkage of the local, national, regional, and global levels. In light of today's new realities, this book examines a series of managerial and political challenges that pertain to the design and implementation of production strategies and the monitoring and evaluation of global public goods provision.As participatory decision-making enhances the political support for - and thus the effectiveness of - certain policy decisions, this volume offers suggestions on a number of pragmatic policy reforms for bringing the global public more into public policy making on global issues. Nine case studies examine the importance of the global public good concept from the viewpoint of developing countries, exploring how and where the concerns of the poor and the rich overlap.Providing Global Public Goods offers important and timely suggestions on how to move in a more feasible and systematic way towards a fairer process of globalization that works in the interests of all.
Customer Reviews:
Great analysis on ways to go about providing Public Goods .......2005-02-05
I think that this book closes the knowledge gap surrounding this topic. It is one thing to theorize about the benefits or negative impacts of global public goods (or bads) and another to suggest ways to go about dealing with GPG. This book is extremely enlightening and presents realistic solutions!
Perfect Follow-up.......2004-06-02
Global Public Goods and Multilateralism must intertwine in order for progress and provision to come about. This is an idea that is so often neglected and forgotten. This book places an importance role that nations must carry out...it also provides recommendations for issues that arise in the midst of GPG provision. This book does not negate the global issues that exist within and surrounding the international realm...yet the book does a fabulous job on highlighting the importance of addressing these issues as a means of furthering the progress of Global Public Goods.
Thought Provoking.......2004-06-02
This books is an excellent follow-up of the Global Public Goods: International Cooperation in the 21st Century. It helped me visual and understand the provisionary measures needed to bring about GPGs.
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Triumph of Good Will: How Terry Sanford Beat a Champion of Segregation in and Reshaped the South
John Drescher
Manufacturer: University Press of Mississippi
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Terry Sanford: Politics, Progress, and Outrageous Ambitions
ASIN: 1578063108 |
Customer Reviews:
An Outstanding Book.......2000-11-29
Triumph of Goodwill is essential reading for anyone wanting to understand the pivotal 1960 gubernatorial race in North Carolina and the ramifications of that election throughout the South and the rest of the nation. Told in great detail, here is the story of how racial moderate Terry Sanford won the Democratic nomination for governor against a patron of segregation Beverly Lake. The book also details Sanford's controversial decision to become the first Southern politician to endores John Kennedy for the presidency, a decison that was filled with potential peril for Sanford, but one that paid off handsomely for the eventual governor of North Carolina. Mixed into this work are behind the scenes stories of the 1960 campaign in North Carolina that give the reader a peek into how elections used to be conducted and also the beginnings of how they have become to be run in our present day. TV played a large part in the national election in 1960, but television also played an important role in the North Carolina governor's race that year, including what is thought to be the first-time live television broadcast of a candidate's political rallys. Triumph of Good Will is an excellent work, highly readable and highly recommended!
Average customer rating:
- The agony of a humanist
- Bracing clarity
- An essential to the library called your mind
- "In the service of truth and the service of freedom."
- A good book.....
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Resistance, Rebellion, and Death: Essays
Albert Camus
Manufacturer: Vintage
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The Plague
ASIN: 0679764011
Release Date: 1995-08-29 |
Customer Reviews:
The agony of a humanist.......2005-07-07
This collection of essays is the most brilliant one of Camus' diverse smaller non-fiction writings. The bulk of this book concerns his journalistic writings on the Algerian Revolution, Soviet Union etc. Through these essays, you understand the pain of Camus. Camus' ethics doesn't agree to mindless violence for the sake of power. He makes an impassioned plea for tolerance and humanitarian solutions to the problems of war and peace.
Camus is not necessarily logical or politically correct. His stand on the issue of independence of Algeria is a compromised position between French imperialism and Algerian aspirations for freedom during that period. However, in his passion for diagnozing the problems of his time and addressing them, he hits upon a lot of interesting insights and arguments.
Particularly brilliant for both its analysis and its conclusion is Camus' landmark long essay 'Reflections on the Guillotine' which occupies a fair part of the book. In this essay, Camus systematically demolishes all legal or quasi-moral justifications for capital punishment and answers the third aspect of the question - Whether human life is worth taking?
In his 'The Myth of Sisyphus', he had argued against self-murder. In 'The Rebel', he argued against murder and genocide. In this essay, he argues against legalized murder. But unlike his earlier works where he offered weak arguments after a brilliant analysis, here he hits the mark by demolishing the justifications for capital punishment, totally. This particular essay deserves to be considered a classic in the philosophy of law and justice.
Bracing clarity.......2004-12-03
I cannot recommend this book highly enough. It has provided me with the strongest, most clear-headed confidence in the face of unrelenting hypocrisy and struggle. Camus was on the side of the angels for all of the conflicts of his time, a time that saw the darkest face of humanity. His arguments for compassion and justice are utterly transfixing and revelatory, and written with a clarity and insight that are simply breath-taking.
I challenge anyone that supports the death penalty to read "Reflections on the Guillotine" and walk away with their arguments intact. In this piece Camus utterly demolishes every argument for state-sanctioned murder while defending the right to live with dignity, a right that can easily encompass the self-defense by combat necessitated by circumstance.
Camus was a moral, intellectual, and physical hero, and reading these essays one is almost overcome by his sense of humilty, justice, and compassion. His writing is so crystalline, it's almost jolting. This is a powerful tonic for all those that despair of creating a place for the best qualities of the human race in times of utter darkness. A must-read.
An essential to the library called your mind.......2003-02-01
For nearly 30 years I have carried this book with me virtually everywhere. No, it's not "an easy read" - but it is worth buying (owning)and treasuring - if only for the FOURTH LETTER (to a German Friend)- it is the most moving argument/declaration for humanity and choosing it that I have ever seen anywhere.
Some (like Sartre?) might call it a "rationalization". But even those who have resigned themselves to the religions of cynicism and despair - could find a remnant of fight and even "goodness" (yikes!) inside themselves. Camus' words remind us that resignation and the inevitable indifference and inhumanity that follow are the ultimate betrayals of life.
While there is nothing "cheerful" or even optimistic about these writings - you'd have to be cold-blooded, heartless and completely beyond repair or redemption not to be inspired by the wistful aspirations that Camus exudes from his admittedly battered heart and soul.
I disagree with the reviewer (who did praise this precious book) Sartre is smart - but so is Camus - and Camus exudes the humanity that Sartre can't even see or imagine.
Sartre would tell us that we always have the freedom to at least rattle our chains (at least theoretically) - but Camus has the power to inspire us to want to.
"In the service of truth and the service of freedom.".......2001-04-05
"I step onto the podium only when forced to by the pressure of circumstances and by my conception of my function as a writer." (p. 132) From the circumstances of Fascist Spain and Nazi occupied France, to the circumstances of the Hungarian and Algerian struggles for freedom, Camus' essays demand involvement, require action in the face of hopelessness. He never offers a moment's peace for couch-potato complacency. "Freedom is not made up principally of privileges; it is made up especially of duties." (p. 96)
To read these essays is to step into the world of a man who said to Christians "I share with you the same revulsion from evil. But I do not share your hope, and I continue to struggle against this universe in which children suffer and die." (p. 71) And "Perhaps we cannot prevent this world from being a world in which children are tortured. But we can reduce the number of tortured children." (p. 73)
Camus is recalled to the podium, in a day when children are tortured and die in Chiapas while most turn a blind eye and complain that sitcoms just aren't what they used to be. These essays, possibly his most accessible work, demand an active response from the modern reader. Our struggle today, although not against Nazi minions, still must echo his "There are means that cannot be excused. I should like to be able to love my country and still love justice." (p. 5) [See Jamal's Live from Death Row and Peltier's Prison Writings, elsewhere on Amazon.]
Camus is outspoken about capital punishment, too. "It is obviously no less repulsive than the crime, and this new murder, far from making amends for the harm done to the social body, adds a new blot to the first one." (p. 176) His "Reflections on the Guillotine" is the longest essay in book. He views capital punishment, even in "free" societies, as an act of totalitarianism.
Camus proclaims the call to justice and the struggle for freedom found in the Old Testament, especially in the minor prophets. But he does so in a modern context, where God is silent and man is the maker of his own destiny. Although he sees no messianic age, he proclims the hope that by continuous effort evil can be diminished and freedom and justice may become more prevalent.
Five stars for courage, five stars for clarity, five stars for consistency. After the abortion of democracy on December 9, 2000, every freedom and justice seeking American needs to read this book.
(If you would like to respond to this review, click on the "about me" link above & send me email. Thanks!)
A good book............2000-08-22
Camus' essays are obviously more difficult to read than hisstories, and quite possibly more difficult to read than his philosophical investigations as well. Should they be read? Of course. In them, he speaks of similar topics (i.e. what to do in the face of absurditiy, human moral dilemmas, etc.) as he does in the other books, though in a more precise, more direct fashion. His views on the death penalty shaped my own almost completely.
What you get in this book are coherent arguments by a coherent, nuainced thinker. Is Sartre smarter than Camus? Camus knew enough to fear most -isms and -ologies where Sartre did not... (not that I recommend ignoring Sartre either! )
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