Book Description
Using unconventional examples from his own life, Shane Claiborne stirs up questions about the church and the world, and challenges readers to truly live out their Christian faith.
Customer Reviews:
Hard Encouragement.......2007-09-28
The message is radical, but very much in keeping with how Jesus taught us to live. As I read this I felt encouraged by the stories of how everyday people are following in the ways everlasting.
Spectacular.......2007-09-24
This book is life changing. Read it if you deeply desire a new way of life and are tired of seeing dilution of the church and it's foundation take place.
Irresistible.......2007-09-03
This book knocked me on my but. I don't agree with everything Shane says, but this book is an eye opener. Just when I thought I had it all together, this young man challenges the way I live my faith. The book is not for wimps.
I thought I was the only one who thought this way.......2007-08-29
I'm glad to know that I'm not.
This book points out a lot of biblical truths that we seem to have forgotten or blatantly ignored. I would definitely recommend this book to everyone. There were some minor things that I disagreed with, and many things that I'm still mulling over. But the issues he brought up need to be thought and prayed over. Too many people don't consider them deeply enough. Even if you don't agree with some of his conclusions, if it makes you truly and deeply think about the issues, it's worth it.
It's also a very easy read. His writing style is funny and serious at the same time. I enjoyed his humor and straightforwardness very much.
Awesome Read if you minus the Anti War Jargon.......2007-08-23
What a great book that challenges us to TRULY live like Jesus. Let's all stop talking about how Jesus lived and actually start DOING it. My husband has started a non profit organization and we are going to be movinng to live on the POOR side of town so we can be a part of their lives and hopefully offer them some help and hope. WE NEED MORE CHRISTIANS LIKE THIS who have SACRAFICIAL LOVE for the people around them. We have entirely too many rich people in this country for us to still have homeless people here. The whole redistribution thing is great, but it has to be something that is organic and not forced.
I didn't care for all the anti-war jargon in the book, but I do like the idea of peace. There were wars in the Bible and God actually commanded some of them so I find it hard to believe that God is against ALL war.
Overall, I would recommend this book for it's challenging look at how the Gospel is supposed to be "lived out". Let's stop spending millions on megachurches and start using that money to help out the needy.
Book Description
On Wall Street, in the culture of high tech, in American government: Libertarianism-the simple but radical idea that the only purpose of government is to protect its citizens and their property against direct violence and threat-has become an extremely influential strain of thought. But while many books talk about libertarian ideas, none until now has explored the history of this uniquely American movement-where and who it came from, how it evolved, and what impact it has had on our country.
In this revelatory book, based on original research and interviews with more than 100 key sources, Brian Doherty traces the evolution of the movement through the unconventional life stories of its most influential leaders-Ludwig von Mises, F.A. Hayek, Ayn Rand, Murray Rothbard, and Milton Friedman-and through the personal battles, character flaws, love affairs, and historical events that altered its course. And by doing so, he provides a fascinating new perspective on American history-from the New Deal through the culture wars of the 1960s to today's most divisive political issues. Neither an exposi nor a political polemic, this entertaining historical narrative will enlighten anyone interested in American politics.
Customer Reviews:
Thorough History Of The Libertarian Movement.......2007-07-18
I am not a libertarian. But I do support their stance on certain issues such as being pro-immigration, against military imperialism and for civil liberties, including the legalization of prostitution and drugs. This book is a very thorough and well researched history of the movement. But, at over 600 pages, it is not really for those seeking a brief introduction.
Doherty begins the movement's history with the Austrian economist Ludwig von Mises and proceeds, more or less, chronologically describing key libertarian figures such as F.A. Hayek, Rose Wilder Lane, Ayn Rand, Murray Rothbard and Milton Friedman. Doherty is a senior editor at Reason magazine and thus obviously a libertarian himself. But I found his overall approach to be balanced and he certainly wasn't afraid to describe the personal faults of important libertarian figures. For instance, Ayn Rand comes across as an insufferable egomaniac who turned her Objectivist philosophy movement into something resembling a religious cult (based on the worship of her) before eventually driving away nearly everyone associated with her. On the other hand, I found Murray Rothbard to be a more likable character, at least during his Circle Bastiat days.
Rothbard is also the person who was most involved in bringing libertarian ideas to the radicals of the 1960's. As someone who came of age in the counter-culture, I have always recognized that there was a link between the bohemian's and the libertarian's emphasis on individual freedom. However, the truth is that most politically minded counter-cultural types tend to lean towards a sort of leftist communal anarchism and would probably identify as "radicals against capitalism" instead of "radicals for capitalism". Still I do see some similarties there and will be interested to read another of Doherty's books - "This Is Burning Man: The Rise Of A New American Underground".
In any case, I agree with the previous reviewer that every significant political philosophy deserves it's own written history and this one is very well written, detailed and worthy of being read.
Uninspiring history.......2007-07-17
This is a beefy book that needs a strong dose of willpower to finish. It reads more like a brain dump than something that's had some thought devoted to its structure (hence presumably requiring the "freewheeling" qualifier in the title), or some editorial pruning to its frequent repetition. It is useful, though, as a single source to look up the names that crop up in any discussion with _American_ libertarians (libertarians/anarchists in the rest of the world are dogmatically anti-capitalist).
The book confirms that the American libertarian philosophy is the economic-determinist twin of the Marxist one, with the premise that a simple economic formula will free everyone. For the libertarians, its "private property and free markets"; for the Marxist, it is "state-owned production and central planning". With the libertarians, you just hand over your freedom to the property owner. That is, if you can even afford to participate in their free market.
One logical corollary of the formula shows up in the book in the person of Andrew Galambos, the guru of Harry Browne, twice Presidential candidate of the American Libertarian Party. Galambos taught courses on capitalism, but attendees could not talk to anyone about the content, since the ideas were owned by Galambos. (However, there are apparently a few American libertarians who oppose intellectual property.)
A really good analysis of the absurdities underlying what passes for the political philosophy underlying "libertarianism" and "anarcho-capitalism", even assuming their central proposition of the State being an inherently evil institution, is a document available on the web called "An Anarchist FAQ", written by left-libertarians and anarchists, who are obviously sceptical of any government. Since this book is a history, there understandably aren't any pages devoted to a _decent_ defence of the ideology from its critics.
As the other reviews describe, the central flow of the narrative is woven around Mises, Hayek, Rand, Friedman and Rothbard, with the other libertarians and institutions discussed in major digressions. Of all the people mentioned in this hagiography, one person who stood out was Robert Anton Wilson, a recently deceased libertarian science fiction author, who seemed to have a genuine interest in seeing the whether the professed aims of libertarianism would help those who needed it the most.
The material on Austrian economics is interesting, since it's perhaps not well known that it's quite sceptical of the ideas underlying the dominant neo-classical school, which seems to the uninitiated to be all about market-driven solutions. There is some discussion of Hayek's screed against central planning, but too little about how it applies to the central planning that takes place inside any corporation. It was striking that Mises, the founding Austrian economist, rejected, _on principle_, any empirical verification of Austrian theory against real-world data. Quite a "rational " position, that, perhaps explaining why Austrian economics was not (and perhaps still is not) taken seriously.
An Excellent and Fun History.......2007-06-29
This book is the first comprehensive history of the American libertarian movement, from its roots in the American Revolution, to Ron Paul, Cato and beyond. Along the way, the author looks at 19th Century philosophers whose anarchism was based in a strong belief in individual liberty to the nadir of American individual in the crisis of the Great Depression and the patriotic collectivism of World War Two. In 1943, it seemed that individualism was dead, so much so that the last "classic" individual anarchist, Albert Jay Nock, entitled his autobiography "The Memoirs of a Superfluous Man."
It is at that point that the story really picks up. For also in 1943, three remarkable women, Isabel Paterson, Rose Wilder Lane and Ayn Rand each published works that would rally believers in individual liberty. The following year, Frederick Hayek would publish "The Road to Serfdom" and the battle against government control would begin. Doherty makes many stops along the way, addressing the many disparate strands that are American libertarianism. From the respectable businessmen who joined the Foundation for Economic Education, to the students at the Freedom School, to the anarchism of Murray Rothbard, the radicalism of Karl Hess and the back to the land movement, Doherty shows the characters, the freewheeling, and the backstabbing.
While the term libertarian is still somewhat loaded, thanks to the sometimes strange people that inhibit the Libertarian Party, Doherty also shows how libertarianism has gone mainstream. While early Austrian economists Mises and Hayek had trouble finding academic berths in the United States, the "Chicago School" has built a network of academics. Milton Freidman advised presidents and one of his disciples now sits as head of the Federal Reserve (ironic as Friedman wanted to abolish the Federal Reserve). Whereas in the early 1960s, libertarian ideas were often passed around in mimeographed newsletters, today, it is discussed in libertarian think tanks and in glossy magazines.
Doherty really did his homework. Much of the book contains personal remembrances gleaned from an incredible number of interviews conducted over about 10 years. And as the book comes to present day, Doherty, an editor at Reason Magazine and connected with many modern libertarian organizations, takes on a very conversational tone.
In short, the book is well researched, easy to read and fun. I highly recommend it.
The Story of an Awakening.......2007-06-25
What a great read! Doherty researched his subject (and subjects) almost exhaustively and gave a sometimes breezy, sometimes dense, all the time entertaining portrait of Libertarianism and its founders. Libertarians (and I count myself as one) who boast that their "time has come" are as deluded as the conspiracy nuts who KNOW that Bush is in cohoots with Osama, Saddam, Jews, Saudis, Nazis, aliens - take your pick. I've always contended that Libertarianism will never be a political force because of the very nature of the philosophy - an anti-collectivist attitude that rejecting the sublimation of the individual to the group that is the hallmark of modern politics. In this Brave New World, everything from bathroom flushes to the size of holes in Swiss cheese is politicized. Incredibly, there are those who argue these issues with the passion of the newly converted - I mark it down to the substitution of ideology for religion.
Libertarians are critical thinkers, intelligent and questioning. Even a casual perusal of this work makes that evident. They somehow found the intellectual fortitude to reject the overwhelming majority belief in a nanny State. The movement has the highest percentage of atheists of any political group and yet, for all their smarts, they are constantly battling one another. They can only agree on the broadest and vaguest concepts - non-coercion, limited government, individual and property rights. Maybe it's the absence of the ubiquitious "Vote for me and I'll start a program" politics that voters need. The personalities in the book are heavy hitters - Von Mises, Rand, Rothbard, Hayek, Freidman and then there are all the others - Ron Paul, Popper, Brown, etc. Rand is mainly discussed through her fiction although her non-fiction is almost highlighted. Hayek's advocacy of freedom along with the brilliant but turgid von Mises is contrasted with the almost sunny, public Friedman.
Libertarianism arose in the GOP and it remains almost exclusively in that realm. (Paul says that Republicans were the original Libertarians.) The only "leftist" thread in Libertarianism is the anarchist leaning of some. The Democrat embrace of group rights, the nanny state, high taxes and (until recently) foreign intervention has prevented the rise of any movement from that side. The common thread, the glue that holds the book together is Rothbard. His decades-long search to find his philosophical base was both repelling and fascinating as he switched allegiances, picked fights, protested this or that perceived slight and yet remained in the spotlight. One is suspicious that this was his real goal at times. His claim never to have changed views is absurd and yet his machinations give the book a well-needed "spine" that allows the action to flow chronologically. As in most books about Libertarianism, the subjects of economic and human rights arise since there is a direct correlation between the two.
Doherty strikes a fine balance between theory, biography, gossip and commentary. In many books like this, either the ideology or the personalities receive short shrift. I found the reading incredibly interesting but for others it will be a chore. In the end one is both awed at the human effort that has been expended toward the idea of freedom and saddened that so few seem to grasp those ideas.
Push Back the State.......2007-06-24
Every movement deserves its 700 page history and Brian Doherty has written an outstanding one for the libertarian movement. He focuses on five seminal libertarian thinkers, Ludwig von Mises, Ayn Rand, F.A. Hayek, Murray Rothbard and Milton Friedman, but certainly doesn't ignore the other people who have made the movement so colorful. The book is consistently enlightening and provides biographical details of its major players that I didn't know. And, contrary to those who would rewrite history, Doherty makes it clear that Rand's "Objectivist" movement left a trail of broken lives in its wake, not the least of which was Rand's.
As other reviewers have noted, perhaps a few too many mistakes crept into this book and there are certainly some questionable judgments, but this is "our history" and all libertarians should be grateful to Mr. Doherty.
Book Description
The business world is ready for an entirely new approach to leadership. Steve Farber has written the perfect book to energize business leaders and help them make the leap into extreme leadership. In fact, taking a giant
""L.E.A.P."" forward is exactly what Farber prescribes. What exactly is an extreme leader? One who cultivates
love, generates
energy, inspires
audacity, and provides
proof.
In his exciting and innovative new business parable, The Radical Leap, Farber explores an entirely new leadership model, one in which leaders are not afraid to take risks, make mistakes in front of employees, or actively solicit employee feedback. His book dispenses with the typical, tired notions of what it means to be a leader.
Farber, former Vice President and Official Mouthpiece of the Tom Peters Company, has written a business parable like no other, filled with vivid, fully realized, and eccentric characters, crazy plot twists, honest and believable conversations about leadership, and most importantly, an innovative program for leaders to inspire and engage their companies.
In The Radical Leap, we meet Steve, a leadership consultant who is intrigued and challenged by an enigmatic man named Edg, from whom he learns the concept of
L.E.A.P. Steve is then asked to help a friend, Janice, overcome conflicts at the biotech company where she works and bring back the company's inspiring former CEO. The company is revitalized, having undergone a radical and successful transformation.
Farber's book reveals the questions leaders must ask themselves in order to truly become extreme leaders, including:
Why do I love my business, my employees, and my customers, and how can I show them how I feel? What effect do my actions have on the energy of the people around me? (OR, what are the unnecessary, time-consuming, bureaucratic policies and procedures that suck our energy?) How are we going to change the world of our company, our employees, customers, marketplace, and industry? What have I done today to show my commitment to my colleagues and customers?
Customer Reviews:
Motivation with a capital M.......2007-07-08
If you're looking to recharge your corporate batteries--or trying to acquire your first set--this book is for you. Farber tells the story, his story perhaps, of a management consultant who has lost his passion for the work. He's going through the motions until he encounters a series of oddball business visionaries who utterly transform his spirit. What makes these visionaries so odd is their fundamental approach to work: they infuse it with love. The LEAP in The Radical Leap stands for ...
cultivate Love
generate Energy
inspire Audacity
provide Proof
That's an approach to leadership that's as inspiring as it is daring. I wonder how many of us have the courage to follow Farber's way? The Radical Leap requires leaders to have a vision, bare their souls, relish their mistakes, invite risk, challenge conventional wisdom and express love always. Wow.
Farber was smart to write this as a novelette. If he had laid out his ideas in a typical self-help book, they would have sounded pie-in-the-sky. But as Farber relates his own transformation in narrative form, encountering a variety of hiccups along the way, his gives his ideas a concreteness that makes them seem not only realistic, but implementable.
Leap into Leadership .......2007-07-06
The Radical Leap that gets us to think about leadership - or extreme leadership, to use Farber's term. What exactly is an extreme leader? One who cultivates love, generates energy, inspires audacity, and provides proof. (Hence the acronym, LEAP in the title of the book.)
Along with compelling conversation about these four key points, the book has more plot twists, the characters are more interesting, and the language is a bit edgier than the typical business parable by Patrick Lencioni, Ken Blanchard or Spencer Johnson.
It was named one of the Top 10 Best Business Books for 2004 and received the Acclaimed Reader's Choice Award from Fast Company magazine.
Great LEAP- Distribute to Mgmt Team.......2007-05-29
I just finished Radical Leap within a week after receiving . . . you can easily get through this book in a matter of a few hours. Great story and content to help you get the most out of your organization. Well-organized - with specific questions at the back of the book to put the words into practice . . .
Corporate Rise.......2007-05-14
The "Radical Leap" provides a good overview for personal leadership. However, it does not provide enough specificity for someone really interested in reaching the top of his or her organization. I still believe it is a good book, but I would suggest Corporate Rise: The X Principles of Extreme Personal Leadership as a must read book.
Surfin' to Success.......2007-04-08
I read this book with my own organization's challenges in mind. The concepts seemed perfect in symetry and sharply delivered. The only reason I'm holding back the fifth star is because his insertions of setting descriptions and flavor were somewhat "off" in their delivery and a bit "forced." Still, the book has a powerful message and can be read in an afternoon.
Book Description
The struggle for the soul of Europe today is every bit as dire and consequential as it was in the 1930s. Then, in Weimar, Germany, the center did not hold, and the light of civilization nearly went out. Today, the continent has entered yet another “Weimar moment.” Will Europeans rise to the challenge posed by radical Islam, or will they cave in once again to the extremists?
As an American living in Europe since 1998, Bruce Bawer has seen this problem up close. Across the continent—in Amsterdam, Oslo, Copenhagen, Paris, Berlin, Madrid, and Stockholm—he encountered large, rapidly expanding Muslim enclaves in which women were oppressed and abused, homosexuals persecuted and killed, “infidels” threatened and vilified, Jews demonized and attacked, barbaric traditions (such as honor killing and forced marriage) widely practiced, and freedom of speech and religion firmly repudiated.
The European political and media establishment turned a blind eye to all this, selling out women, Jews, gays, and democratic principles generally—even criminalizing free speech—in order to pacify the radical Islamists and preserve the illusion of multicultural harmony. The few heroic figures who dared to criticize Muslim extremists and speak up for true liberal values were systematically slandered as fascist bigots. Witnessing the disgraceful reaction of Europe’s elites to 9/11, to the terrorist attacks on Madrid, Beslan, and London, and to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, Bawer concluded that Europe was heading inexorably down a path to cultural suicide.
Europe's Muslim communities are powder kegs, brimming with an alienation born of the immigrants’ deep antagonism toward an infidel society that rejects them and compounded by misguided immigration policies that enforce their segregation and empower the extremists in their midst. The mounting crisis produced by these deeply perverse and irresponsible policies finally burst onto our television screens in October 2005, as Paris and other European cities erupted in flames.
WHILE EUROPE SLEPT is the story of one American’s experience in Europe before and after 9/11, and of his many arguments with Europeans about the dangers of militant Islam and America’s role in combating it. This brave and invaluable book—with its riveting combination of eye-opening reportage and blunt, incisive analysis—is essential reading for anyone concerned about the fate of Europe and what it portends for the United States.
Customer Reviews:
a little honesty.......2007-10-08
Given that Zionism has hijecked US policy, how ironic, but expected, it is that a book on 'Islam' would come out to suggest that it is Islam that is destroying the West from within? Rather, Zionism is a theory that would steal land from a group of people on a moribund 2000 year old claim and say that group's rights don't matter - Please explain why should the Palestinians be Zionists?
Serious Eye Opener.......2007-09-26
Having read a number of books about Islam and its role in the world, I didn't expect to find much I didn't know in this book. I was astonished at how much I learned!
The author takes a variety of social aspects - education, immigration, media, legislation and law enforcement to name a few - and pulls them all together to give a clear picture of what life on the streets of Europe is like for the burgeoning Muslim population and the rest of us.
Although I wasn't expecting or appreciative of the author's homosexual-rights bias, there was no denying the truth of his words or the accuracy of his information.
Every American should have to read this book, and our legislators need to take it's warnings to heart if we want to avoid the disaster that Europe now faces.
IN REALITY, AN OLD PROBLEM IN A NEW FORM.......2007-09-21
I'll break my review into several parts:
1). In the Fall of 1989, I served as a Fulbright Senior Research Fellow at the Vrije Unviersity of AMsterdam. Everything Bawer describes about European values, attitudes,society, their elites, etc., is absolutely correct. I saw it first hand. Because of the demise of patriotism and a value system, Dutch (and much of European) society has become one where social standards have evaporated. Thus, lacking a moral and ethical compass, an understanding of what is right and wrong, and a devotion to a coddling welfare state, they have created a vacuum that the Jihadists are only too willing and eager to fill. They created their own mess.
However, what he describes is ingrained in the Euroopean system throughout their history. I know. I immigrated from there as a child. Just the players have changed.
2). What Bawer did not disclose. WHile In the Netherlands, I discovered that Dutch corporations preferentially recruit workers from the military to staff the assembly line to the Board room. Many of these former military types "yearn to be of public service" and run for their parliament. Close to 55% of elected Dutch officials have a military background.
In 1989, I asked someone in the US Embassy what would happen if an economic turn down occurred. Would these ex-miltiary elected officials say "Ya, right, let's take over and run ze country like za military to fix ze problems" and would this lead to the re-emergence of militaristic fascism? I was made to understand this was a major concern. Bawer is correct in raising the issue of re-emerging fascism in response to the rising tide of Islamistc fascism in Europe, but he understated it. Likely, that will be the outcome to counter the Jihadists when crunch-time comes.
As my father once told me "beware of the man on a white horse." European hsitory is a continuiong saga of leaders on white horses, and becsue history repeats, it is likely to happen again.
Bawer also did not mention the following. European countries with former empires have only themselves to blame. When they gave up their empire, they still considered former residents (including native/ethnic people) of their "colonies" to be be citizens of the "Empire" and gave them British and French and Dtuch passports for openers. Many used these passports to immigrate to the UK, the Netherlands, and France. In 1960 when visiting London, I was astounded at the number of Pakistanis working as bus ticket collectors, street sweepers, and garbage men because British workers didn't want to do those job and instead collect welfare. Those Pakistanis saved their money, opened businesses, imported their wives and proceeded to multiply at a high rate, while establishing mosques and then importing immans.
3). What are the solutions?: Bawer really didn't have many. So here are some. First, if it is true that immigrants are tearing up their ID's and flushing them down the toilet on airplanes on the way to Europe and then claiming asylum, European governments COULD require that all ID's be turned over at check in, taken on board in a sealed container, and returned to the incoming passengers on landing at the immigration counter in the presence of a European immigration officer. That might slow things down with regard to fake asylum.
Second, European government should start shipping out ALL radical Muslim immans and radical Islmaic sympathizers (including those born in Europe) back to the country of their heritage.
Third, European governments should require that all children born in their country of foreign parents must attend school in Europe, and not be shipped at age 3 back to the Islamic world for an education, only to reappear later as adults. All subsidies for such children should be stopped if they leave the country. The only exception would be if the parents leave the country permanently too.
Fourth, Eruopean governments MUST stop subsidizing all religious schools, denominations, and institutions if they truly want to separate Church and State. Clearly, the failure to do so has been misunderstood, abused and corrupted.
Fifth, require all incoming "fetch brides" to be screened by embassies around the world before giving them visas. Use a system like the US uses in such circumstances.
Sixth, place a limit on the number of children the government will subsidize to three children. If a family has more than three children, no subsidies for the new ones. (Works in China to a point?)
If Bawer has sized up European attitudes correctly, and I believe he has, don't expect this to happen. But these proposals would help contain the problem in part.
Last, I have a question for Bawer? Why does he still chose to live in Europe? When I left the Netherlands in 1989 after living there six months, I vowed never to return and I haven't. It was bad then, and has become worse now.
RECOMMENDATION: Buy this book. It could happen in the USA and there are signs that in some parts of the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states some of this is developing.
Bawer's Jeremiad against Europe.......2007-09-15
I saw Bruce Bawer on Bill Moyers and thought the idea of his book was fascinating. I had been watching news stories about the Muslim underclass in Europe and figured that there was a powder keg in the making, and I thought this book would enlighten me. In the first part of this book he states his central thesis, which is that the liberalism of European states will be the very thing that does them in, vis-a-vis their Muslim populations. He makes good points about Europeans not really understanding the meaning of true integration, about their romantic notions of other "exotic" cultures, and political correctness continuing to allow - if not condone - the worst practices of Muslim religious fanaticism.
Up until the middle of the book I was with him. Then, with the second part of the three-part book, he lets loose about every niggling little thing that any random European might have done or said to him that got under his skin. He clearly has lived in Europe too long. He proceeds to whine about how anti-American all Europeans are, how wonderful American-style capitalism is and just about deifies Ronald Reagan, who, he implies, singlehandedly brought down the Berlin Wall. He accuses liberals such as Michael Moore of lying about how bad the health system is in the US, questions how really "poor" Hurricane Katrina victims were and spends an inordinate amount of time dissecting the Cuban Revolution, Fidel Castro and Che Guevara. Huh? This is NOT why I bought the book.
I realized that this book was less about how European nations were dealing with their immigration problems and more about how homesick he was for the US - and, how Europe's social economy was just way, way too "liberal" for him.
He's a facile writer, and when he wasn't blowing his stack about Europe and praising the US I rather enjoyed the read. But I just felt that the book used the European immigration situation as a thin ruse for the real topic of the book...bashing Europe. Had I known that, I wouldn't have bought it.
Europe's nightmare; America's bad dream.......2007-09-11
Bruce Bawer provides a vivid depiction of Europe's culture, something that is lacking in other works of this genre. He has spent a number of years living in a number of European countries, and he has a gimlet eye for meaningful details and events. He contrasts European and American culture as a person deeply familiar with both variants.
Politically, Social-democracy (or, socialism with a soupçon of capitalism) is the only ideology that is deemed acceptable in Europe. European media degrade America and Israel, idealize the UN and EU, and sanitize fundamentalist Islam. A fuzzy-minded multi-culturalism, egalitarianism and political correctness make up the Zeitgeist of modern Europe.
But "Europe's social harmony is increasingly being eroded and its affluence endangered by shrinking native populations and a growing immigrant population that's draining billions out in benefits." Bawer provides the exponential demographics, which show the eventual and certain occupation of all Europe by Islam. France will disappear first, within a few generations. As for the rest of Europe, it's not a question of if, but when.
The book has three principal sections, which occasionally overlap and interlock. Bawer eschews scholarly trappings and incorporates his sources into his text as part of the exposition.
The first part of the book describes the European ethos of multi-culturalism, it's history and present influence. The middle section lists a litany of horrors practiced by Muslims in Europe - rape, honor killings, beatings - all documented by media accounts. Those who commit these crimes claim they were driven to it by Western oppression. If they had been permitted to solve their problems within their own Islamic culture and Sharia law (on Western soil no less!) they would not have been driven to such measures. (Bawer does a good job of explaining the twisted logic of the Muslim "victim.")
In contradiction to Bawer's findings, geopolitical thinker Ralph Peters believes that Muslims will not take over Europe, but that the Europeans will either expel or kill them. The only reason Peters' provides for this is that Europeans have been the most vicious peoples of the modern era. He cites WWI and WWII as proof of his theory.
But this flies in the face of Bawer's carefully constructed case that the present generation in Europe is not made of the same stuff as the war I and II generations. In fact the multi-culturalism, socialism, and timidity that are the hall-marks of European culture, grew out of, and in contrast to, the war era that Peters describes.
The last section explores the question: what can be done to hold back the rising tide of this anti-Western and anti-Modern culture and peoples? Bawer's final arguments are persuasive. His straightforward analysis provides convincing evidence to support his final conclusion: the awful truth is that "Europe is steadily committing suicide, and perhaps all we can do is look on in horror."
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Radical Forgiveness, Making Room for the Miracle, 2nd Edition
Colin C. Tipping
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Book Description
This is NOT just another book on forgiveness; this one provides the necessary tools to help you forgive profoundly, more or less instantaneously and with ease.
First published in 1997, this 2nd Edition builds on the success of the first edition which has changed hundreds if not thousands of lives.
This book will more than likely change your life. It will transform how you view your past and what is occurring for you in the present, especially where relationships are concerned. Unlike other forms of forgiveness, radical forgiveness is easily achieved and virtually immediate, enabling you to let go of being a victim, open your heart and raise your vibration. The simple, easy-to-use tools provided help you let go of the emotional baggage of the past and to feel the joy of living in total surrender to the process of life as it unfolds, however it unfolds. The result is vastly increased happiness, personal power and freedom.
Customer Reviews:
prerequisite: Open Mind.......2007-06-27
If nothing changes, nothing changes.
This book is not for the sqeamish. It requires intestinal fortitutde and is designed for the individual fed up with a life of misery and ready to walk on the sunny side of the street!
A life-changing experience.......2007-06-27
I was skeptical at first, but I'm applying the principles, and I see my life changing before my eyes. Buy this book. Read this book. Live this book. You'll love this book.
Make your own decision.......2007-06-21
I noted with saddness a negative review of this book. True, there really isn't anything 'new' in the Universe, however, each time a new person relates the information to us, it offers us a new opportunity to find if this person's words will resonate within. We are all beings of energy and it is helpful to remember that something has to resonate for us in order to have it make sense.
That being said, I applaud Colin Tipping's efforts. This book IS difficult at first (at least it was for me) but then the moment of clarity came to me and suddenly it all came together.. making sense.. and enriching my outlook on life.
Radical Forgiveness may well be termed radical SELF-Forgiveness. Either way you absorb it, it can help to modify your viewpoint of previous experiences, and embrace the future, and I for one am grateful that this book is available. I present workshops and it is always number One on my Suggested Reading List. Is it for everyone? Perhaps not, but you won't know unless you allow yourself to be open to the healing contained within the pages.
Radical Forgiveness.......2007-05-12
It is time for the world to break the cycle of the victim archetype. This book opened up a new world for me.
Life Changing.......2007-05-09
I read this book because of a class by the same name that I took at my Unity Church. I came to realize that radical forgiveness is my approach to forgiveness but this book helped me to take it to a whole new level. If you truly want to move past the hurt and pain in your life AND grow from it in a beautiful way, then this book is for you.
This book may not be for you yet if you want to other person to be wrong.
I have decided to make radical forgiveness my life's language and use it as a way of life. [...].
I don't write many reveiws but this book is so amazing and life changing that I had to share my experience with others.
I have done lots of healing work to release my inner victim. This book has proven to be one of my culminating experiences in moving from victim to victor.
Namaste...
Book Description
In the Origin of Wealth, Eric Beinhocker offers a thorough and convincing new way to think about economic growth and business management. The author begins by exploring the roots of modern economic theory and ultimately declares it outmoded and wrong. Instead, he suggests, markets and growth can best be explained by drawing on the emerging field of complexity economics: the study of markets and social systems as complex adaptive systems. Although biological metaphors in business have become familiar (i.e., organizations are living organisms), Beinhocker moves beyond metaphor to explain the revolutions in science that will inevitably change the way we think about economics, competition, and business. The Origin of Wealth raises important questions such as: How can one create strategy in uncertain and fast moving environments? Why is it hard for large organizations to be innovative and how should we organize for better results? What role should governments play in this new era?
Customer Reviews:
Modern Classic.......2007-09-25
I would classify Eric Beinhocker's book as an instant classic. Although it is more of a survey of broad spectrum of economic studies, it is extremely well put together and well written. I promised myself that this is a book that requires a more detailed review but since I have not had time to write that yet, I want to at least share the following with the would be readers of this book:
Buy this book! The primary focus of the book is analysis of how emergence (no pun intended) of complex dynamical systems is changing the fundamentals of economics. Book does an excellent job of giving historical account of how mathematical foundations of economics was developed and influenced by the math/physics of the time: math of systems in equilibrium. Afterwords it methodically studies the complex dynamical systems, their impact on agent based modeling of complex phenomenon and how this development in mathematical thinking is already impacting economics. Last couple of chapters also provide ponderings of complex dynamical systems analysis and its impact on policy making and international relations.
Book is clearly written, well researched with excellent bibliography and captures some of the most throught provoking research in the industry in a simple and conherent fashion.
If I get time I promise to write a longer and more deserving review of this book.
Eye-popping paradigm shift in economics unveiled.......2007-07-14
On the subject matter...
Ever wonder why macro-economics didn't make sense?
Want to know more about how economies and markets really work?
On the writing...
The author provides a simple, compelling narrative which debunks a large portion of economics as it has been taught for the last 200 years. It then goes on to synthesize broad swaths of recent economic research into a cohesive vision of economics as an evolutionary open system and that observable macro-economic patterns are largely a product of the evolutionary algorithm at work.
If a high level understanding of the workings of economies or markets is of interest to you -- or you just want to unlearn a lot of false theory -- The Origin of Wealth is for you!
Must have for anyone who gave up on economics... like me.......2007-07-02
If you ever tried to read a book on economics, you probably loved the classics (Adam Smith, Shumpeter, Keynes...) but then you probably had an uneasy feeling about people trying to use some kind of Maxwell equation to explain the workings of the economy. That's where you probably decided that this science was either too complex for you (in fact, it is the world that is too complex for traditional economics) or that scholars were probably more interested in masturbating their brains than truly explaining the world. That's usually where a science needs a paradigm shift in order to stay alive in the world, and not just in academia.
Hopefully, things have changed and economists are now introducing concepts that gracefully embrace the nature of the subject : evolution, non-linear functions, psychology, sociology, and intelligent mathematics (the one that tries to fit with the actual world, not the opposite)
This book is a must have... The kind of book that makes you feel intelligent not because it's full of obscure concepts that you think you can loosely fit together, but because it is fact-based, well written, sometimes surprising, and most of all it feels right... which is truly groundbreaking.
Just like in nuclear physics, this science finally takes off the very moment it stops trying to fit the world in an a+b=c equation. Instead of having a precisely wrong theory, we now have something that accounts for the inherent complexity of the economy and unveils new and fascinating territories for us to discover.
A must for economics students!.......2007-07-01
I am an undergraduate student of economics and was always critical about the Traditional Economics theories that were presented in class. I never just accepted the textbook's mathmatical models as the ultimate truth and always looked for more. I read books from a wide range of areas, all supporting my view that there was something more to our economic life than what professors told us in class, but never making a clear connection to economic theory. I bought this book by chance before a long flight and can't say how happy I was when I realized what Beinhocker was saying. I could not stop reading and finished it in about a week. Beinhocker showed me how to break through the mathmatical barriers of traditional economics and think about economics in an exiting and liberating new way. His introduction to Complexity Economics (as he calls it) has given me new hope for economics and enthusiasm for my studies. I am already diving deeper and deeper into work mentioned in the references and a whole new world is opening in front of me! A. J. Sutter makes many valid points in his lengthy review above. I still think Beinhocker managed to write a book that is groundbreaking in its range of topics covered and its comprehensive overview of Complexity Economics.
No student of economics who has not at least heard about the topics mentioned in this book can say that he knows the subject he is studying.
The back door stage behind traditional economics and the first acts of a paradigm change.......2007-06-27
Truly a wonderful book reommended for young and curious economists around the world. A profound insight into Economic analisys that will pop up a couple of "new" and hidden ideas!
Average customer rating:
- Behold a Pale Horse
- Behold a pale horse
- Too much chaff, not enough wheat
- Informative
- IN THE COLD
|
Behold a Pale Horse
William Cooper , and
Milton William Cooper
Manufacturer: Light Technology Publications
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ASIN: 0929385225 |
Book Description
The author, former U.S. Naval Intelligence Briefing Team Member, reveals information kept secret by our government since the 1940s. UFOs, the J.F.K.. assassination, the Secret Government, the war on drugs and more by the world's leading expert on UFOs.
Customer Reviews:
Behold a Pale Horse.......2007-09-15
Behold a Pale Horse is a book that will stop and make you think about much that is going on in the world today. You will never look at our political leaders the same again.
Behold a pale horse.......2007-08-29
i didnt like it. it was a bunch of nonsence. i dont even want to give it a star.
Too much chaff, not enough wheat.......2007-08-17
This is the kind of book that gives historical revisionists and truthseekers a bad name--specifically the "conspiracy nut" slur. While the author may or may not be sincere, a look at the cover is enough to give you a sense of how serious or not serious a presentation is contained within. Certainly there is much about history and society that we are routinely lied to about and historical facts that are suppressed so as to protect those with the power to pull the invisible strings fettering the world. This book documents much of that, but unfortunately delves into much disinformation and in the end will leave people confused--perhaps aware of several legitimate issues they had not known about before but also distracted by a series of unfounded claims muddying the waters. I put this in the same category as the works of David Icke, of reptilian shape-shifter fame...
Informative.......2007-08-13
William Cooper did an outstand job in writing this book. He has a wealth of knowledge that will assist the reader in researching other books that supports his claims.
IN THE COLD.......2007-07-21
Not a read for anyone who doesn't know or does know what others claim or wish to know. But if you read this book and it confirms what you did know or didn't know it may be worth the time reading. However, when you do buy this unknown known it will lead others to watch you over to see what else you know and what your planing to do with what you now know.....be careful buying it, the book will lead a cloud over you.
Book Description
Radical Islam has long desired to seize Jerusalem and cut it off to Christian and Jewish believers. In his revealing new book, The Fight for Jerusalem, bestselling author and former Israeli ambassador to the United Nations Dore Gold explains why the battle for Jerusalem is intensifying today. Gold shows why only Israel can preserve its holy places for Christians, Jews, and even Muslims, and why uncovering Jerusalem's past-and the truth of biblical history-can be the key to saving its future.
Customer Reviews:
A politically charged yet thoughtfully reasoned exhortation .......2007-10-06
Former Israel ambassador to the U.N. (among his many other credentials) Dore Gold presents The Fight for Jerusalem: Radical Islam, the West, and the future of the Holy City, a serious-minded discussion of the future of Jerusalem, a city holy to Christians, Jews, and Muslims. The Fight for Jerusalem makes a convincing argument that for Jerusalem to be a free city where all faiths can be practiced, it will have to remain under Israeli sovereignty, because the United Nations cannot be relied upon to protect it and the Muslim Palestinians have become increasingly affected by a branch of radical Islam that seeks to eliminate other faiths from Jerusalem, not co-exist with them. Drawing upon meticulous scholarly research, The Fight for Jerusalem addresses how Palestinians are destroying archaeological evidence of ancient Jewish presence in Jerusalem, particularly on the Temple Mount; how Western diplomatic concessions strengthen the apocalyptic speculations of radical Muslims; how the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza brought more power to Palestinian extremists at the expense of Palestinian moderates; why negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority over the status of Jerusalem have little chance of creating an agreement; and much more. It should be noted that The Fight for Jerusalem specifically denounces the religious intolerance radical Islam, and recognizes that the majority of the Muslim world is not radical, though The Fight for Jerusalem decries the increasing power that radical Islamic factions have. A politically charged yet thoughtfully reasoned exhortation on how Jerusalem, a potential focal point of radical Islam's jihad against the West, can best be preserved for future generations.
More In This Vein Needed.......2007-07-12
Mr. Gold has had an intriguing history of exposing through historical precedents and context the most interesting institutions. This book is no exception with Jerusalem, the city in the Middle East that can perhaps be said to represent the modicum of freedom and Western values that exists there, and why it's imperative that it be held and protected against any antithetical forces surrounding it, either there or abroad.
Dore Gold does the reader and novice (or even university-educated) reader a great and grandiose service by documenting not just how long the Jews have been living in modern Israel, but showing us just how long they've been under attack, kept as slaves, as Dhimmis, whipped commodities of Europe's countries, and generally how it all started. The Bar-Kochba revolution against the just-turned Roman imperialists is a great account, told with brevity, but demonstrating what the Jews have been through just to hold on to their tiny piece of land, and how many empires have swept through it.
A previous writer said that there's blame on both sides to the conflict, and that giving away land to the anarchistic Palestinian terror groups is being open minded. I would pose the question that Dore Gold answers for us: If Jerusalem and its surrounding environs were given over eventually to Arabic, Islamic forces, there would be no tolerance of religion whatsoever for any soul in the land. Already, the last Christians are fleeing any part of Israel that is controlled by Palestinian faction groups, whose version of Islam doesn't even allow for Fatah's to promulgate.
There are previous accusations that Gold's sources are flimsy. Since when are speeches of those involved, podcasts of the same, and books irrelevant and not conducive to research? What's omitted from some critics' reviews is the presentation of vast amounts of historical and recent archeological surfacing that has vindicated those who taught us about the unified Davidic Kingdom and the tribes of Israel before his time. If you don't read more than the first 2 chapters, you're already richly rewarded by gaining a historical eye covering about 1400 years of Israelite history.
I think one of the most important misnomers that have stuck with us is that the land of ancient Canaan/Israel was only named Palestine by the Romans once they began establishing exploratory garrisons. They aptly named it after "Philistines" who had residence there still after so many quasi-empiric swaths through Israel.
Dore Gold might be a nationalist-rightist when it comes to Israel, but how do we coin the conservative label when Gold's main theme for the conflict is encouraging us to look at what happens every time Israel DOES cede land that THEY held onto by being the victor of a grossly-agressive war by the major Arabic countries. Look at Hamas in Gaza, exterminating all their Fatah "brothers," showing us that the muhajadeen applies to their own kind as well.
Gore's book is a real justice and service that lends some researched wisdom as to what's been happening in Israel, and how other Arabic nations are overwhelmingly complicit in the plight of the Palestinians. What else can we expect from a people who declare all of Palestine theirs by right, have rejected statehood 3 times, and have it in their charter (Hamas, Fatah) and educational materials (The PA) to disregard Jews as human and an unregognizing of Israel's right to live and survive? As we've seen, we can't expect much, only chaos, wasted Western money that helped almost no Palestinian when it's in their hands, and a drive to throwback tribalism that knows no bounds as to the glories of fighting Jews and infidels. This is a great history book that should be on everyone's shelves, even if you wish to "hear no evil,see no evil," which I like to call "disagreeing" with it.
Again, if there is to be any alternative to religous and secular tolerance in the Middle East, it has proven only to be in Israel, and the state's poliltical and religious flag, Jerusalem, cannot be given over or divided if it is to remain that way. Dore Gold has made that painstakingly clear, and it gives us great hope to see the victories of Israel against forces that would see it otherwise--which is most of the world.
excellent analysis of issues about Jerusalem.......2007-06-27
Dore Gold writes with typical clarity concerning the issues concerning Jerusalem, including the battles going back through the ages. If you want to get a readable, informative history, then get this book.
Propaganda passing for scholarly research.......2007-06-05
Dore Gold is one of the hardline political opeatives who worked for Ariel Sharon and found Sharon's moderating politics towards the end of his political careeer not to his liking. Gold's view of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is quite close to the ultra-nationalist politics of Likud. For him, any compromise with the Palestinians enourages more terror. Hamas are no better than the Taliban. If Israel gives them an inch of Jerusalem they will take a mile and turn Jerusalem into the capital of the new world-wide Muslim caliphate.
Despite miles of footntoes, Gold relies for evidence on surprisingly flimsy reeds: podcasts, websites, sermons and books are the proof he uses to claim that there is a worldwide Muslim conspiracy to take over Jerusalem and the rest of the western world.
If you're a neocon or a hardline supporter of the Israeli right, you'll love this book. It will confirm all yr worst fears of Arabs. But if you try to keep an open mind about this conflict and find both fault and favor with both sides, then steer clear. This is a propaganda tract that passes itself off as a thoroughly researched scholarly tome.
The fight for Jerusalem and the clash of civilizations .......2007-05-16
This book is divided into three sections. In the first the religious dimension of Jerusalem is considered. The meaning of Jerusalem for Ancient Israel, for Christianity , and for Classical Islam are accurately and fairly outlined. In the second part of the book which considers the diplomatic struggle over Jerusalem, there is chapter devoted to the Birth of 'Modern Israel', one to 'Jerusalem, the Palestinian Arabs and the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan', and one to the 'Arab- Israel Peace Process.' The third and most important section of the book is devoted to Radical Islam and Jerusalem. There is a chapter on 'Destruction of the Holy Sites', one on 'Jerusalem as Apocalyptic Trigger for Radical Islam, one 'The West and the Freedom of Jerusalem'.
In this third section of the book Gold gives a short history of the development of Radical Islam. He tells of the Islamic destruction of the religious sites of other faiths, from the largest Buddhist statues in the world in Afghanistan to sites in the heart of the Arab world. He shows how Western diplomatic concessions have not led to moderation but rather an intensification of fanaticism by radical Islamists. He tells the story of the Muslim destruction of important archaeological remains in Jerusalem. He shows how radical Islam's obsession with Jerusalem is another manifestation of the clash of civilizations between radical Islam and other religious faiths and civilizations.
The demonstrating of Islamic disrespect and destruction for the Holy Places of others is at the heart of his argument that Jerusalem must remain undivided under Israeli rule. Additional evidence for this claim is given by the Palestinian reaction to Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, and the Shiite Hizbollah's reaction to Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon. Both of these withdrawals did not lead to moderation and peace, but rather to more violence against Israel. Gold shows how the Islamist Palestinians have when given civilian control over a city or area persecuted and led to the exile of its Christians .The most blatant example is Bethlehem which has not simply lost its Christian majority but seen the greatest share of its Christian population leave the City. Gold says that had Israel in September 2000 relinquished control over the Old City of Jerusalem to the Palestinians the result would have been the destruction of a a good share of it. Gold also considers the possibility of internationalization of the Holy City , and provides convincing evidence that the U.N. could not handle this job effectively any more than it handled the job in Rwanda or Bosnia. Gold also points to the inherent prejudice of the U.N. against Israel, and says it could never be a fair and efficient manager of the Holy Sites.
This book makes a very strong case for Israel's maintaining exclusive control of the city.
But the arguments it presents focus more on the negatives of Islamic control than the positives of Israeli control. I would have liked to see more expansive treatment of how Israel has enhanced the city since taking over the Old City in 1967.
Nonetheless this is a must read for those for whom Jerusalem, and its future, is dear.
Average customer rating:
- The Hobo Philosopher
- Must have for any wannabe idealist
- Political Classic...read for historical insight
- A Must Read
- A Misleading Edition
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The Communist Manifesto (Signet Classics)
Karl Marx ,
Friedrich Engels , and
Martin Malia
Manufacturer: Signet Classics
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Binding: Paperback
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The Prince (Bantam Classics)
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Civilization and Its Discontents
ASIN: 0451527100 |
Amazon.com
"A spectre is haunting Europe," Karl Marx and Frederic Engels wrote in 1848, "the spectre of Communism." This new edition of The Communist Manifesto, commemorating the 150th anniversary of its publication, includes an introduction by renowned historian Eric Hobsbawm which reminds us of the document's continued relevance. Marx and Engels's critique of capitalism and its deleterious effect on all aspects of life, from the increasing rift between the classes to the destruction of the nuclear family, has proven remarkably prescient. Their spectre, manifested in the Manifesto's vivid prose, continues to haunt the capitalist world, lingering as a ghostly apparition even after the collapse of those governments which claimed to be enacting its principles.
Book Description
Critically and textually up-to-date, this new edition of the classic translation (Samuel Moore, 1888) features an introduction and notes by the eminent Marx scholar David McLellan, prefaces written by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels subsequent to the original 1848 publication, and corrections
of errors made in earlier versions. Regarded as one of the most influential political tracts ever written, The Communist Manifesto serves as the foundation document of the Marxist movement. This summary of the Marxist vision is an incisive account of the world-view Marx and Engels had evolved during
their hectic intellectual and political collaboration of the previous few years.
Download Description
Still relevant today both as a historical document and as a stirring call for social democracy, this New Albion edition includes Engel's extensive footnotes from the various editions, plus the changing Prefaces written first by Marx and Engels, and later by Engels alone, plus notes on the Manifesto and the various translations of it.
Customer Reviews:
The Hobo Philosopher.......2007-09-14
Well, if you are a student of Philosophy or economics you must make this a part of your reading whether you want to or not. It is not long. It is not difficult. It is quite explicit. And after you read it you should have a better understanding of where you personally stand politically. I am not going to comment on what it says or advocates. Read it and find out for yourself. You won't need an interpreter.
Must have for any wannabe idealist.......2007-09-10
Well, obviously I havent read this fascinating piece of litrerature, but thats because a read book just looks so scruffy on my beautiful capitalist shelves.
This book makes me look a lot more sympathetic to all those wannabe commies, so why not dish out on a copy too?
Nah just joking, just read it and decide for yourself.
Political Classic...read for historical insight.......2007-06-27
My son required a copy of "The Communist Manifesto" for a philosophy class. After he was done with it, I decided to read it since this was one of the founding documents for Communism.
I found it difficult to decide how to rate this book. The presentation of Manifesto by Penguin in this book is excellent. The central ideas of the Manifesto itself are disturbing.
Should you read the Communist Manifesto? Yes. Is this a good presentation? Yes. Was Communism envisioned by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels a good idea? No. So I have compromised between the excellent presentation and the ideas espoused by the Manifesto in selecting an average rating.
Some reviewers feel that the Manifesto's critique of capitalism is right on; I have grave doubts. Marx and Engels were critiquing capitalism from an ivory tower. Their remedies for capitalism show that they had no real experience or contact with the workers in the trenches.
Some reviewers have mentioned the changing of labor laws due to the Manifesto, such as child labor laws (a generally agreed good thing). I believe those laws would have changed if the Manifesto had never been written. I believe those reviewers are seeing cause and effect relationships where there is none. I believe labor leaders in non-Communist states, pushing for change in labor laws, did not need belief in Communism behind them to push for change. Even without Communism, they would have done what they did anyways because the labor leaders came up from the laboring trenches. They knew first hand the abuses going on. The writers of the Manifesto did not; their ideas were theoretical. I know my ideas, in this area, are conjectures of what would have happened without the Manifesto, without Communism; there is no way they can be proven, history cannot be rewritten.
The remedy proposed by Marx and Engels is frightening. It foreshadows exactly how Communism gave birth to totalitarian states, to Communist dictatorships. Their remedy for capitalism requires a select group of leaders (Communist elitists) to force Communism onto the populace for the good of the people. We should all be suspicious of anyone who professes an idea that is for the good of the people because it invariably is not good for the people. To paraphase Lord Acton, "power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely," and the states envisioned by the writers of the Manifesto set up perfect conditions of absolute power (for the good of the people) which in practice led to absolutely corrupt power. History has shown there has been extreme abuse by Communist leaders, who became power meglomanics, of the masses of workers in their states.
Indeed, history has repeatedly shown that the concentration of power in the hands of a select few led to abuse of power. The smaller the select, the greater the abuse. This has been true regardless of the political theories espoused by the leaders. Let this be a cautionary tale to all of us.
A Must Read.......2007-06-23
It amazes me that the effects of cold war propaganda drivel still permeates the minds of most Americans. This is easily one of the most influential works since it's publication in the 19th century. To say something along the lines that the pages should be torn out and used as paper airplanes is like saying the literary masterpieces Dickens should be used as toilet paper. Disagree with it all you want but at least acknowledge it's influence and respect it, as several reviewers have. Don't simply pigeonhole a great work due to the ignorance or American cold war dogma. If you are going to rant about this work at least get your facts straight. Hitler is not a communist..never was. As a matter of fact he hated communism just as much as most Americans do. Second, recognize communism is an ideal, just a capitalism is may I add, and there never has been a purely communistic state. If you are going to give this work a bad rating at least pretend you have read it. Most of the bad reviews are complete drivel and it is obvious the work has not been read. Give a reason why you do not like the book. Simply saying it sucks is not very insightful. Finally, do not give this a bad review simply because you cannot understand what is being said. If the merit of literary works were based upon how something is being said rather than what is being said Shakespeare, Chaucer, and Milton would not be considered literary geniuses.
A Misleading Edition.......2007-06-14
The following is the composure of the book:
pg. 1-170 Introduction by Translator
pg. 170-240 Various Prefaces of Other Editions by the Authors
pg. 240-280 The Manifesto
For those not familiar with Marx, who want to read the introduction and gain new insights--this is a brilliant setup.
For those who would rather just pay $2 for the Manifesto itself--this is disappointing.
Recommended for the student of philosophy, not the professor.
Book Description
An explosive examination of the coalition of forces that threatens the nation, from the bestselling author of American Dynasty
In his two most recent bestselling books, American Dynasty and Wealth and Democracy, Kevin Phillips established himself as a powerful critic of the political and economic forces that rule—and imperil—the United States, tracing the ever more alarming path of the emerging Republican majority's rise to power. Now Phillips takes an uncompromising view of the current age of global overreach, fundamentalist religion, diminishing resources, and ballooning debt under the GOP majority. With an eye to the past and a searing vision of the future, Phillips confirms what too many Americans are still unwilling to admit about the depth of our misgovernment.
Customer Reviews:
A must read... specially for people that love this country.......2007-10-08
This book is no hoopla... no gimmicks... no hype.
This book is SUPERBLY well researched... a non-biased objective and insightful look and exposition of the 3 MAJOR historic aspects that shape US goverment policy and that have shaped life in the USA as we know it.
To see where the country is headed... how things are shaping up... and give lights to what needs to be done... one draws our own conclusions, but the facts are there... this book is powerful... this is knowledge that EMPOWERS people... if you care about the USA and it's future, do yourself a favor... and just read this one... republican or democrat, makes no difference... this is just how it is.
Well researched and balanced.......2007-09-16
There is (I think) a growing group of people who call themselves Republicans but are increasingly disgusted with the people who lead the Republican party, and the direction that they take both the party and the nation. I am one of those who has been increasingly disaffected for years, and Kevin Phillips appears to be as well based on his recent writing. I am a long-time fan of Mr. Phillips, as someone who has the courage to see something that he has in the past and still wants to identify with unravel and decline in front of him, and give voice to the frustration, as well as the fear for where this alarming trend might take us.
The book takes the reader through a well-detailed account of how we have reached this point, and where this likely leads. The "here" that Mr. Phillips outlines is a country where the dominant political party in the country has entered into a "great alliance" with the dominant religious organizations in the country in order to maintain joint dominance. The religious organizations benefit by continuing to assure that their agenda's are met by the politicians, while the political party benefits by keeping the eye of the governed off of the rape and pillage that is going on within the political apparatus. The focus weaves this involvement of the extreme right-wing fundamentalist clerics through all aspects of government, focusing in particular on the debt that has resulted and the foreign oil dependence that continues to drive most decisions, plunging the nation further into debt, resulting in increasing profits from those few who "own" that industry.
The historical aspects of the book were excellent, helping the reader to understand how we got where we are, as well as making it clear where history would advise that all nations end up when they get on the path that we have put ourselves on. It is not a comforting picture. I have given the book 4 stars because while the message and content are excellent and timely, I do think that the writing became just a little disjointed and rambled down some alleys at times. I would still highly recommend this book.
Sharp, Not Balanced, But An Important Read .......2007-09-15
Former Republican strategist, Kevin Phillips, believes he knows what is wrong with our nation. Chances are, by very virtue of your reading a book review on a Christian e-zine, you contribute to the erosion of our national health. American Theocracy: The Politics and Peril of Radical Religion, Oil, and Borrowed Money in the 21st Century is at times scathing and at times coolly analytical in its survey of dangers Phillips sees threatening our superpower status.
Part I examines the effects of America's dependency on oil. Our industry, automobiles, and military have an insatiable appetite for oil. Phillips argues that this energy dependency gives Big Oil too much sway over our domestic and foreign policies. At home we lax our environmental laws to accommodate oil drilling. And abroad we resort to international thuggery to secure control of Iraq's mostly untapped oil fields. "The war on terror?", "Importing democracy to the Middle East?" Phillips sees these as slogans to sell an imperialistic war.
In Part II: "Too Many Preachers", Phillips takes aim at Christian Fundamentalism, a movement the he sees embodied by the Southern Baptist Convention, Pentecostals, and the charismatic movements. Phillips chronicles these denominations rise to prominence and how they shape national politics. The culture wars are provoked by radical Christians attempting to establish a theocracy--a Christian America governed by God's rules. "Disenlightenment" is Phillip's descriptor for the effect that these empowered believers have on our country: They value faith over science and a literal Armageddon over peace.
Phillips closes his diatribe with Part III on our national and individual debt. Again, Phillips provides a valuable historic context at how debt played a role in the decline of England, Spain, and the Netherlands as superpowers. Phillips offers an undeniable outline of the depths of our national debt as well as personal credit lodes. He argues that our increasing debt and decreasing hard industry has created a thin ice that will eventual give in under our largesse.
American Theocracy finds its value when Phillips is able to sustain his analytical voice, and he's able to do so for extended periods of time. His historical perspective on our oil dependency, the changing face of American religion, and our national debt demand your attention. I'll confess, as an evangelical with political tendencies a few notches right of centrist, this was uncomfortable stuff to read. Even so, Phillips places important issues on the table.
However when Phillips slips into his polemic voice the book becomes tedious. Phillips has open contempt for people superstitious enough to buy into the Biblical creation account, Noah Arc, or a literal interpretation of Revelation, such as the one popularized by the Left Behind franchise. Phillips also makes too many gaps in his evidence with clauses like, "Although the evidence is weak." He's on a mission to connect the dots and is willing to supply any missing points along the way.
Make no mistake; Kevin Phillips wields too much anger and bias to be objective. But are there any takeaways for the evangelical and fundamentalist Christian communities?
I think so. American Theocracy provokes us to ask several poignant questions:
-- Have we developed what Phillip's calls "American Exceptionalism"; a belief that America has an exclusive blessing from God? How does this belief influence our foreign policy?
-- Does our theology concerning the end times make us overly tolerant of military interventions in the Middle East? ("The faster we get to Armageddon the faster we get to heaven.")
-- Should the political arena our primary method of advancing God's kingdom on Earth? Does Jesus truly expect that we establish an "American Theocracy?"
I won't pretend to offer the final word on these questions. Instead, I just note that in spite of all the book's weaknesses, American Theocracy provides the agenda for an important conversation that's long overdue
One of the Best Books I Have Ever Read.......2007-08-19
I read this book 3 times and have encouraged others to read it. I rarely read any book more than once but this one was so thought provoking. Some reviews stress the chapters about religion but the book is so much more than that. Religion has NOTHING to do with the debt which is dragging this country down which is a chapter all its own. There is also a chapter on consumer debt which is dragging us as individuals and families down. Anyone who is worried about the financial state of this country should read this book.
Superb account of the state of the USA.......2007-08-06
This outstanding book is the best study of the current state of the USA. Kevin Phillips, the vastly experienced American political and economic commentator, depicts the USA's economic and religious interest-groups and their effects on the Republican coalition. For this paperback edition, he has written a brilliant 40-page introduction updating his 2006 analysis.
He shows how deindustrialisation is destroying the US economy. The debt-driven finance, insurance and real estate sector accounts for 21% of US GDP, manufacturing for only 13%. 44% of all US corporate profits come from the finance sector, 10% from manufacturing. Household incomes have not risen since 2000. Wages are 62% of national income, compared to an average 73% in the late 1960s.
He describes what he calls the `oil-national security complex' and its `100 years' oil war'. The USA, with 200 million of the world's 520 million automobiles, defeats conservation and energy efficiency. The USA consumes a quarter of the world's energy, but has only 5% of its reserves. Since 1998, the USA has been importing more than half the petrol it uses. A barrel of oil cost $3 in 1970, $10 in 1986, $30 in 2002, $75 in 2007. Non-OPEC oil will peak in 2010.
So the US state wants to secure oil supplies from the Middle East, but in a classic case of imperial overreach, its efforts are counter-productive. White House economic advisor Lawrence Lindsay said in September 2002, "the key issue is oil, and a regime change in Iraq would facilitate an increase in world oil so as to drive down prices." Pre-war, Iraq produced 3.5 million barrels a day, now just 1.1 million, "U.S. mismanagement in Iraq having only aggravated the oil-supply and terrorist threats", as Phillips writes. The war has caused most of the recent $45-a-barrel rise.
Phillips also studies the USA's rightwing religious fundamentalism - a toxic brew of Biblical inerrancy and born-again evangelicalism. It claims that we live in the `end-times', when the defeat of the antichrist at Armageddon heralds the second coming. It is anti-women, anti-science, anti-modernism and anti-Enlightenment. It opposes sex education, women's rights, contraception, stem-cell research and abortion.
He shows how successive US governments have indulged the soaring debt and credit industry. They encouraged reckless credit expansion, blowing up the ballooning national, international, business, financial and household debts. Low-interest rates led to the credit-card boom, to exotic mortgages, derivatives (which the speculator Warren Buffett called `financial weapons of mass destruction'), hedge-funds and debt instruments. Buffett also said, "Hyperactive equity markets subvert rational capital allocation."
Americans now owe more than they make. Finance firms are debt collectors; credit card companies offer to consolidate people's debts, but once the debtor is hooked, the company can raise interest rates to 20-30%. No wonder that in Bush's first term (2000-04), there were five million personal bankruptcies and by 2006, the USA's total debt was $40 trillion, 304% of GDP.
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