Best Depiction of Worst Case, Needs Sense of Best Case, September 12, 2008
Rick Shenkman
I cannot improve on the reviews by Kerry Walters and Retired Reader, in that order. I was drawn to this book by the fact that it is the “other” book that readers buy when considering Joe Trippi's great book, The Revolution Will Not Be Televised: Democracy, the Internet, and the Overthrow of Everything which will be out in a new expanded and revised edition at the end of this month (September 2008).
I am continually shocked by the ignorance and apathy as well as the growing obesity of the American people, and this book has shaken me to the roots. To not know three branches of government, and to be violently opposed to immigrants who do, turns my world upside down.
What I want to do here, subordinating my contribution to those of reveiewers Kerry Walters and Retired Reader, is list 9 books that illuminate 1) why our blue collar population is devastatingly sidelined; and 2) what the rest of us who have NOT sold out, are trying to do about it. Each of the books I list I have reviewed, and linked to other books.
On Being Sidelined (ignorance is imposed):
The Global Class War: How America's Bipartisan Elite Lost Our Future – and What It Will Take to Win It Back
Running on Empty: How the Democratic and Republican Parties Are Bankrupting Our Future and What Americans Can Do About It
State of the Unions: How Labor Can Strengthen the Middle Class, Improve Our Economy, and Regain Political Influence
Deer Hunting with Jesus: Dispatches from America's Class War
The Working Poor: Invisible in America
On Hope for the Collective:
The Tao of Democracy: Using Co-Intelligence to Create a World That Works for All
The Cultural Creatives: How 50 Million People Are Changing the World
Imagine: What America Could be in the 21st century
Collective Intelligence: Creating a Prosperous World at Peace
There are so many others–consider using my lists for broad exploration. I really admire the critical mass that reviewers now provide, especially those that provide summative reviews, not just critical reviews.
