Book Description
My new friends have begun to suspect I haven’t told them the full story of my life.
“Why did you leave Sierra Leone?”
“Because there is a war.”
“You mean, you saw people running around with guns and shooting each other?”
“Yes, all the time.”
“Cool.”
I smile a little.
“You should tell us about it sometime.”
“Yes, sometime.”
This is how wars are fought now: by children, hopped-up on drugs and wielding AK-47s. Children have become soldiers of choice. In the more than fifty conflicts going on worldwide, it is estimated that there are some 300,000 child soldiers. Ishmael Beah used to be one of them.
What is war like through the eyes of a child soldier? How does one become a killer? How does one stop? Child soldiers have been profiled by journalists, and novelists have struggled to imagine their lives. But until now, there has not been a first-person account from someone who came through this hell and survived.
In A Long Way Gone, Beah, now twenty-five years old, tells a riveting story: how at the age of twelve, he fled attacking rebels and wandered a land rendered unrecognizable by violence. By thirteen, he’d been picked up by the government army, and Beah, at heart a gentle boy, found that he was capable of truly terrible acts.
This is a rare and mesmerizing account, told with real literary force and heartbreaking honesty.
Customer Reviews:
Enlightening........2007-10-03
I think this is a wonderful book, so moving and beautifully written that you wonder how a person can manage to lead a "normal" life after experiencing what he has been through. The author tells the story matter-of-factly without whining or complaining about the hand he's been dealt. Because of this, it makes the story even more impressive.
Not just a good read, a book that enlightens is a must-read.
Fantastic book. Recommend for all ages!.......2007-10-02
This book is truly amazing. It is almost unbelievable to read about the lives of people like Ishmael, but it's true, and it's happening today. Yes, in some parts it is certainly hard to read, but it's worth it. It is better to be shocked and scarred by this book than ignorant to it. Ishmael is a wonderfully optimistic person, and I think we can all learn a lot from his courage. In his own words, Ishmael is not an expert on the history of Sierra Lione, but by putting a face and name to this story, you will still learn a lot from him! I recommend this book to anyone and everyone!
Easy to read, hard to digest.......2007-10-02
I read this book on my flight to D.C. a couple of months ago. It was probably the fastest I have ever read a book. It was very easy to understand and painted an incredibly vivid picture in my mind. The content is important and the way Beah wrote his story makes it accessible to all.
Painful but Poignant.......2007-09-27
This book is not for the fainthearted who wants a feel good story; this is tough book to read, however, it is an important book to read as well. So often us here in the west are isolated from the fact that there are tough places to live on this planet, places where people are forced to do unspeakable acts and are exposed to unimaginable acts of violence.
This book takes on the voyage of a young man named Ishmael, who lived in the war torn country of Sierra Leone. His life is completely turned upside down by the civil war in that country. Ishmaels story is first a story of losing his family, than of losing his innocence as he is forced to fight for the Countries Army that's fighting the "rebels". After that the story focuses on his rehabilitation in a place called Freetown and eventually his new life in the United States (although I would like to know more about how he is today).
The most amazing part of this story as an American who simply didn't understand the truth, is that this Ishmael was 12 years old and was killing people, not because he was an animal, but because he was drugged and forced to become one merely to survive. This is a concept that as westerners we look on and go oh that's too bad, but do we really take the time to understand that this happens all the time in the same world we live in? Do we take the time to understand that there is big world out there and for the most part it isn't that safe little havens we take for granted? I challenge anyone who reads this book to be able to look at the world the same again.
A must read.......2007-09-26
This book is very graphic in its detail of events. It will put you right there on the front line and in the eyes of danger. I felt as though I was there experiencing all that he had. Then again I could never imagine experiencing all that he did. Its a touching story that will bring back to reality on the issues that have been going on for ages.
Book Description
Discover magazine recently called Richard Dawkins "Darwin's Rottweiler" for his fierce and effective defense of evolution. Prospect magazine voted him among the top three public intellectuals in the world (along with Umberto Eco and Noam Chomsky). Now Dawkins turns his considerable intellect on religion, denouncing its faulty logic and the suffering it causes. He critiques God in all his forms, from the sex-obsessed tyrant of the Old Testament to the more benign (but still illogical) Celestial Watchmaker favored by some Enlightenment thinkers. He eviscerates the major arguments for religion and demonstrates the supreme improbability of a supreme being. He shows how religion fuels war, foments bigotry, and abuses children, buttressing his points with historical and contemporary evidence. In so doing, he makes a compelling case that belief in God is not just irrational, but potentially deadly. Dawkins has fashioned an impassioned, rigorous rebuttal to religion, to be embraced by anyone who sputters at the inconsistencies and cruelties that riddle the Bible, bristles at the inanity of "intelligent design," or agonizes over fundamentalism in the Middle East—or Middle America.
Customer Reviews:
The best of its breed.......2007-10-10
I've read a few books of this ilk (God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything, Letter to a Christian Nation, The End of Faith: Religion, Terror, and the Future of Reason, The Looming Tower: Al Qaeda and the Road to 9/11 (Vintage)) and if you have time to read just one of them, make it The God Delusion. It covers more arguments for the existence and non-existence of God than I've seen in a range of philosophy books on theism over the years. And his sense of humor makes it a pleasure to read.
Then read the other books! The Looming Tower documents much that you will not have been aware of.
Brilliant, frightening and a compelling read!.......2007-10-09
At times hilarious, at others downright frightening - Dawkins argues quite effectively that religion is in fact counter productive to human development. While seemingly dark in parts (and occassionaly very scientific), I think his last words in the final chapter (encompassed beautifuly in his documentary based on this book, "The Root Of All Evil?"), really do speak volumes on how it is in fact religion itself that takes us away from true inner harmony and understanding, and not the other way around as argued by those with 'faith'!
Dawkins should stick to biology........2007-10-07
In an endnote to the 1989 second edition of "The Selfish Gene,"
Richard Dawkins commented on astronomers Fred Hoyle and Chandra
Wickramasinghe's characterizations of Darwinism in their publications
arguing for an extraterrestrial origin of terrestrial life:
"Publishers should correct the misapprehension that a scholar's
distinction in one field implies authority in another. And as long as
that misapprehension exists, distinguished scholars should resist the
temptation to abuse it." (p. 276 in my 2006 anniversary edition
printing)
Dawkins, a brilliant popularizer of biology and an original thinker in
evolutionary theory, would have done well to heed his own words.
Instead, he has used the reputation he built with his excellent and
massively successful popular science books to secure a publisher, a
wide audience, and an extensive speaking tour for this poorly
thought-out diatribe against religion. I have been a devout atheist
for as long as I can remember and have no fond feelings whatsoever
for religion (organized or not), and because of that I find this book
very disappointing. Even more disappointing is the fact that Dawkins,
using his great fame to promote this book, has become perhaps the most
prominent voice for atheism in the English-speaking world,
overshadowing the far more nuanced, logically sound, and
empirically-grounded work of actual experts on the subject- I would
recommend in particular "In Gods We
Trust" by Scott Atran, a subtle and multifaceted exploration of the
possible evolutionary origins of religion. It's a phenomenon all too
familiar to scholars in many fields: nuanced, unpolemical, serious
scholarship is overshouted by bombast which appeals to one "camp" or
another. Unfortunately, many people seem to prefer simplistic answers
to difficult questions.
It is particularly disappointing that "The God Delusion" lacks almost
all of the rigor, creativity, and cogency of Dawkins's previous books.
It also lacks the graceful writing of Dawkins's other output,
indulging in frequent irrelevant asides and unjustifiably long
sections given over to
Dawkins's own pet peeves. But more importantly, much of the book's
claims are simply lacking in evidence; Dawkins is content with
supporting some very bold claims with nothing more than anecdote or appeals
to his own intuition. There are too many such instances to go into
here, but I will take as example one which Dawkins chooses to harp on:
Dawkins blames religion for much of the conflict in the world, and
claims that
without it the world would be a more peaceful place. Oh, really? As an
atheist, I would indeed prefer that this were true; as a rational
person, though, I must admit that it is impossible to prove with the
evidence available. And some of the most aggressively secular regimes
in history (Lenin, Stalin...) have been among the most destructive,
often in the name of secularism.
I hope Dawkins abandons this second career as an atheist
fundamentalist and returns to writing the popular science we love him
for. For those interested in the debate on atheism, an interesting
exchange can be found here:
http://www.edge.org/discourse/bb.html
God is consciousness .......2007-10-06
Richard Dawkins justfully criticizes all negatives of fundamentalist religious orthodoxy and fanaticism based on ignorance. I fully support him in reacting against conception of God which results in intolerance, oppression, bigotry, arrogance, child abuse, homophobia, abortion-clinic bombings, cruelties to women, war, suicide bombers, and educational systems that teach ignorance when it comes to math and science. "Psychotic" God of the Old Testament is portrayed as "arguably the most unpleasant character in all fiction: jealous and proud of it; a petty, unjust, unforgiving control-freak; a vindictive, bloodthirsty ethnic cleanser; a misogynistic, homophobic, racist, infanticidal, genocidal, filicidal, pestilential, megalomaniacal, sadomasochistic, capriciously malevolent bully". I fully agree on all above accounts.
As deeply I agree with Richard on the above points, as deeply I am convinced that however smart he is, he does not know the Truth. His primary mistake is focus on wrong argument. The argument itself is about how the universe came to be. Humanity proposed three answers to this question:
1) everything has been created by someone or something
2) everything spontaneously came out to be out of nothing
3) everything has always existed
However, the above three answers are nothing more than logical possibilities and at current level of development of science, humanity does not have means to see which one is just a possibility and which one is necessity. It's very interesting to know the answer to the above, but the real argument that all focus of attention must be paid to is really not the above. The real argument must be about a phenomena that we call consciousness: what it is and where it comes from? Richard Dawkins is a biologist and despite his vast knowledge about cells, genetics, and all that physical stuff, he does not seem to bother to understand what that phenomena of consciousness is - consciousness that every human and animal possess, where it comes from, and how come modern science is so much in the dark about it. Phenomena of consciousness is an observable phenomena in the current universe in the current time and if humanity ever wants to have The Theory Of Everything, consciousness must be a part of the theory and be completely integrated into overall context. However, like I mentioned before, modern science is in truly hopeless darkness about being able to explain what consciousness is and where it comes from. The qualia of subjective experience is simply unaccessible to modern physics.
What follows below is a description of Ultimate Truth and Ultimate Reality which is based on acceptance of undeniable truth that consciousness is irreducible fundamental phenomena which does not depend on any physical stuff for its existence. Just from this alone, everything else follows naturally and necessarily.
Since the very origin, driven my awe, wonder, curiosity, and practical necessity, humanity has been trying to understand reality - what exists and how it behaves. The current state of knowledge is exemplified by modern science which discovered such fundamental entities as fields, packets of energy, and multitude of higher level systems made up of the fundamental entities (quarks, protons, neutrons, electrons, atomic nuclears, atoms, molecules, unicellular systems, multicellular systems). Have you noticed which phenomena are missing from the above list? It is the phenomena of consciousness. Modern science is a complete failure to explain where consciousness of living beings is coming from. Do physical entities mentioned above create consciousness? Is consciousness merely a behavior of physical cells? Which part of quantum mechanics or quantum field theory or string theory explains configuration of atoms or packets of energy which result in love of a child for his mother, conceptual thought, or religious experience? Are `dump' physical entities capable of creating any conscious experience and understanding of meaning or do they merely interact with consciousness and consciousness itself is a fundamental entity of reality which cannot be created by packets of energy? Does specification of a quantum state entail any parameter that is related to consciousness? That's the current state of scientific paradigm which is helplessly trying to find answers to the above questions: on the one hand we have its amazing progress in understanding mathematical structure of physical reality and on the other hand we have complete failure of science in understanding the phenomena of consciousness.
Attempt to explain consciousness in terms of neural networks is fruitless because neural network of cells is just physical stuff which raises all questions raised above, while attempt to explain consciousness in terms of neural correlates does not explain consciousness itself and where it comes from, but merely finds certain correlations (patterns in how they interact) between events in consciousness and events in external reality: for example, if there is a packet of energy striking certain type of cell, electrical signal will be generated which will be perceived as color (the presence of color and the presence of packet of energy are correlated, but as we'll see later are interrelated not through physical mechanism, but through a different one).
Let's now consider a certain part of humanity which approached the search for wisdom from a completely opposite direction. Let's consider those seekers who traditionally have been labeled spiritual mystics. They often live their lives visibly doing nothing most of the time, internally focusing their minds on mind itself, constantly mindful, concerned with observing their minds and not external world, dwelling in state of non thinkiness when mind is centrally focused on thoughts of nothingness and all other thoughts and sensations fall off without touching the central core. Over time, they reach the levels of consciousness of complete psychological freedom, profound joyful deep inner stillness, egoless way of being when the conceit `I' and all associated emotions are got rid of and all there is is simply joyful awareness of unbound infinite consciousness and knowingness that it's all that ultimately exists and they are one with the consciousness of God and there is nothing to gain or subtract and it's already total and complete. Everything else is just some images, lucid and conceptual thoughts, intentions, emotions, sensations and feelings - everything that is typically housed inside consciousness.
How can the above two views be reconciled? Are they really self contradictory and mutually exclusive? Or maybe quite the opposite - can they be complementary? The first approach is conceptually focused on mathematical structure of external (physical) reality, while the second one is experientially focused on phenomena of consciousness (internal reality).
What follows below is the picture of how `things' ultimately are - the picture in which scientific paradigm is subsumed and completely integrated into much wider context. The central tenet of this picture is the knowledge that consciousness is a fundamental phenomena or entity which cannot be created or produced by `dumb' and lifeless physical stuff. It's not reducible to anything more fundamental. Such terms as consciousness, awareness, mind, soul, and life are of the same type and are juxtaposed against such physical terms as packets of energy, matter, cells, etc, which are completely of different type.
Humans know that body is made up of cells and humans also know they (humans) are conscious. How can those cells, which themselves are made up of molecules and ultimately of packets of energy, be able to behave in such a way that consciousness arises? My first glimpse into the truth made me realize that consciousness cannot be explained in physical terms because stuff of consciousness and physical stuff are fundamentally of different kind and that physical stuff cannot create consciousness (awareness) - at best it can only interact with what already exists. That was the very first step. Later, I was badly bothered how can two entities of fundamentally different kind be able even to interact with one another. In physical reality, all physical entities have no trouble to interact with one another because ultimately they all are made of packets of energy - all made of same kind of stuff. But how can all that physical stuff, all that quantum energy foam existing somewhere in void be able to interact with the stuff of consciousness? It's obvious that packets of energy cannot feel or think or understand abstract meaning. If they themselves don't feel, think, and understand, (but we know that feeling, thoughts, and understanding exist), they must cause another entity to feel, think, and understand. They must somehow interact with something else that is capable of feeling, thinking, and understanding. But, again, how can entities of fundamentally different types be able to interact with one another? It took another year to realize that maybe physical stuff is not really physical at all. For external reality to be able to interact with consciousness, it must be of the same type. External reality is really external consciousness and entire dynamics of physical reality that we observe is really nothing more than information processing done by external consciousness. The output results of that processing are fed as sensory inputs into individual consciousness of each conscious being.
To elaborate a little bit on the above, it's worth remembering that all knowledge about `physical reality' humans have is ultimately nothing more that a certain conceptual structure (structure of concepts) people created in their minds to explain observable phenomena - and this observable phenomena is nothing more than a mere image (or sequence of images) in people's minds. Most people think they see external objects directly, while in reality all they see are just images (colors and shapes) in the own minds. On top of those images, people produced conceptual schemas to explain the internal logic of sequence of images. To summarize, all knowledge humans have about external reality is really knowledge about images inside their minds plus some conceptions and inferences about what is not visible images. More enlightened people who understand the above still think that it's physical reality that produces these images (or conscious experience and abstract meaning in general) inside people's mind, but how can physical stuff interact with consciousness?
To answer the question above, all we have to do is to abandon assumption that `physical' is actually physical -all we have to do is to redefine what we mean by physical. As long as images are self consistent, present themselves objectively to different minds, and obey strict laws (which we know they are), we can propose another mechanism of how they are produced by something that feeds them into our consciousness according to strict mathematical rules. Like physicist John Wheeler said: "bit from qubit' when he was trying to articulate his view that physical reality is not really physical but is nothing more that information. Astrophysicist Sir James Jeans wrote that "the universe begins to look more like a great thought than like a great machine". Similarly, we can propose that maybe external reality is not physical but instead informational reality which includes a number of abstract concepts and specifies the mathematical laws of their behavior. Images inside our minds are produced according to those laws and are fed into our consciousness. However, if we take the above step of removing assumption that external reality is physical and if we take the step of redefining external reality as informational, we still have a difficulty accepting that the above informational or conceptual reality exists somewhere there in the void (like Plato thought). Maybe it does not after all. All that information and information processing must exist and happen in external consciousness. As long as we accept this, we are not troubled any longer by the question of how two entities of fundamentally different type can interact with one another.
Human consciousness does not really know where all that sensory input is coming from - all that it knows is that it's conscious of some sensory input. However, it's only the intellectual (abstract) aspect of consciousness that can see beyond the above ignorance and discover that in order to be able to explain both consciousness and external reality in one self-consistent framework; one must postulate that what we call physical reality is actually informational or conceptual reality. If we stop here and just say that there is consciousness on one side and there is informational reality on another side, we are still troubled by question where consciousness itself comes from and by question where informational reality exists (it cannot exist in void, can it?). To solve the latter problem, we have to postulate (or just to admit the obvious) that abstract concepts (information) can exist in mind/consciousness only and thus the informational reality exists in the mind of super consciousness as conceptual structure which specifies certain abstract entities, behavior of which is executed according to strict mathematical rules and certain outcomes of that execution are fed into our human consciousness and perceived as images, bodily feelings, and other sensory inputs, while capacity to feel and think is inert build-in quality of human consciousness itself. The answer to the first question becomes obvious: our human consciousness exists only because the underlying reality itself is made of consciousness (the consciousness of super consciousness).
So there are really no `physical' waves or packets of `physical' energy or `physical' strings vibrating in void, but merely mathematical description of behavior of abstract `platonic' entities conceived and existing in super consciousness. That's the only way to explain how both seemingly irreconcilable phenomena can interact and it's the only way to explain where human consciousness is coming from.
So to summarize the entire picture: traditionally it's believed that there is consciousness of non physical immaterial type and there is external reality of physical type. In this view no one knows how external physical reality can create consciousness or even how it can interact with consciousness because they are of two fundamentally different types. In the new picture, there is our human consciousness and there is consciousness of a super consciousness - both are of the same type. Human consciousness perceives what super consciousness feeds into it and there is no interaction problem because both are of the same type and both exchange information and not some `physical' stuff. The practical result is the same - we still have objective and self consistent sensory input, but the underlying mechanism and reality are different.
Amazingly, it's what all those spiritual mystics have been saying all the while and they discovered this through conscious meditative experience and not through intellect. Equally amazing is that it becomes very clear that modern science is not negated, but accepted as very substantial part of entire world view both in its achievements and method.
So basically all there exists is CONSIOUSNESS. This super consciousness created conceptual structure of what we call physical reality (now it becomes named informational or conceptual reality). The super consciousness executes certain algorithm that specifies rules of evolution - how `physical' reality transitions from one state to another - from one quantum state to another. This super consciousness also created numerous individual consciousnesses (souls). Certain outcomes of the above execution are fed into those individual consciousnesses as sensory inputs and bodily feelings. In reality, it's super consciousness that interacts with numerous individual consciousnesses (something akin to biblical idea of Trinity of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit - father is super consciousness (God), sons are individual consciousnesses of human beings, and holy spirit is enlightened state of consciousness of some of them - the state of union of Father and Son, of super consciousness and individual consciousness).
Super consciousness is omnipotent because it feeds information into human consciousness to create perception of external reality and it can feed anything it wishes. It's omniscient because human consciousness is a `locally' bound part of super consciousness itself where every thought, every attitude, and every intention we think and have is open to direct examination by super consciousness - not only it knows the exact conceptual structure and laws of `physical' reality it itself created and the exact values of all quantum parameters of every quantum state, but also every single thought we think and every feeling we experience. Super consciousness is omnipresent because it's all there is - everything else is inside it existing either as structures of conceptual entities or `locally' bound parts of consciousness (individual souls).
The Truth is One, while currently humanity produced several systems of thought which are not mutually integrated and often mutually exclusive. The world view proposed above unites the views of Modern Physical Science, Evolution, Intelligent Design, Materialism, Idealism, Hinduism, Buddhism, core of Christianity, Plato, Balsekar, Peter Russell, David Hawkins, and others into one View in which modern science is responsible for understanding conceptual structure of `physical' reality as conceived and housed by super consciousness, while spirituality is responsible for giving practical directions on what and how to do with your own consciousness for the goal is clear: the perceivable union of your own consciousness with the super consciousness (God) through following certain practical steps. All ethical, moral, and religious tenets are mere consequences of the above goal.
The proposed view explains the nature of God as consciousness; it explains where human consciousness comes from and how they both interact by exchanging information. The above is nothing more than a necessary consequence of a fact that consciousness cannot be created by `dumb and lifeless' packets of energy. Everything follows naturally out of that undeniable fact. On top of that, the proposed view makes the purpose of living clear as a path to union between our human consciousness and super consciousness (God) and the goal is not some arbitrary postulated choice, but has the character of necessity. Human consciousness, when perceivably separated from the source, feels lost in doubt and unsatisfied. All kinds of wicked states follow which result in wicked choices and behavior. When in union with the source, profound gentle piece follows and there is a realization that it's all total and complete and there is nothing to gain or lose. There are many shades in between - many levels of proximity to the source - with each level a person becomes wiser, more enlightened, more secure, more egoless, and happier.
The Goldilocksfish Question.......2007-10-05
Two goldilocksfish swimming around in a bowl.. One says to the other:
`If there is no God, how come: 1) The temperature in here is just right; 2) Food arrives regularly; 3) The water gets cleaned?
The second goldilocksfish (who happens to be a Professor for the Goldilocksfish Understanding Of Science) replies:
` It is probable that we live in a multiverse that contains an astronomically large number of fish-bowls. Most of those bowls will be completely lifeless. The fact that we are here able to discuss the matter means that we are fortunate to live in one of the tiny number of bowls capable of sustaining evolved life. In the words of the old song: We' re here because we' re here, because we're here! `
Amazon.com
Updated Edition: Thomas L. Friedman is not so much a futurist, which he is sometimes called, as a presentist. His aim in The World Is Flat, as in his earlier, influential Lexus and the Olive Tree, is not to give you a speculative preview of the wonders that are sure to come in your lifetime, but rather to get you caught up on the wonders that are already here. The world isn't going to be flat, it is flat, which gives Friedman's breathless narrative much of its urgency, and which also saves it from the Epcot-style polyester sheen that futurists--the optimistic ones at least--are inevitably prey to.
What Friedman means by "flat" is "connected": the lowering of trade and political barriers and the exponential technical advances of the digital revolution that have made it possible to do business, or almost anything else, instantaneously with billions of other people across the planet. This in itself should not be news to anyone. But the news that Friedman has to deliver is that just when we stopped paying attention to these developments--when the dot-com bust turned interest away from the business and technology pages and when 9/11 and the Iraq War turned all eyes toward the Middle East--is when they actually began to accelerate. Globalization 3.0, as he calls it, is driven not by major corporations or giant trade organizations like the World Bank, but by individuals: desktop freelancers and innovative startups all over the world (but especially in India and China) who can compete--and win--not just for low-wage manufacturing and information labor but, increasingly, for the highest-end research and design work as well. (He doesn't forget the "mutant supply chains" like Al-Qaeda that let the small act big in more destructive ways.)
Friedman has embraced this flat world in his own work, continuing to report on his story after his book's release and releasing an unprecedented hardcover update of the book a year later with 100 pages of revised and expanded material. What's changed in a year? Some of the sections that opened eyes in the first edition--on China and India, for example, and the global supply chain--are largely unaltered. Instead, Friedman has more to say about what he now calls "uploading," the direct-from-the-bottom creation of culture, knowledge, and innovation through blogging, podcasts, and open-source software. And in response to the pleas of many of his readers about how to survive the new flat world, he makes specific recommendations about the technical and creative training he thinks will be required to compete in the "New Middle" class. As before, Friedman tells his story with the catchy slogans and globe-hopping anecdotes that readers of his earlier books and his New York Times columns know well, and he holds to a stern sort of optimism. He wants to tell you how exciting this new world is, but he also wants you to know you're going to be trampled if you don't keep up with it. A year later, one can sense his rising impatience that our popular culture, and our political leaders, are not helping us keep pace. --Tom Nissley
Where Were You When the World Went Flat?
Thomas L. Friedman's reporter's curiosity and his ability to recognize the patterns behind the most complex global developments have made him one of the most entertaining and authoritative sources for information about the wider world we live in, both as the foreign affairs columnist for the New York Times and as the author of landmark books like From Beirut to Jerusalem and The Lexus and the Olive Tree. They also make him an endlessly fascinating conversation partner, and we've now had the chance to talk to him about The World Is Flat twice. Read our original interview with him following the publication of the first edition of The World Is Flat to learn why there's almost no one from Washington, D.C., listed in the index of a book about the global economy, and what his one-plank platform for president would be. (Hint: his bumper stickers would say, "Can You Hear Me Now?")
And now you can listen to our second interview, in which he talks about the updates he's made in "The World Is Flat 2.0," including his response to parents who said to him, "Great, Mr. Friedman, I'm glad you told us the world is flat. Now what do I tell my kids?"
The Essential Tom Friedman
From Beirut to Jerusalem |
The Lexus and the Olive Tree |
Longitudes and Attitudes |
More on Globalization and Development
China, Inc. by Ted Fishman |
Three Billion New Capitalists by Clyde Prestowitz |
The End of Poverty by Jeffrey Sachs |
Globalization and Its Discontents by Joseph Stiglitz |
The Travels of a T-Shirt in the Global Economy by Pietra Rivoli |
The Mystery of Capital by Hernando de Soto |
Book Description
The World Is Flat is Thomas L. Friedman’s account of the great changes taking place in our time, as lightning-swift advances in technology and communications put people all over the globe in touch as never before—creating an explosion of wealth in India and China, and challenging the rest of us to run even faster just to stay in place. This updated and expanded edition features more than a hundred pages of fresh reporting and commentary, drawn from Friedman’s travels around the world and across the American heartland—from anyplace where the flattening of the world is being felt.
In The World Is Flat, Friedman at once shows “how and why globalization has now shifted into warp drive” (Robert Wright, Slate) and brilliantly demystifies the new flat world for readers, allowing them to make sense of the often bewildering scene unfolding before their eyes. With his inimitable ability to translate complex foreign policy and economic issues, he explains how the flattening of the world happened at the dawn of the twenty-first century; what it means to countries, companies, communities, and individuals; how governments and societies can, and must, adapt; and why terrorists want to stand in the way. More than ever, The World Is Flat is an essential update on globalization, its successes and discontents, powerfully illuminated by one of our most respected journalists.
Download Description
The Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times columnist gives a bold, timely, and surprising picture of the state of globalization in the twenty-first century
Customer Reviews:
Embracing Business Globalization's Irreversibility.......2007-10-10
This is easily the most relevant book written on the new realities of business globalization, its irreversibility, and the practical consequences to our future. Friedman does an excellent job describing the numerous factors that led up to our current global economy including the ongoing fall of communism, the advent of the personal computer, and the ubiquity of the Internet. His historical review and assessment is fascinating and it sets up the reader to understand the context for his theories and practical applications. Friedman delves into numerous industries, businesses, personalities, case studies, technologies, psychological factors, and sociological factors. Although he covers numerous business, technological, and economic concepts, his writing style is very engaging and entertaining, using many personal examples and narratives, thereby holding the reader's interest. Rather than bemoaning some of the common perceived negative consequences of a global economy (such as US auto workers losing jobs to overseas cheaper labor) Friedman helps the reader to understand business globalization's irreversibility. In so doing, he describes many personal, practical, and business strategies for thriving in this new environment. Friedman is realistic and compassionate concerning the changes and the challenges. He states, "the great challenge for our time will be to absorb these changes in ways that do not overwhelm people but also do not leave them behind. None of this will be easy. But this is our task. It is inevitable and unavoidable" (pp. 46-47). As Friedman unfolds his strategies, he gives the reader a broader, global perspective that is filled with hope and excitement. Whether as a CEO, a business student, or a brand new professional embarking upon a career, this book is insightful, practical, and essential reading.
What a good boy am I.......2007-10-06
Reading this book is like watching someone else's kids open their Christmas presents from relatives they don't really know. I'm not sure how the author can possibly be so fascinated by technology and yet know absolutely nothing about it at the same time, but his endless diatribes about the miracles of PayPal and Microsoft Word are beyond laughable, and I was pretty much in shock when he started citing howstuffworks-dot-com as a technical reference on fiber optics and SOAP. What editor told him that this was OK?
So enamored with his own cleverness is he that Mr. Friedman dedicates several pages to explaining the book's title, even though a single sentence would have sufficed. Unfortunately, this doesn't stop after the first chapter; rather than make a point and move on, he has to point out the fact that he just made a point and tell you what a wonderful point it was just in case you missed the point. It's like hanging out with that one friend who sits around smiling and pointing to his hindquarters after he rips one off at the dinner table.
If you want to learn about globalization and are not old enough to remember the first light bulb, go read "No Logo" instead. This is horrible, irrelevant geriatric babbling.
My opinion is flat.......2007-10-03
When a book has had over a thousand reviews, what can I possibly say that hasn't already been said? So I will keep it short and not so sweet.
No one will read this book, or any of the updates, for "fun." Do you NEED to read it? Yes, it contains some important economic concepts and realities, but it's a bit overlong. I'd say it could be cut in half, so skim through some of the numerous "interviews," repetition of central points, and endless advice and encouragement. The global pie is getting bigger and better, but the competition for piecies of that pie is heating up. Smart, ambitious, creative people will thrive; slow, lazy, dull people will languish, and everything inbetween. For too long many Americans have been sitting on their laurels and the day of reckoning is near. Heed this warning: Put down your TV remotes, game controllers, and iPods, and start working like your life (or lifestyle) depended on it. Get your rear into some serious gear, and don't balk at the notion that you should be an "expert" in at least three different, unrelated fields. Does this scare or excite you?
In so many interviews with foreign entrepreneurs, we are told (or reassured) that no matter how much of the "mundane" work is performed by countries other than the U.S., America's creative and innovative spark is still unsurpassed: All the world looks to America to lead the way into the future. I'm not sure. A lot of that "mundane" work was high level and highly paid, and why should we expect that America will continue to dominate in creativity and innovation? The truth is, we're in for a flattening of living standards, and from the perspective of the relatively high American standard of living, it will seem like a drop in standards until we reach another equilibrium (who knows how long that will take?). In any case, the reassurances about the talents and abilities of Americans seem at odds with other parts of the book, such as Bill Gates feeling "terrified at the American work force of tomorrow."
If you're already working hard at becoming an expert in three fields, then you probably don't need to read this book. Indeed, you probably don't have time to read it, or to read and write Amazon reviews, for that matter.
Great book to introduce an inside to the 90's and now.......2007-10-03
This was an excellent book for someone who is ever curious about the expanding global ecomomy as a whole. As a sailor in the U.S. Navy I found the book fasinating because I not only grew up during which most of the book was talking about but I am witnessing the predictions of the book first hand. Great book all around!!
Friedman's writing and subjects are captivating.......2007-09-27
Are you still a little confused about why American corporations are outsourcing to India and manufacturing in China, or why Al Qaeda has suddenly become so powerful? If so, this is the book for you.
Friedman's made 'Globalization' simple enough for a high school student to understand. That being said, this is NOT a high school textbook. It is NOT dry. Friedman is a great journalist and an author who will hold your attention chapter after chapter.
Friedman has a knack for taking complex and often emotionally charged issues and breaking them down into easy to understand concepts. You don't have to be a graduate student to enjoy this book. It's great!
Book Description
The United States is one of the most religious places on earth, but it is also a nation of shocking religious illiteracy.
- Only 10 percent of American teenagers can name all five major world religions and 15 percent cannot name any.
- Nearly two-thirds of Americans believe that the Bible holds the answers to all or most of life's basic questions, yet only half of American adults can name even one of the four gospels and most Americans cannot name the first book of the Bible.
Despite this lack of basic knowledge, politicians and pundits continue to root public policy arguments in religious rhetoric whose meanings are missed—or misinterpreted—by the vast majority of Americans.
"We have a major civic problem on our hands," says religion scholar Stephen Prothero. He makes the provocative case that to remedy this problem, we should return to teaching religion in the public schools. Alongside "reading, writing, and arithmetic," religion ought to become the "Fourth R" of American education.
Many believe that America's descent into religious illiteracy was the doing of activist judges and secularists hell-bent on banishing religion from the public square. Prothero reveals that this is a profound misunderstanding. "In one of the great ironies of American religious history," Prothero writes, "it was the nation's most fervent people of faith who steered us down the road to religious illiteracy. Just how that happened is one of the stories this book has to tell."
Prothero avoids the trap of religious relativism by addressing both the core tenets of the world's major religions and the real differences among them. Complete with a dictionary of the key beliefs, characters, and stories of Christianity, Islam, and other religions, Religious Literacy reveals what every American needs to know in order to confront the domestic and foreign challenges facing this country today.
Customer Reviews:
A misleading book, should have been titled "Christian Literacy".......2007-10-08
I was so upset with this book. Even the cover is misleading. The first half of this work is basically a history of Christianity in AMERICA (and often you feel that the author is waxing nalstalgic for the good 'ol days of "Christian" America) and then the second half is a mediocre dictionary of Religion. Money would be better spend on a cheap dictionary of Eastern or world religion. If this book had been marketed as "Religious Literacy for Christians" I would understand the direction of the book. As it is, I felt like this book was marketed as an attempt to pull in the reader (such as myself) who is interested in expanding their comprehension of WORLD religions, but once having your attention it tries to convice you that we are living in a Christian country and that it has always been so.
Makes the case but never tells us *what* we need to know.......2007-09-27
Despite the lack of religion taught in public schools or the anti-relgion impressions given by the media, America is a very religious nation. It was founded by religious people and it's history is entwined with religon. Even today, politicians frequently invoke religion and cite scriptural references and most Americans will report that they regularly attend religious services and pray. The problem is that not many of those people actually have much religious knowledge (an assertion supported by a just-released Sept 2007 survey conducted by the Pew Research Center). Few can name all Ten Commandments or any Apostles, not to mention even cursory knowledge about Eastern religions. Contrast this with Europeans, who have broad religious knowledge but don't attend church or pray. Mr. Prothero explains how religion factored in early American life, the affects of secularism and how America shifted away from valuing religious knowledge, and clears up the confusion over the legalities of teaching religion. He also makes a case for the need for greater religious literacy without showing any favoritism.
The problem is that the title is terribly misleading: "Religious Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know - and Doesn't" infers that this book will tell us what we NEED to know. It doesn't. It sounds like I know more about scriptures and my own church than most people do about theirs, but I know very little about other churches. I would like to learn some basics about Buddhism, Hinduism, Judaism, Islam, and Christian religions such as the Catholics, Protestants, and Evangelicals and was hoping for summaries to help me better understand. All the book has to offer is a "dictionary" that was nice, but not really what I was hoping for. I already agree with the author that knowledge of religion is lacking - myself included - but the book doesn't really take the next step. Mr. Prothero complains that even many churches today teach only broad "touchy-feely" concepts like "love" and "Jesus" but fail to impart a deeper understanding, but he's guilty of the same sin.
The discussions of religion in Colonial America and how we became a secular nation was interesting, but I think most people who pick up this book will also agree with the author, and as such it ends up being little more than preaching to the choir.
disguised argument.... .......2007-09-13
The title is misleading. I expected to be educated regarding the myriad religions in the world, many of them with a substantial presence in the United States. Instead, the author works to convince the reader The Bible should be required study in America's public schools. The author did place much of the blame for religious illiteracy on religion itself and not so much on secularism. He also did not mention America's woeful failing regarding science literacy, but then this is a book whose emphasis is religion.
Americans most certainly are ignorant regarding religion, even their own, but this book does not live up to the goal stated in its title. The title should have been "My argument for Bible Study in public schools."
Teach ABOUT Religion instead of Teaching Religion ..........2007-09-02
A persuasive argument for teaching about religion, not proselytizing. Author Stephen Prothero traces the degradation in religious knowledge, not necessarily observance, in the United States over the past 150 years.
Nowadays, the gods of Political Correctness must be appeased. People are reluctant to bring up or discuss the topic of religion. As a result, it has largely left the school system. He offers some salient examples of illiteracy and ignorance with regard to basic religious concepts (for example, some people believe that the epistles were the wives of the apostles!!).
Prothero spends more time making his argument than advancing solutions, the chief example of which is restoring education about religion in the public schools and beyond. He makes a salient point and differentiation between teaching about religion and pushing religious beliefs on to people. It is a persuasive case and timely, since so many modern conflicts and foreign-policy issues are shaped by religious belief.
The majority of the book is comprised of a glossary of religious concepts and terms. This alone provides a valuable reference. There is also a quiz in the Appendix so that readers can gauge their own degree of religious literacy.
A thought-provoking and persuasive book!
Important yes -- but a Fourth R?.......2007-09-01
The Professor of Religion effectively proves that we need more religious education. Yes, his department of religion should be more important but is there not a crying need for the more basic Three Rs to be taken care of first before we divert resources?
And what about the lack of Financial Literacy? Not knowing about Whahhabism could certainly hurt us again, but not understanding the dangers to borrowers and the economy contained in the fine print in sub-prime real estate loans could, it turns out, drive us into recession (some economists think recession will hit us next year) and that could even hurt us more.
The application of limited educational resources should be well balanced. It comes down to a question of priorities. And the author of this fine book is overstating the priority of his department and career field.
Book Description
How to speed up business processes, improve quality, and cut costs in any industry
In factories around the world, Toyota consistently makes the highest-quality cars with the fewest defects of any competing manufacturer, while using fewer man-hours, less on-hand inventory, and half the floor space of its competitors. The Toyota Way is the first book for a general audience that explains the management principles and business philosophy behind Toyota's worldwide reputation for quality and reliability.
Complete with profiles of organizations that have successfully adopted Toyota's principles, this book shows managers in every industry how to improve business processes by:
- Eliminating wasted time and resources
- Building quality into workplace systems
- Finding low-cost but reliable alternatives to expensive new technology
- Producing in small quantities
- Turning every employee into a qualitycontrol inspector
Customer Reviews:
Excellent book on the Toyota Way and Lean Manufacturing!.......2007-09-07
Jeffrey Liker clearly knows what he writes about. The book is the result of more than a decade of study, on site visits and interviews with several Toyota key people. It describes 14 toyota principles, which go through the Toyota Philosophy, the Toyota Production System, the relationship with employeees, customers, suppliers and partners, and a focus on continuous improvement. No wonder Toyota is one of world top most admired companies!
Very interesting is also the Japanese management principles and mindset - slow but determined, patient, self-reflection, learning by actuall observation and doing, consensus seeking, and managing for the long term.
By coincidence, yesterday (6/Sep/2007) the news came up that Jim Press (American Toyota President)was hired by Chrysler - I can imagine why.
Good Book on Toyota and Lean.......2007-06-30
A good book on the Toyota Production System (TPS) and Lean manufacturing. Liker does a good job of explaining both. I especially liked his cautions about mis-using Lean principles and pitfalls to failure.
Like most business books, the important stuff could have been expressed in many fewer pages. Liker almost gushes about Toyota to the extent that it somethimes reads as a vanity or promotional publication by Toyota - this makes me wonder if it really presents a balanced perspective.
Overall, I recommend it to anyone interested in Toyota or Lean.
Attitude Check.......2007-06-12
Great expose of the attitude of one of the worlds most impressive business organizations. Detailed, but not cumbersome. More than just another "how to" manual. A "must read" for decision makers in any business.
Yes, the book lives up to what the slip cover says........2007-06-10
Any business owner, manager or individual team member who wonders how companies improve should read this. If you wonder why some people love lean processes while others say it does not work should read this book.
I've been a manufacturing engineer since 1981, and I joined a lot of start-up companies because I love the growth and development phase of building a company up. Some worked, some did not. This book has a nice way of explaining what Toyota does and what the others fail to do.
Excellent book!.......2007-05-19
One of my clients saw this book in an airport stand and asked me if it was worth reading. I read the book out of mere curiosity and was totally engrossed. It is well-organized, simple, and clear. While not all companies can implement the Toyota Production System, there are certainly great ideas in this book that can be implemented by any company.
Book Description
Meet BLACKWATER USA, the world's most secretive and powerful mercenary firm. Based in the wilderness of North Carolina, it is the fastest-growing private army on the planet with forces capable of carrying out regime change throughout the world. Blackwater protects the top US officials in Iraq and yet we know almost nothing about the firm's quasi-military operations in Iraq, Afghanistan and inside the US. Blackwater was founded by an extreme right-wing fundamentalist Christian mega-millionaire ex- Navy Seal named Erik Prince, the scion of a wealthy conservative family that bankrolls far-right-wing causes.
Blackwater is the dark story of the rise of a powerful mercenary army, ranging from the blood-soaked streets of Fallujah to rooftop firefights in Najaf to the hurricane-ravaged US gulf to Washington DC, where Blackwater executives are hailed as new heroes in the war on terror. This is an extraordinary exposé by one of America's most exciting young radical journalists.
Customer Reviews:
Lazy hippie critizes American hero!!!! .......2007-10-08
How to describe Erik Prince? A man who grew up with tons of money and still decided to serve this country, in the Navy SEALs no less, risking his life in serveral engagements. Continuing his father's legacy of putting Americans to work and building this country by providing security and support to our military which Clinton gracefully gutted for us. A true American to the core!!!!
How dare Jeremy Scahill bash this man????!!!!! What has Jeremy Scahill done for this country lately??? Must be that liberal sense of "if you don't do anything, nobody can critize you since nothing is almost impossible to screw up". Blackwater employees have held out against terrorist with our conventional military, has a spotless record in regards to never loosing a person they had to protect under contract, and only lost less than 30 employees during the entirely of the Iraq War. Liberals like Jeremy Scahill want nothing more than Blackwater employees to be subjected to lynch mobs and ridicuolous RoEs (Rules of Engagement). Liberals love nothing more than court martialing our troops for performing their duties while watching from afar.
Jeremy Scahill seems to think New Orleans after the Hurricane was just daisies until Blackwater showed up. Does he critize the looting, rapes, murders, or any other of the horrid behavior that occurred in the aftermath of Katrina? No he is more concerned that Blackwater is not "accountable".
News flash!!! Blackwater is a private company meaning it is always accountable to their customers. They arn't the government who can take you money away through force. Long live Erik Price!!! This country needs more men like him.
Personal agenda wastes a potentially fantastic scoop.......2007-10-08
I just finished reading Blackwater:The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army, and I am still reeling from how disappointing it was. Maybe I'm an action junkie, the stem cells of my attention span tinkered with by the cocktails of impulse that video games provide. I went in expecting to read about Blackwater and how it operated, its tactics, training, its harrowing hidden stories of what evils unregulated private armies commit.
What I got instead was a few pages of the good stuff, and four hundred remaining pages of anti-neo-con, anti-right-wing, anti-religious-right, anti-any-religious-con diatribe. What could have been a sharp tale about a frightening, unregulated cult of ex-special forces types selling their warfaring skills fizzled and drowned itself out. Instead, we got a tale about something bad that every person ever connected to anyone remotely related to Blackwater has ever done. The amount of implicit condemnation isn't just infuriating or unfair, it's just plain boring to read. Skeletons can be dug up in anyone's closet. Scahill had plenty of material for Blackwater alone, but each page just got more and more personal, attacking every politician or figure he's hated, until I closed the book, read the back cover, and discovered, to no surprise, praise form Michael Moore, who pioneered these very techniques.
What techniques? Why, the one where first you imply someone is a bad boy because someone else he knows has done something bad at some point in his life. Then, you simultaneously praise and criticize the same people, using them as you see fit. The favorite Moorian target is the soldier, who is described as a dumb lunk of American arrogance sometimes, and as a sensitive family man at others. It just depends on which heartstring they wanna pull. Scahill is a journalist, and should be above this kind of liberal manipulation. Read it yourself, and see how many scandalous things mentioned have anything to do with Blackwater itself.
Even with his personal agenda splattered on top, which would only bother conservatives like me, the book still lacks a good narrative. There are constant detours that leave me wondering what any of it has to do with Blackwater. There's way too much repetitious foreshadowing, and much of the "facts" could have been left in endnotes. I say "facts" because they are facts, but that doesn't make this an impartial book. If he wanted to say privatization of the army was a disaster, I'd wholeheartedly agree, free-market capitalist that I am. But if he was trying to tell a riveting tale of conspiracy, a soapbox was not the best place to spin an engaging yarn.
5 stars for Erik Prince - 0 for the novelist.......2007-10-08
The author Scahill definitely has an agenda as many of the 1 star reviewers rate. He wastes no time pointing out that Erik Prince donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to Republicans and $0 to democrats. The author also repeatedly 'accuses' Erik Prince of being a fanatic religious right winger who was brought up in Calvinism and later converted to Roman Catholicism - as if that is a bad thing. However, to his credit, the author did point out many of the wonderful gifts, million$ in sponsorships and contributions to colleges and businesses that Erik Prince's father, a self-made millionaire, gave to the lakeside community they grew up in. Mr. Prince was a capitalist with a heart of gold who not only took great care of his family but also took care of the people who worked for his company as well as his community. After attacking the Prince family, the author 'relives' the major fights in Fallujah and Najaf purporting as if he were there to know what our troops were actually thinking but he writes nothing about the Iran insurgency where the vast majority of the IEDs killing our troops and car bombs killing Iraqis come from. An entire chapter is devoted to the sources in the book but hundreds of the sources contain one word - 'ibid', or 'interview' but not with or by whom the interview was conducted. Fat slob michaelmoore drooled a blurb for the jacket- go figure! As for buying this book, wait for leftover stock and get it for $1, it will be there in very short order.
Not worth it even if you despise the War.......2007-09-30
This book was such a letdown. I had no idea it was written with such an agenda. Even though I probably agree quite a bit with the author, I did not buy this book to read someone's column. I expected a history of Blackwater to better understand it. Instead this book ruins any interesting tidbits by always throwing in a biased opinion. It made reading the book very difficult even for someone who is anti-war. Really a shame since this could have been an important book. The only ones who will like it are those so close minded that they can only read books that share their viewpoint. Hence the 5 star reviews. Not for anyone with an open mind.
Thrilling!.......2007-09-25
Highly enjoyable book if you can overlook the preachy and somewhat hysterical tone. I can't decide if it's inadvertent, since this is ostensibly some sort of exposé, but the author gives Blackwater this highly appealing aura of danger and excitement and glamour.
Have you ever seen one of those lurid B-movies from the 50s, narrator lectures on the dangers of marijuana, fast women, go-go dancing and other sensational trash? Yet, at the same time, promoting it because it's hot? It's a bit in that tradition I think.
Book Description
From the most highly respected analyst of foreign policy writing today, a story of wasted opportunity and squandered prestige: a critique of the last three U.S. presidents' foreign policy.
America's most distinguished commentator on foreign policy, former National Security Adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski, offers a reasoned but unsparing assessment of the last three presidential administrations' foreign policy. Though spanning less than two decades, these administrations cover a vitally important turning point in world history: the period in which the United States, having emerged from the Cold War with unprecedented power and prestige, managed to squander both in a remarkably short time. This is a tale of decline: from the competent but conventional thinking of the first Bush administration, to the well-intentioned self-indulgence of the Clinton administration, to the mortgaging of America's future by the "suicidal statecraft" of the second Bush administration. Brzezinski concludes with a chapter on how America can regain its lost prestige. This scholarly yet highly opinionated book is sure to be both controversial and influential.
Customer Reviews:
The idealism is better than the realism .......2007-08-29
Intelligence is no substitute for integrity. In surveying the world - situation and the role three U.S. Presidents had after the fall of the Soviet Union Brezinski fails to give prominent place to one major development he himself had considerable responsibility for i.e. the rise of Islamic fundamentalism. It was he who as Carter's foreign policy chief - advisor supervised the fall of the Shah in Iran, and did nothing to prevent the rise of the radical Islamic regime there. He also helped put into place the Mujadeen in Afghanistan, and they have been a key element in the rise of Global Islam worldwide.
In this book he focuses on what he considers the missed opportunities of the U.S. after the fall of the Soviet Union. He is especially critical of the current President.
Brezinski does have interesting things to say about current American weaknesses including the balance of payments problem, the problem of a loss of kind of moral discipline.
His idea of the United States leading mankind to a new era of dignity and freedom is a good one. And for his 'idealism' expressed most fully in the final chapter the book is worth reading.
DR. BRZEZINSKI SHOULD BE RUNNING THIS COUNTRY.......2007-07-25
I feel strongly, that this book says what most rational people in the "world!" are thinking. It is pure and clear truth. It could have been a lot less disasterous for our country, if Dr. Brzezinski could have tutored bush/cheney/rice, on how to lead a great nation with "integrity, honor and some backbone." Can we find a way for a man like Dr. Brzezinski,(who was born in Europe/Poland), to run for President?! Fantastic book! I read it in one sitting.
Second Chance: 3 presidents and the Crisis of American Superpower.......2007-07-21
Grim yet fairly non-biased assessment of the administrations since the fall of the wall. There is some hope at the end of the book, but it will take an extraordinary turn of events to keep America from losing its place in global stature.
His critical eye on the current administration is no nonsense and, sadly, accurate.
J'Accuse.......2007-07-08
This is nothing more than a scathing indictment on eight years of GWB misrule.
To distinguish his indictment from other partisan rhetoric, ZB has placed his argument in a much wider and rational perspective. He has reviewed also the missteps of the previous two US Presidents in the foreign policy arena, and the lost chances of securing and cementing a true global leadership position for USA.
What is so different with the current regime is of course not just a matter of lost chances but colossal cost to US interests abroad. Not to mention lack of any significant progress in any key domestic agenda issues to balance it all.
ZB tries to make the argument at the end that all is not lost, and US still has a chance to regain its leadership position following certain steps.
His argument is not very credible though. He ignores the fact that US, as a nation, thinks and feels very differently than the one of 50s and 60s which put US on a moral path to global leadership. Things are indeed different, and second chance seems to be wishful thinking mostly.
Writing is excellent as expected, delivery and reasoning forceful and complete. Interesting reading for those of us contemplating the next chapter.
Brilliant. A must read as we approach the future election they are boring us with ..........2007-06-28
I happen to hear this guy on Charlie Rose the other night and went out and bought his book. The book isnt as interesting as he is in an interview live but its well worth the read.
His analysis of the past three administrations is superb. It is balanced and I think offers great insight into the hits and misses of our leaders. He goes on to explain his views on the world post Russia and our missed opportunites. His close of post 2008 I would love to hear discussed by him and others.
An important book for this country. Get it and read it and act.
Book Description
The bestselling author of The Botany of Desire explores the ecology of eating to unveil why we consume what we consume in the twenty-first century
"What should we have for dinner?" To one degree or another this simple question assails any creature faced with a wide choice of things to eat. Anthropologists call it the omnivore's dilemma. Choosing from among the countless potential foods nature offers, humans have had to learn what is safe, and what isn't-which mushrooms should be avoided, for example, and which berries we can enjoy. Today, as America confronts what can only be described as a national eating disorder, the omnivore's dilemma has returned with an atavistic vengeance. The cornucopia of the modern American supermarket and fast-food outlet has thrown us back on a bewildering landscape where we once again have to worry about which of those tasty-looking morsels might kill us. At the same time we're realizing that our food choices also have profound implications for the health of our environment. The Omnivore's Dilemma is bestselling author Michael Pollan's brilliant and eye-opening exploration of these little-known but vitally important dimensions of eating in America.
Pollan has divided The Omnivore's Dilemma into three parts, one for each of the food chains that sustain us: industrialized food, alternative or "organic" food, and food people obtain by dint of their own hunting, gathering, or gardening. Pollan follows each food chain literally from the ground up to the table, emphasizing our dynamic coevolutionary relationship with the species we depend on. He concludes each section by sitting down to a meal--at McDonald's, at home with his family sharing a dinner from Whole Foods, and in a revolutionary "beyond organic" farm in Virginia. For each meal he traces the provenance of everything consumed, revealing the hidden components we unwittingly ingest and explaining how our taste for particular foods reflects our environmental and biological inheritance.
We are indeed what we eat-and what we eat remakes the world. A society of voracious and increasingly confused omnivores, we are just beginning to recognize the profound consequences of the simplest everyday food choices, both for ourselves and for the natural world. The Omnivore's Dilemma is a long-overdue book and one that will become known for bringing a completely fresh perspective to a question as ordinary and yet momentous as What shall we have for dinner?
Customer Reviews:
Rigo's review........2007-10-09
Testing the review. Looks like a good call to the conscience's health for eating habits.
Compelling reading!.......2007-10-09
Not only did I find this book incredibly informative and insightful, I found Pollan's style of writing effortless to read.
This book should be either compulsory reading in public high schools in America, or the key principles contained in it should be taught as a class. I'm sure it would go a long way to reducing American obesity and Type 2 diabetes, both of which have reached epidemic proportions and do not bode well for this country's future.
Whilst I am neither pro carnivorism, nor pro vegetarianism (I believe this is a matter of personal choice), I do believe this book presents an eye-opening account of the price paid by this blue planet in order to feed Mankind.
I have read this book more than once, and each time through, something new makes an impression on me. If you are an inhabitant of Earth, you owe it to yourself and the ground you stand on, to read this book.
Another Author Induges Himself in Unsustainable Musing.......2007-10-06
This book, which repeats so much already published, basically follows through to its initial premise: that food in america is unsustainable. Along the way, the author indulges himself in great celebrity and ego stroking wit. The segment on the boar hunting is quite hypocritical. The main thrust of the author's theory is that all systems, including alternative, are unsustainable. The conclusion he avoids, is that the failure to find a solution will result in many deaths, if not the extinction of human culture as we know it. Perhaps, all that anyone can learn here is that it is hopeless, go back home, accept your fat and your fate, and try to die quietly. So many other books are better than this one. Unless you are a total newbie to these debates, you will find little that is refreshing here. The author basically finishes where he begins, with nothing but personal insights, and no insight into a broader solution for "sustainable" food sources.
Makes Americans understand food again........2007-10-05
I'd recommend that everyone go out and read this book. It will remind you that eating is a political and ethical act. It certainly reminded me of that.
Omnivore's Dilemma can be summarized very quickly: Michael Pollan eats four meals, and tracks down where they all come from. It is a brilliantly simple conceit, and could only be pulled off well by a writer as gregarious, warmhearted, easygoing and scientifically rigorous as Pollan. He wants to know where McDonald's comes from, so he goes into a cornfield, follows the corn through cows on its way to becoming beef, and visits the "Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations" (CAFOs) in which they're slaughtered. He interviews corn farmers. He explains the perverse incentives which have motivated corn growers to produce more and more of the stuff, even when it's not needed. (The government pays them the difference between some set price and the current market price. Hence farmers have an incentive to produce as cheaply as possible.) This is one of the reasons why we as a nation are growing fatter and fatter.
Pollan takes it a step further, though, making something explicit that had never occurred to me: the fact that our country is so nutritionally faddish, leaping from fruit diets to hourly enemas to high-carb diets to high-protein diets, is a sign of something deeply dysfunctional in our relationship to food. Pollan never really figures out why we might have this relationship. The lack of a distinctive national cuisine might have something to do with it, he says, but the end effect is clear: we don't eat well, and nowadays we're as likely as not to microwave something and eat it in the car. The family meal has been destroyed, and with it the sense of community that food fosters in healthy societies. Pollan's writing is meticulous and heartfelt, and it made me desperately want to change the way I eat.
After McDonald's Pollan paints the bright side of the American meal: places like Polyface Farms that are growing more-than-organic food: food that is completely sustainable and delicious. Cows, pigs, and chickens roam widely on a carefully maintained schedule that keeps the grass growing at the optimal rate. The farm produces almost no waste: every last bit of organic matter feeds the next step in the cycle. It's something of an agrarian utopia . . . and it's probably completely unrealistic for feeding a nation of 300 million people. Indeed, says Pollan, our nation certainly would have capped out at a much smaller population had we not had industrial farming. (It's a reasonable counterfactual, but it's debatable.)
After he visits a self-sustaining farm, Pollan tramps off into the wild to hunt and forage for his own food. Also not sustainable at large scale, but that's not the point: Pollan is trying to reorient us to what meals are about, and how they're philosophically and ethically larger than just what's on the plate.
Pollan's book has made me want to try being a vegetarian again. My girlfriend used to be a vegan, but has turned around 180 degrees and eats a high-protein meat diet. (Atkins vegans are, I imagine, hard to come by.) So the vegetarian thing might have to wait a bit. Being vegetarian isn't really the sine qua non in Pollan's book, though; if anything is, it's short food chains: knowing where your food came from, using food to support your community, and reducing the amount of petroleum necessary to get it to your door. (If peak oil ever comes, bananas may be history.) Joining a CSA is well within my power, and I intend to do so soon.
If I have any gripe about Omnivore's Dilemma, it's small: Pollan is a bit too self-satisfied. At one point he eats a meal in the car with wife and child, driving at 65 miles per hour down the highway in California. I don't actually believe that he wanted to do that. I can hear him saying to himself, "This would make an excellent story for my newspaper article." Likewise when he's reading Peter Singer in a steakhouse. If more of the book seemed like Pollan being Pollan, it'd be perfect.
As it is, it is just about perfect. I intend to buy a copy just to have around to shove into people's hands. It's a life-changing sort of book.
Important facts horribly misinterpretted and spun to sell books.......2007-10-05
Pollan frequently omits, denies or downplays important facts.
1) We will never determine the optimal diet is impossible but we can gain a better idea of what the optimal diet would be through science. (Yes this is inherently reductionist.)
2) That people make bad use of research is not the fault of the research.
3) Traditional food cultures are not optimal diets.
4) While the food industry does in some sense affect the food we eat, the food they produce is determined by individuals desire for inexpensive food that never goes stale and contains lots of sugar, fat and salt.
5) There is no evidence that many artificial foods are unhealthy.
6) Most people don't want to garden and there is no reason they should.
7) Pollan doesn't mention that animals are unnecessarily tortured in the production of our food.
8) Most, if not all, people could benefit from some kind of nutritional supplements.
9) The intelligent consumer now has the opportunity to eat healthier than people have ever eaten before
10) Ok, I admit it. If you don't know anything about nutrition Pollan's basic ideas will have you eating healthier than the typical American.
Amazon.com
As a scientist, Albert Einstein is undoubtedly the most epic among 20th-century thinkers. Albert Einstein as a man, however, has been a much harder portrait to paint, and what we know of him as a husband, father, and friend is fragmentary at best. With Einstein: His Life and Universe, Walter Isaacson (author of the bestselling biographies Benjamin Franklin and Kissinger) brings Einstein's experience of life, love, and intellectual discovery into brilliant focus. The book is the first biography to tackle Einstein's enormous volume of personal correspondence that heretofore had been sealed from the public, and it's hard to imagine another book that could do such a richly textured and complicated life as Einstein's the same thoughtful justice. Isaacson is a master of the form and t
General
| Biographies & Memoirs
| Subjects
| Books
A Thousand Splendid Suns
Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace . . . One School at a Time
The Road (Oprah's Book Club)
Infidel
Suite Francaise
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