Tag: Politics
Unholy Trinity: The IMF, World Bank and WTO (Richard Peet)
Unholy Trinity: The IMF, World Bank and WTO: Learn more at Amazon or at Goodreads.
“Who really runs the global economy? Who benefits most from it?
The answer is a triad of ‘governance institutions’—the IMF, the World Bank and the WTO. Globalization massively increased the power of these institutions and they drastically affected the livelihoods of peoples across the world. Yet they operate undemocratically and aggressively promote a particular kind of neoliberal capitalism. Under the ‘Washington Consensus’ they proposed, poverty was to be ended by increasing inequality.
This new edition of Unholy Trinity, completely updated and revised, argues that neoliberal global capitalism has now entered a period of crisis so severe that governance will become impossible. Continue reading…
Cartoons of World War II (Tony Husband)
Cartoons of World War II: Learn more at Amazon or at Goodreads.
“In peacetime cartoonists are a diverse collection of individuals with their own styles and projects, but when the trumpets of war blow it is like unleashing the dogs of war. Hitler, Stalin, Churchill, Roosevelt and Mussolini were a gift for them and, as this collection shows, one they weren’t about to turn down. This book shows that humour was one of the key weapons of war, with countries using cartoons to demoralise their opponents and maintain morale. Continue reading…
What It Is Like to Go to War (Karl Marlantes)
What It Is Like to Go to War: Learn more at Amazon or at Goodreads.
“In 1968, at the age of twenty-three, Karl Marlantes was dropped into the highland jungle of Vietnam, an inexperienced lieutenant in command of a platoon of forty Marines who would live or die by his decisions. Marlantes survived, but like many of his brothers in arms, he has spent the last forty years dealing with his war experience. In What It Is Like to Go to War, Marlantes takes a deeply personal and candid look at what it is like to experience the ordeal of combat, critically examining how we might better prepare our soldiers for war. Continue reading…
The American Spirit: Who We Are and What We Stand For (David McCullough)
The American Spirit: Who We Are and What We Stand For: Learn more at Amazon or at Goodreads.
“A timely collection of speeches by David McCullough, the most honored historian in the United States—winner of two Pulitzer Prizes, two National Book Awards, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom, among many others—that reminds us of fundamental American principles.
Over the course of his distinguished career, David McCullough has spoken before Congress, the White House, colleges and universities, historical societies, and other esteemed institutions. Now, at a time of self-reflection in America following a bitter election campaign that has left the country divided, McCullough has collected some of his most important speeches in a brief volume designed to identify important principles and characteristics that are particularly American. Continue reading…
The Protocols of the Elders of Zion (Anonymous)
The Protocols of the Elders of Zion: Learn more at Amazon or at Goodreads.
“Curious book created in Russia and published at the beginning of the 20th century. The book describes a plan to achieve global domination by the Jewish people. Following its publication, a series of articles printed in The Times in 1921 revealed that much of the material was directly plagiarized from earlier works of political satire unrelated to Jews.”
New Books Playground says: The Protocols of the Elders of Zion is a book we don’t know what to think of. Continue reading…
Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media (Edward S. Herman & Noam Chomsky)
Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media: Learn more at Amazon or at Goodreads.
“An intellectual dissection of the modern media to show how an underlying economics of publishing warps the news.”
New Books Playground says: Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media is one of greatest studies on how governments even in western countries influence the media and, with that, public opinion. Continue reading…
Highlights from The Jewish State (Theodor Herzl)
Taking over the meiert.com series, here are some snippets and highlights from Theodor Herzl’s The Jewish State (1896).
Emphasis as it appears in the original work may be missing, and our own edits, though marked, may be broad. Important: By sharing these highlights we neither endorse nor recommend respective authors and their views. Assume that we know little of the authors, and that we have nuanced views on the matter—as with all our book recommendations.
[…]the childish error that commodities pass from hand to hand in continuous rotation.
The Evolution of Wealth (Jerry D. Ward)
The Evolution of Wealth: Learn more at Amazon or at Goodreads.
“This is the story of how people much like us progressed from stone tools and hard lives to levels of almost unbelievable wealth and comfort—at least for those of us born in the right place. It was not a planned transition; it was the result of the natural behavior of people in reacting to the circumstance of the moment, sometimes successfully, often not. The recounting of the high points of this evolution illuminates how today’s technology and the practices of our political economy came into being. Continue reading…
Political Philosophy: A Very Short Introduction (David Miller)
Political Philosophy: A Very Short Introduction: Learn more at Amazon or at Goodreads.
“This book introduces readers to the concepts of political philosophy. It starts by explaining why the subject is important and how it tackles basic ethical questions such as ‘how should we live together in society?’ It looks at political authority, the reasons why we need politics at all, the limitations of politics, and whether there are areas of life that shouldn’t be governed by politics. It explores the connections between political authority and justice, a constant theme in political philosophy, and the ways in which social justice can be used to regulate rather than destroy a market economy. Continue reading…
Adults In The Room: My Battle With Europe’s Deep Establishment (Yanis Varoufakis)
Adults In The Room: My Battle With Europe’s Deep Establishment: Learn more at Amazon or at Goodreads.
“What happens when you take on the establishment? In this blistering, personal account, world-famous economist Yanis Varoufakis blows the lid on Europe’s hidden agenda and exposes what actually goes on in its corridors of power. Varoufakis sparked one of the most spectacular and controversial battles in recent political history when, as finance minister of Greece, he attempted to re-negotiate his country’s relationship with the EU. Despite the mass support of the Greek people and the simple logic of his arguments, he succeeded only in provoking the fury of Europe’s political, financial and media elite. Continue reading…