Holy Cow! You're gonna blind yourself with a list like that. I have been on SI for five years now. I've never ever seen a post that impressive w/r/t to the best writing of our era. I am totally impressed, and my hat is off to you. Now, why exactly are you on a speculator's facility such as SI? Studying the enemy? <g>
I must admit that your tastes run a bit more passionately to the human rights, left intelligentsia side than my own.
Until I became frightened that the elites set up George Bush to run the endgame of capitalist domination of the planet with the goal of enslaving 97% of the populace, I'd tended to be far more interested in technical and market oriented readings.
Such barn burners as the Uniform Building Code, the National Electrical Code, Uniform Mechanical Code and interpretive handbooks on Concrete Construction, Practical Electrical Wiring and such were my staples for a couple of decades.
When I decided to step out of my role as a constuction contractor, I entered into the market with some background reading including but not limited to the works of Charles Mackay (Extraordinary Polular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds), the works of Gerald Loeb, anything by or about Jesse Livermore, Warren Buffett, Felix Rohatyn among others. I loved the frankness of "Bogle on Mutual Funds". I toyed with Andrew Tobias. IBD's Bill O'Neill has a couple books on my shelf. One of the most important books I've read is Frank Partnoy's F.I.A.S.C.O. I've attempted to read George Soros, but the man cannot write. So, that sets the stage.
As I have said, I am now alarmed that it appears that George Bush has been installed in the White House to lead to a new world order that is going to be a hell on earth for the great preponderance of humanity. ANOTHER WORLD IS POSSIBLE! And my reading reflects my intention to not let Bush & Co. destroy humanity's future without putting up a noble Resistance.
Today on my coffee table, I have the following:
Kinzer: "All the Shah's Men".
Moore: "Dude: Where's My Country"
Franken: "Lies and the Lying Liars who Tell Them"
Tribe, et al -- a guide the theft of the 2000 election.
And a video series on the National Socialist Party in Germany, circa 1936, the stage which we seem to be in with the Republican Party today.
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Re: Ray, I'd be interested if any of these books or authors are familiar to you.
*Stiglitz's "Globalization and its Discontents". -- I've read about half of it. These days, my attention is vastly more tuned into the immediacy of the news cycle on the Internet, so I have some difficulty with long texts.
*Lori Wallach (I'm a big Lori Wallach fan) -- Me too. She's wonderful. Lurkers can find her here: citizen.org
*Arundhati Roy. -- I'm a huge fan. She's a genius and a gift to humanity.
*Of your 20 books on history, I'm familiar with only a few. I haven't been much of a history reader at all, apparently.
For those looking for a really well-written and comprehensive history of the development of central North America, it is hard to beat Howard Zinn's "A People's History of the United States". It tops my list of accessible and sensible works of history.
Chomsky, of course, is in a league of his own. "Manufacturing Consent" needs to be required reading for everyone who pretends that we live in a democracy. He takes that notion and blows it completely out of the water.
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Re: Conclusion: Something's pretty systematically f*cked in our world. And it's planned ... and its systemic. The same patterns repeat themselves again and again, often involving the exact same, or very similar players.
I am in 100% agreement. There is an evil that has overtaken the planet. And its headquarters are in the boardroom of the Business Roundtable, the Bilderberg meetings, the clavens of oil and arms profiteers, the White House, the highest echelon of the Department of Death and a few other nexuses.
Today, I am far more inclined to read on the Web than in hard copy. Here's a somewhat stale version of my source materials: Subject 32716
"The Buzzsaw" was a news digest service I put together before the 2002 elections. I provided it here on SI and to a listserv. I'll probably be doing the same again when we got closer to the November elections.
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"Deep Politics"
*1 - "Tragedy and Hope: The History of the World in Our Time", by Carroll Quigley. A book without peer. If I could recommend one book in this post, this would be it.
I'm unfamiliar with it. But based on your recommedation, I've added it to my "to do" list.
amazon.com
I have a passing familiarity with some but not most of the other authors you mention. Again, I'm in awe of the breadth of your reading. Most impressive. But in a way terribly depressing. Because the side of good seems to be losing the battle to the forces of evil. And the masses of asses who support George Bush are delighted to be the Stormtroopers of the New Dark Ages.
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*- "One World Ready or Not - the Manic Logic of Global Capitalism", by William Greider -- Been there, done that. I love Greider, though sometimes he can be depressing. My introduction to his work was "The Secrets of The Temple" about the FRB. It's dated now, but what an eye-opener at the time.
I love the provocative title of his "Who Will Tell the People?" Of course, the 'people' don't wanna hear about it. They want to just sit down and watch the NFL spectacle, the WWE spectacle, the NASCAR spectacle, the Iraq War spectacle and eat lardass, chemical laden "snacks". Politics used to be a passion of the people. But the ruling elites have made certain that distraction now rules the day for the belligerently ignorant public.
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Re: Finally, the impact of post-modern thought in decontructing textual narratives should not be underestimated IMO.
Sorry, that's sounding a false note in my book. That sounds way too politically correct and, actually, what the hell did you just say? Does that sentence translate into English? TIA for some help here. I recognize the name Edward Said. Along those same lines, I highly recommend the work of Bennie Morris and a rising star, Tariq Ali, on the troubles of the Middle East. The most ridiculous canker upon the entire planet, based on the willfully superstitious and self-serving interpretation of silly old texts written by madmen for fools.
Tariq Ali: democracynow.org
Do not suffer fools politely:
Message 19615727
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Again, to sum up, you've provided one of most genuinely brilliant posts ever on SI. Too bad you are casting pearls
before swine. |
