The Truth about Socialism in America

book jacket featuring a graphic silhouette of the flag raising at Iwo JimaThe “S” Word: A short history of an American Tradition. . . Socialism by John Nichols (2011) makes the case for Americans to embrace the benefits of socialism for the common good. This book is worth buying as well as reading.

The Republicans and conservatives demonize socialism today without reason. With the fall of the communism of the Soviet Union, it seems like they need a new enemy to keep the war on truth, justice, and the specter of a hot war.

Seriously, how can anyone be against medical care for all? How can anyone believe that socialism means taking what little you have and giving it to (a) lazy, (b) immoral, (c) poor people and would destroy America?

Why do the haters of “socialism” find a political system that helps those in need survive, and maybe thrive, to be so despicable?

Continue reading The Truth about Socialism in America

IF THE GODS HAD MEANT US TO VOTE THEY WOULD HAVE GIVEN US CANDIDATES

clever book jacket with his face in cowboy hat and blue and red stripes with stars on either side with the photo of heads of politiciansIF THE GODS HAD MEANT US TO VOTE THEY WOULD HAVE GIVEN US CANDIDATES: More political subversion from Jim Hightower (2000)

Note, there is an updated and revised 2010 edition. This cover image is from the 2000 edition I got from the library. They may have the newer version too, and I definitely want to check it out (pun intended!).

I had heard the name of Jim Hightower and recognized him as a politician. I had no idea he was so FUNNY! Since he was from Texas I just assumed he was one of the humorless, hostile, conservative types. Turns out he will SKEWER ANYONE with equal delight!

Jim Hightower, America’s most popular populist, is a bestselling author, radio commentator, public speaker, and all-around political sparkplug whose credo is “You can fight the gods and still have fun.” Twice elected to statewide office in Texas, he has long battled the Powers That Be on behalf of the Powers That Ought to Be: the working families, consumers, the environment, small businesses, and just plain folks.

Though the jacket copy above used the cringe-worthy “folks” that has forever been made vomit-inducing from the W use of it (and followed by Obama continuation of same while speaking in an elegant fully literate way otherwise), I was delighted to read this description, itself amusing.

The title alone perfectly sums up the 2016 election without needing any updating. In fact, it might be even more applicable to 2016. The 17 losers (and I include 45 in particular despite the Electoral concept biting US all in the ass), was astonishing in the shallowness of the candidates, the YUUUUUGENESS of their egos (45!! Unbelievable. Trust me. Believe me. Sad.)

Continue reading IF THE GODS HAD MEANT US TO VOTE THEY WOULD HAVE GIVEN US CANDIDATES

Down for the Count by Andrew Gumbel

book jacket obscured photo of 1920s menDown for the Count: dirty elections and the rotten history of democracy in America by Andrew Gumbel (2005, 2016)

This is a MUST READ BOOK. Our democracy has been chugging along despite dirty rotten scoundrels, but that is no longer the case. McCarthyism is when I think tipped us over the edge. No, wait, the internment of the Japanese Americans came first. Previously we had been stumbling at least towards some degree of a sense of social justice. But that was killed by Reagan, compounded by Bill Clinton, and destroyed world over by George W. Bush.


Another on the must check out from library again and do a proper review. Listening to a college course lecturer on McCarthyism now on cd so that will be very informative as a background to the future and potential civil liberty crack downs like the Alien and Sedition Act.

 

Books read, to read, and/or write about

Just found this older list that I planned to do short takes on, but now have returned the books and don’t recall much so have to recheck out, but here is the list for your consideration. Some duplicates with other posts may occur if I did manage to do some write ups but I am too lazy too check each one.

For some reason, the links to a lot of the books are gone. I may have missed one or two, but I KNOW I DID NOT MISS all the ones now missing GoodReads links, darn it. So I’m sorry, but I am not going to spend another hour or more redoing them when I don’t know why they disappeared in the first place.

book jacket with cowboy boot like flag colors
Mary Beth Rogers

Turning Texas Blue: What it will take to Break the GOP Grip on America’s Reddest State by Mary Beth Rogers

 

 

 

 

book jacketIllustrated Great Decisions of the Supreme Court by Tony Mauro (2000)

 

 

 

 

book jacket portrait of Victoria WoodhullThe woman who ran for president: the many lives of Victoria Woodhull Lois Beachy UnderhillGloria Steinem (Translator)(1995)

 

 

 

book jacket with a little rounded flag symbolThat’s not what we meant to do: reform and its unintended consequences in twentieth-century America by Steven M. Gillon (2000)

 

 

 

book jacket with little drawing of American flag

Blasphemy: how the religious right is hijacking our declaration of independence by Alan Dershowitz (2007)

 

 

 

book jacketBetter, stronger, faster: the myth of American decline — and the rise of a new economy by Daniel Gross (2012)

 

 

book jacket with bar code under illustration of capitol buildingDollarocracy: how the money-and-media election complex is destroying America by John Nichols

 

 

 

book jacket with political donkey and elephant and crossGod’s Politics: why the Right gets it wrong and the Left doesn’t get it by Jim Wallis

 

 

 

book jacket photo with George W. Bush and Dick CheneyTakeover: the return of the imperial presidency and the subversion of American democracy by Charlie Savage (2007)

 

 

 

book jacketThe Supreme Court on unions: why labor law is failing American workers by Julius G. Getman
(checked out via ILL)

 

 

book jacket with cartoon of fat bankerThe Age of Acquiescence: the life and death of American resistance to organized wealth and power by Steve Fraser

 

 

 

book jacket photo of suffragettesThe Concise History of Woman Suffrage: selections from History of woman suffrage, edited by Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, Matilda Joslyn Gage, and the National American Woman Suffrage Association. Edited by Paul Buhle (2005)

 

 

book cover reading right to vote with the r crossed out and changed to F for fight to vote

The Fight to Vote by Michael Waldman

 

book jacketFICTION The Heart Goes Last by Margaret Atwood

 

 

 

 

book jacket photo Newt Gingrich and Bill Clinton

 

The Pact: Bill Clinton, Newt Gingrich, and the rivalry that defined a generation (2008)

 

 

book jacket with golden dust panThe Servant Economy: where America’s elite is sending the  middle class by Geoffrey P. Faux (2012)

 

 

 

book jacketWar is the Force that gives us Meaning by Chris Hedges (2002)

 

 

 

book jacketWhat’s the matter with White People: why we long for a golden age that never was by Joan Walsh (2012)

 

 

 

book jacketWriting with intent: essays, reviews, personal prose, 1983-2005 by Margaret Atwood (2005)

 

 

 

book jacketA Disability History of the United States by Kim E. Nielsen (2012)

 

 

 

book jacket photo of Ayn RandAyn Rand Nation: The hidden struggle for America’s Soul by Gary Weiss (2012)

 

 

 

book jacket with hand marking a ballotBending Toward Justice: The Voting Rights Act and the transformation of American democracy by Gary May (2013)

 

 

 

book jacketGive us the ballot: the modern struggle for voting rights in America by Ari Berman ( 2015)

 

 

 

book jacketGreat Cases in Constitutional Law by Robert P. George (2000)

 

 

 

video jacket PBS seriesOne Woman, one vote by Ruth Pollak (2005)

 

 

 

 

[no image] The ACLU Freedom Files: voting rights by Jeremy Paul Kagan (2005)

[no image] The Democratic Party: Opposing Views by Noah Berlatsky

[no image] The United States Constitution: Questions and Answers by John R. Vile

video jacket capital building covered in dollar billsThe Best Government Money Can Buy? by Francis Megahy (2010)

 

 

 

book jacket red elephant graphic part of blue donkeyThe Party is Over: how Republicans went crazy, Democrats became useless, and the middle class got shafted by Mike Lofgren (2012)

 

 

book jacket image of old fashioned keyFICTION The Winter Siege  [large print] by Ariana Franklin

 

 

 

video jacket photo of Ralph NaderUnreasonable Man [Ralph Nader video] by Henriette Mantel (2006)

 

 

 

book jackets tarot card-like graphicsThe New Prophets of Capital:  A deft and caustic takedown of the new prophets of profit, from Bill Gates to Oprah by Nicole Ashcroft (2015) [checked out via ILL]

 

 

book jacketBecause of sex: one law, ten cases, and fifty years that Changed American Women’s Lives at Work by Gillian Thomas (lawyer)

 

 

 

book jacket graphic ear of cornBetting on famine: why the world still goes hungry by Jean Ziegler

 

 

 

 

book jacket photo of protestors hemmed in by armed policeProfit over People: neoliberalism and global order by Noam Chomsky (1999)

 

 

 

book jacketRat F**ked: the true story behind the secret plan to steal America’s democracy by David Daley

 

 

 

[no image] The End of Poverty? Think Again by Beth Portello (2010) – heartbreaking

book jacket of protestorsThe People’s Pension: the struggle to defend Social Security since Reagan by Eric Laursen (2012)

 

 

 

book jacketEmpire of Capital by Ellen Meiksins Wood  (2003)[checked out via ILL]

 

 

 

book jacket photo of Milton FriedmanCapitalism and freedom by Milton Friedman (2002) [author I am happy to say died in 2006; he created the false doctrine of neoliberalism]

 

 

 

book jacketIll Fares the Land by Tony Judt (2010)

 

 

 

 

book jacketNation on the Take: how big money corrupts our democracy and what we can do about it by Wendell Potter (2016)

 

 

 

book jacket graphic of Ben Franklin from the $50 bill in bandit maskThe Great American Stickup: How Reagan Republican and Clinton Democrats enriched Wall Street while mugging Main Street by Robert Scheer (2010)

 

 

book jacketThe New Road to Serfdom: a letter of warning to America [listened to book on cd] by Daniel Hannan (2011)

 

 

 

book jacketThe Road to Serfdom: text and documents by Friedrich A. von Hayek (2007)

 

 

 

book jacket with graphic of necktie shaped dollar billWhy we can’t afford the rich by R. Andrew Sayer

 

 

 

 

book jacketThe Hockey Stick and the Climate Wars: dispatches from the front lines by Michael E. Mann (2012)

 

 

 

book jacketBill of Wrongs: The Executive branch’s assault on America’s fundamental rights [cd] by Molly Ivins (2007)

 

 

book jacket with stains glass graphic around capitol buildingC Street: the fundamentalist threat to American democracy by Jeff Sharlet (2010)

 

 

 

book jacket photo of the authorDemocracy Maters: Winning the Fight against Imperialism [cd] by Cornel West (2004)

 

 

 

book jacketF*U*B*A*R: America’s right wing nightmare [cd] by Sam Seder (2006) for the innocents out there, FUBAR stands for Fucked Up Beyond All Recognition, and variation of SNAFU, Situation Normal, All Fucked Up

 

 

book jacketUnthinking: the surprising forces behind what we buy [cd] by Harry Beckwith (2011)

 

 

 

book jacket with partial image of the statue of LibertyAll the Single Ladies: Unmarried Women and the rise of an independent nation by Rebecca Traister (2016)

 

 

book jacketFICTION Altered Carbon by Richard K. Morgan (2002)

 

 

 

 

book jacketPeople Get Ready: the fight against a jobless economy and a citizenless democracy by Robert Waterman McChesney

 

 

book jacketFICTION The Peripheral by William Gibson

 

 

 

 

book jacket by Thom Hartmann

 

 

 

 

book jacketTheft of a Nation [checked out via ILL]

 

 

 

 

book jacket with portrait of Dred ScottDred Scott and the problem of Constitutional Evil [checked out via ILL]

 

 

 

 

Overdue and Out of Renewals for Darn Good Books

I have completely gotten bogged down due to issues with my eyes. There may be a need for me to get a reading machine at this rate. I am going to have to give a bunch up and then come back to this page to re-reserve when I get down to a handful, 90 is simply too many to juggle! I need to stop hitting the reserve every time I see something on BookTV and just do a future to read page so I don’t forget them. A few have already slipped by but a few more I did remember to make a note of them to read later.

book jacket with graphic of ear of cornBetting on Famine: why the World STILL Goes Hungry by Jean Ziegler (2013) is a compelling read, and I want to do it justice. The pages I did read are terrifying and mortifying. There is considerable discussion about the fact that the Nazi’s deliberately starved people in the concentration camps before they killed them. Since I have seen horrible images of the survivors, I know this to be true. Unbelievably wicked but everywhere everyday children and adults are dying from hunger. Fewer people would be a good start to avoiding the problem in the first place, but that is never going to happen since the various religions believe having children is the whole point of women’s lives.

Continue reading Overdue and Out of Renewals for Darn Good Books