Public Intelligence Blog – Page 3893 – The truth at any cost lowers all other costs — curated by former US spy Robert David Steele.

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Epic Work, Small Blinders, Over-All a MAJOR Integrative Work

June 28, 2009

Carol Gilligan and David A. J. Richards

I only recently learned of the literature on voices of women, and this is the first of several books I ordered to explore the subject. At tempted as I have been to take away one star for small blinders (notably the gross over-selling of anti-Semitism, and the complete oblivion to the fact that Dick Cheney used 9-11, even if he is a cross-dresser our response to 9-11 was NOT some deep psychic rage stemming from our humiliation–Cheney sent 1% of the country to war, and Bush asked the other 99% to go shopping.

Having said that up front, I stayed with five stars because this is an epic work, and I am deeply impressed by the rigorous documentation in notes, the spectacular bibliography, and the deliberate mention of names of minds being quoted in the body of the book, a certain mark of integrity that I always look for. Hence, while some of the points below in my notes come without the cited source, be assured that the authors have been meticulous.

QUOTE p. 19: “…patterns of injustice and moral slavery are supported by the repression of resisting voice and to show how such resisting voice is rooted in the human psyche and preserved in cultural forms that preserve and maintain it. …What patriarchy precludes is love between equals, and thus it also precludes democracy.” For the political science version of this, see The modern state.

Part I starts with Roman Patriarchy and if you are not a cultural studies ancient literature obsessive, you can skim most of this. I have a note: “marvelous handbook for teaching literature as culture & psyche.” See The Manufacture Of Evil: Ethics, Evolution, and the Industrial System, American Fascists: The Christian Right and the War on America, and On the Psychology of Military Incompetence for the modern equivalencies…and other books I have reviewed.

Part II covers resistance across time and culture and is a brilliant survey in detail–while leaving much for others to cover in follow-on works–of religion, psychology (notably a wonderful chapter on Freud first embracing women's voices and then rejected them), the artists, and politics. The Catholic Church comes in for its fair share of condemnation as a patriarchal organization as well as a criminal and hypocritical organization, but it is here that I note the immaculate conceptions the authors both portray of Jews and Israel–“can do no wrong” gets annoying after a while.

Part III, the shortest part, provides a once-over on western colonialism, the war on terror, and where we are going wrong now in seeking to turn back the progress made from the 1960's. All good stuff.

Here are my fly-leaf notes and a couple of quotes.

+ Gender and how gender equality and sexual tolerance are handled is both the foundation for democracy (dignity and equality for all) and the canary in the coal mine for failing democracy such as we have in the USA.

+ Resistance, once it acquires critical mass, is the pre-condition for being able to achieve transformation. This is a very important point and merits its own book. See my review of Responsible History for supplementary insights from another author.

+ Over-all this is a fascinating holistic view of cultural relations and why the matter. I particularly appreciate the focus on how important “feelings” are and how the repression of feelings, including sexuality, cuts off half the soul-brain for the questionable desire to assert control.

+ I could not stand the “femi-nazis” in my own era of learning (1970's) but now they have come of age. It is no longer about aggressive women trying to fight men on men's terms; what we have here is brilliant women making a well-documented case for how stupid men are to fall for the patriarchy propaganda, and THAT I can respect. This book, for those of us not familiar with the Voices literature, is a milestone.

+ I completely buy-in to the author's view that patriarchy supports racism, Puritanism, homophobia, and anti-Semitism, the latter with a grain of salt. As “Responsible History” documents, way too many charges of anti-Semitism are defamation and no longer have standing in court.

+ The author's make a compelling case that a Republic in which the people are sovereign, equal, and entitled to equal voice, is completely anti-thetical to a top-down command and control patriarchy. Others have made this case and described Epoch B leadership, bottom up inclusive deliberative democracy. I cannot do justice to the originators, but see All Rise: Somebodies, Nobodies, and the Politics of Dignity (BK Currents (Hardcover)) and Collective Intelligence: Creating a Prosperous World at Peace for a taste.

+ They discuss how repression imposes disassociation that blocks ethical development as well as resistance.

+ They discuss the contradictions in laws that force women to disassociate their intelligence from their sexuality. I am moved by their citation of the work of others in which young girls learn they cannot have BOTH voice (honesty) AND relationships (steeped in patriarchy).

+ I am sympathetic to their discussion of fascism as over-compensation for male humiliation that becomes a psychological basis for violence, and I am even more in turn with the varied observations that fear feeds violence.

They conclude: “The corruption of manhood has been our theme.” They discuss the tension between voice and violence, and reiterate that the demonization of pleasure requires a split in consciousness–put another way, the USA has lost its mind.

QUOTE p. 266: “As we have found the roots of intolerance–whether racist, sexist, or homophobic–in the traumatic rapture of intimate relationships that marks the initiation into patriarchy, so the splits between mind and body, thought and emotion, self and relationships signal a disassociation that keeps us from knowing what we otherwise would know. It impedes the voice of experience, grounded in the body and in emotion and fostered by relationships, that would speak to the voices of authority, thus posing a threat to democracy in the same ways that totalitarianism targets the functions of the human mind.”

We're there. See Grand Illusion: The Myth of Voter Choice in a Two-Party Tyranny

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2009/06/272011/10/22

Review: Glenn Beck’s Common Sense–The Case Against an Out-of-Control Government, Inspired by Thomas Paine

5 Star, Congress (Failure, Reform), Consciousness & Social IQ, Crime (Corporate), Crime (Government), Democracy, Executive (Partisan Failure, Reform), Misinformation & Propaganda, Philosophy, Power (Pathologies & Utilization)

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Minus 1 for Fluff, Plus 2 for Bringing Us Back to Paine: 6 Over-All,

June 27, 2009

As annoying as this book obviously is for so many, it is not only squarely on target, but merits great respect for bringing all of us back to the more developed wisdom of Thomas Paine.

Glenn Beck is not Thomas Paine. He's not even an average American, cf.
The Average American: The Extraordinary Search for the Nation's Most Ordinary Citizen. What he has going for him is a bully pulpit, the right instincts (no pun), and the ability to reach some, but not all and certainly not a majority, of conscious Americans.

The book is squishy, a moderately well-organized rant against “Progressives”; I myself have done better with Election 2008: Lipstick on the Pig (Substance of Governance; Legitimate Grievances; Candidates on the Issues; Balanced Budget 101; Call to Arms: Fund We Not Them; Annotated Bibliography). However, I honor this book, I really do. Below are five books that have the substance this book lacks, without the heart that Glenn Beck delivers:
Obama: The Postmodern Coup – Making of a Manchurian Candidate
Grand Illusion: The Myth of Voter Choice in a Two-Party Tyranny
Running on Empty: How the Democratic and Republican Parties Are Bankrupting Our Future and What Americans Can Do About It
Breach of Trust: How Washington Turns Outsiders Into Insiders
Vice: Dick Cheney and the Hijacking of the American Presidency

My review of that last one (I review all books I link to) itemizes 23 of the 25 high crimes and misdemeanors that make Dick Cheney long overdue for retrospective impeachment and negotiated exile.

My notes from the first half of this double-spaced book (the second half is the original work of the original Thomas Paine, and I loved having a chance to reread that):

+ Principles must displace the two political parties
+ Creative extremists are needed–non-violent *armed* extremists better
+ Government is imposing both sacrifices and intrusive conditions on a public that has been sacrificing since the 1960's
+ Shortcuts have consequences, national debt IS bad
+ Political leaders are parasites (Amen, Brother!–I would add, “and prostitutes uncaring about the public interest.”
+ Social Security and Medicare are a scam because the money is being spent and an IOU put in its place–close to $10 trillion in unfunded future obligations (but see my review of Operating Manual for Spaceship Earth
+ “Smiley-faced fascism” is the order of the day
+ Tax code is a weapon and a scam
+ Election manipulations anti-democratic, need term limits and an end to gerrymandering (see my review of Grand Illusion linked above)
+ “Green Government” is a scam that is radically increasing federal government powers to intervene and impact negatively on private property

Compact Fluorescent Light bulbs (CFL) are the poster child for Congressional and Executive idiocy and hypocrisy, and I give this its own paragraph to emphasize how much I admired this example and the way in which the author presented it. He lines up his facts and I am shocked to learn that they contain six times any “safe” level of mercury and when they break there is a complex clean-up procedure that is required, and they are *seriously* hazardous to children, pets, and adults.

I totally welcome and agree with the author's view that politicians are disdainful of citizens and overly enamored of secrecy for the sake of avoiding oversight.

I learn for the first time that lawful armed citizens were unlawfully disarmed in the wake of Katrina, and I believe the day will come when law enforcement officers are gunned down by citizens resisting unlawful disarming–our government is out of control, is going to issue illegal orders including “martial law” for the “common good,” and they will not be ready for the Harvest Of Rage: Why Oklahoma City Is Only The Beginning.

The author does a fine job of pointing out how the two-party tyranny uses international treaties to end-run common sense and impose addition deprivations on citizens.

A few quotes I especially admired:

p6: “The fastest way to be branded a danger, a militia member, or just plain crazy is to quote the words of our Founding Fathers [about the right to abolish the government].

p6: “It is not time to dissolve the bands that connect us to one another, but it is time to dissolve the ‘political'bands that *separate* us from one another.” I totally agree–look up the Unified Independents, I believe they will capture a third of the seats in 2010 and if Obama does not pass the Electoral Reform Act of 2009, he will be a lame duck President kicked out in 2012 in favor of an Independent President who demands Cabinet level selections and a balanced budget proposal be presented to We the People *prior to* Election Day.

p9: “Through legitimate 'emergencies involving war, terror, and economic crises, politicians on both sides have gathered illegitimate new powers–playing on our fears and desire for security and economic stability–at the expense of our freedoms.” Absolutely right, see the images I have loaded above, Obama is a CONTINUATION of Bush and Goldman Sachs is still helping Wall Street loot the Treasury.

p19: “This isn't a debate aout money, it's a life-and-death struggle for personal freedom and national liberty.

Between the book and the origina Tom Paine materials is a 9.12 project that does not do much for me, I'm sticking with the Boy Scout principles.

See my review of the following books for modest hope:
Fighting Identity: Sacred War and World Change (The Changing Face of War)

My online annotated bibliography at my corporate web site (OSS.Net, Inc.) provides direct links to 500+ of my reviews of relevant non-fiction books organized into groups.

2009/06/272009/12/04

Review: Operating Manual for Spaceship Earth

6 Star Top 10%, Atlases & State of the World, Change & Innovation, Consciousness & Social IQ, Corruption, Crime (Government), Democracy, Economics, Education (General), Environment (Solutions), Future, Games, Models, & Simulations, Intelligence (Public), Nature, Diet, Memetics, Design, Philosophy, Strategy, Survival & Sustainment, Values, Ethics, Sustainable Evolution

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Not What I Expected But Hugely Satisfying,

June 27, 2009

R. Buckminster Fuller

I was actually expecting an Operating Manual. Although what I ended up with is a 136-page double-spaced “overview” by Buckminster Fuller, a sort of “history and future of the Earth in 5,000 words or less, bracketed by a *wonderful* introduction by grandchild Jamie Snyder, an index, a two-page resource guides, and some photos and illustrations including the Fuller Projections of the Earth.

First, the “core quote” that I can never seem to find when I need it:

OUR MISSION IS “To make the world work for 100% of humanity in the shortest possible time through spontaneous cooperation without ecological offense or the disadvantage of anyone.” Inside front cover.

The introduction is a treat–I note “impressive” and appreciate the many insights that could only come from a grandchild of and lifelong apprentice to Buckminster Fuller.

Highlights for me:

Founder of Design Science, a company by that name is now led by Medard Gabel who served as his #2 for so long. I just attended one of their summer laboratories and was blown away by the creativity and insights. It is a life-changing experience for those with a passion for Earth.

He imagined an inventory of global data. I am just now coming into contact with all of this great man's ideas, but my third book, Information Operations: All Information, All Languages, All the Time, also online at the Strategic Studies Institute in very short monograph form, is totally in harmony with this man's vision for a global inventory of global data.

“Sovereignness” was for him a ridiculous idea, and a much later work out of Cambridge agrees, Philip Allot tells us the Treaty of Westphalia was a huge wrong turn in his book The Health of Nations: Society and Law beyond the State.

“Great Pirates” that mastered the oceans as the means of linking far-flung lands with diversity of offerings was the beginning of global commerce and also the beginning of the separation between globalists who knew the whole, and specialists whom Buckminster Fuller scathingly describes as an advanced form of slave.

He was frustrated with the phrases “sunrise” and sunset” as they are inaccurate, and finally settled for “sunsight” and “suneclipse” to more properly describe the fact that it is the Earth that is moving around the sun, not the other way around.

In 1927 he concluded that it is possible for forecast with some accuracy 25 years in advance, and I find this remarkably consist with Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan's view that it takes 25 years to move the beast–see for instance Miles to Go: A Personal History of Social Policy.

He has an excellent discussion of the failure of politics and the ignorance of kings and courtiers, noting that our core problem is that everyone over-estimates the cost of doing good and under-estimates the cost of doing bad, i.e. we will fund war but not peace.

He described how World War I killed off the Great Pirates and introduces a competition among scientists empowered by war, politicians, and religions. He says the Great Pirates, accustomed to the physical challenges, could not comprehend the electromagnetic spectrum.

He states that man's challenge is to comprehend the metaphysical whole, and much of the book is focused on the fact, in his view, that computers are the salvation of mankind in that they can take over all the automaton work, and free man to think, experiment, and innovate. He is particularly forceful in his view that unemployed people should be given academic scholarships, not have to worry about food or shelter, and unleash their innovation. I am reminded of Barry Carter's Infinite Wealth: A New World of Collaboration and Abundance in the Knowledge Era as well as Thomas Stewart's The Wealth of Knowledge: Intellectual Capital and the Twenty-first Century Organization.

There is a fascinating discussion of two disconnected scholars, one studying the extinction of human groups, the other the extinction of animal species, and when someone brings them together, they discover that precisely the same cause applied to both: over-specialization and a loss of diversity.

Synergy is the uniqueness of the whole, unpredictable from the sum of the parts or any part individually.

On page 87 he forecasts in 1969 when this book was first published, both the Bush and the Obama Administration's ease in finding trillions for war and the economic crisis, while refusing to recognize that we must address the needs of the “have nots” or be in eternal war. I quote:

“The adequately macro-comprehensive and micro-incisive solutions to any and all problems never cost too much.”

I agree. I drove to Des Moines and got a memo under Obama's hotel door recommending that he open up to all those not represented by the two party crime family, and also providing him with the strategic analytic model developed by the Earth Intelligence Network. Obviously he did not attend, and today he is a pale reflection of Bush. See the images I have loaded, and Obama: The Postmodern Coup – Making of a Manchurian Candidate.

Early on he identified “information pollution” as co-equal to physical pollution, I am totally taken with this phrase (see my own illustration of “data pathologies” in the image above). I recognize that Buckminster Fuller was about feedback loops and the integrity of all the feedback loops, and this is one explanation for why US Presidents fail: they live in “closed circles” and are more or less “captive” and held hostage by their party and their advisor who fear and block all iconoclasts less they lose their parking spot at the White House.

Most interestingly, and consistent with the book I just read the other day, Fighting Identity: Sacred War and World Change (The Changing Face of War), he concludes that wars recycle industry and reinvigorate science, and concludes that every 25 years is about right for a “scorched earth” recycling of forces.

He observes that we must preserve our fossil fuels as the “battery” of our Spaceship Earth, and focus on creating our true “engine,” regenerative renewable life and energy.

He joins with Will Durant in Story of Philosophy: The Lives and Opinions of the World's Greatest Philosophers: education is our most formidable task.

I am astonished to have him explain why the Pacific coast of the US is so avant guarde and innovative (as well as loony). He states that the US has been a melting pot for centuries, and that the West Coast is where two completely different cultural and racial patterns integrated, one from Africa and the east, the other from the Pacific and the west.

I learn that he owned 54 cars in his lifetime, and kept leaving them at airports and forgetting when and where. He migrated to renting, and concluded that “possession” is burdensome.

2009/06/192011/06/02

Review: Censorship of Historical Thought–A World Guide, 1945-2000

3 Star, Atrocities & Genocide, History, Intelligence (Public), Misinformation & Propaganda, Power (Pathologies & Utilization)

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5 for content, 1 for outrageous pricing, June 19, 2009

Antoon De Baets

I am the #1 Amazon reviewer for non-fiction, quite by accident (loading annotated bibliographies from the books I write) and have for the past two years been protesting the price jumps from industry.

I am also a publisher. This book cost no more than $10 per copy to produce. Industry has gone nuts and I protest this book's price and urge readers and reviewers to join me in protesting. Amazon takes 55% of the retail price, so all things considered this book should not be priced at more than $45.00. The last $100 is criminal irresponsibility toward the field of knowledge and the public interest, and blackmail against libraries and other institutions that may consider the superb content a “must have.”

Instead I recommend the book Responsible History which I am buying myself today.

Other books in this vein you can buy (ALL of them for the price of CENSORSHIP) include:
Forbidden Knowledge: From Prometheus to Pornography
The Lessons of History
Lost History: Contras, Cocaine, the Press & ‘Project Truth'
1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus
Fog Facts : Searching for Truth in the Land of Spin (Nation Books)
The Age of Missing Information
Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media
Weapons of Mass Deception: The Uses of Propaganda in Bush's War on Iraq
Rule by Secrecy: The Hidden History That Connects the Trilateral Commission, the Freemasons, and the Great Pyramids

See my loaded images above (under book cover).

2009/06/182009/12/04

Review: The Cure for Our Broken Political Process–How We Can Get Our Politicians to Resolve the Issues Tearing Our Country Apart

2 Star, Democracy, Politics, Power (Pathologies & Utilization)

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Minor Contribution, Disappointing, Weak in Many Respects, June 18, 2009

Sol Erdman

This book, which has no notes, no bibliography, and no mention of the League of Women Voters, the Presidential Debate Commission, campaign finance reform, Ralph Nader, Ron Paul, Cynthia McKinney, the Liberty Coalition, the National Coalition for Dialog and Deliberation, Reuniting America, or transpartisan post-partisan non-partisan anything, can be summed up in two sentences:

1. Where you live and who you are are no longer synonymous and therefore single-representatives for single districts, howeever the districts are designed, will no longer do.

2. Personally Accountable Representation (PAR) will solve everything, restore sight to the blind, hearing to the deaf, and intelligence to the politicians.

This book is, in a word, disappointing. There are so many other books that integrate so much more in the way of integral consciousness, deliberative dialog, and so on, that I cannot in good consciousness recommend this book to anyone.

I have no doubt the authors are skilled mediators, but this book is both historically and intellectually weak–very weak. The authors tried to write a comic book that tells a story while teaching, which is great if they are trying to reach those voters who on the one hand, know nothing and cannot think and on the other are willing to spend money on a book. This is a primer for a demographic that does not exist, but as my purchase well illustrates, the book does find buyers.

Oddly enough, as the book started with a discussion of the importance of ackowledging the legitimate concerns of the other, I struggled to repress my gag reflex, and was reminded of the twelve principles of spirituality, below is the twelve line summary I created from the two-page version created by guru Will Keepin of the Satyana Institute.

Twelve Principles
01 Motivation based on love
02 Non-attachment to outcome
03 Integrity is one's protection
04 Integrity in means and ends
05 Do not demonize adversaries
06 Embrace any enemy within We
07 Work for the world, not self
08 In serving world, we serve Us
09 Feel the pain of all in the We
10 Engage with love, not anger
11 Rely on faith in the larger We
12 Let the heart guide the brain

Laminate those into an id card holder with the hole on the end, as I have, and you have a much better value for your time and money.

The book tells the story of a first-time Congressman who learns right away that he has to spend all his time campaigning, cannot vote against anyone else's bills, must use taxpayer funds to get re-elected (e.g. pork for the district, the frank on mail, and so on.

It is at the end of this section that I am shaking my head and regretting being so impulsive in my selection on the basis of the hugely clever and largely misleading title.

Proportional representation, preferential voting, three-member districts, and the magical formula that will power large cars, sterilize entire buildings with a single breath (PAR) and that is it.

Here are the eight electoral reform points from Ralph Nader as refined by Jim Turner and myself (and in need of input from unified independents, e.g. on ballot initiatives, local voting processes, etc.)

Phase I to be mandated for 2010 Election
+ Holiday Voting
+ Honest Open Debates
+ Expanded Debates
+ Instant Run-Off

Phase II to be mandated for 2012 Election, Districts Redrawn by 11/2009
+ Full and Balanced Representation
+ Tightly-Drawn Districts
+ Full Public Funding of Diverse Candidates
+ No Legislation Without Consultation

If the above is a PhD, and it hardly qualifies, then this book is barely second grade for those who are challenged in more than one respect.

I put the book down with the final comment, “YUK.” The authors are process obsessives, all they care about is finding a solution that everyone can agree on, without regard to the substance of the matter. While they make passing reference to research and data, the fluff at heart is in the book itself: no notes, no recognition of all the hard work of others, no clue on the 1960's, the 1970's, the 1980's, I even wondered if they had been born by the 1990's, which is of course unfair, but this book has been a skewer in my side and annoying to boot.

Vastly better books include (I am limited to ten, for all the rest see my Annotated Bibliography at oss.net/PIG, just add the www, each book listed has a link right back to Amazon):
Grand Illusion: The Myth of Voter Choice in a Two-Party Tyranny
The Tao of Democracy: Using Co-Intelligence to Create a World That Works for All
Election 2008: Lipstick on the Pig (Substance of Governance; Legitimate Grievances; Candidates on the Issues; Balanced Budget 101; Call to Arms: Fund We Not Them; Annotated Bibliography)
Society's Breakthrough!: Releasing Essential Wisdom and Virtue in All the People
All Rise: Somebodies, Nobodies, and the Politics of Dignity (BK Currents (Hardcover))
Democracy's Edge: Choosing to Save Our Country by Bringing Democracy to Life
The Cultural Creatives: How 50 Million People Are Changing the World
The Clustering of America
The Nine Nations of North America

2009/06/182009/12/04

Review: The People’s Business–Controlling Corporations and Restoring Democracy The People’s Business: Controlling Corporations and Restoring Democracy

5 Star, Capitalism (Good & Bad)

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Charming Righteous Book–A Summary for Normal People, June 18, 2009

Lee Drutman

This is a charming righteous book, there is not a single thing lacking from my point of view, and as I made my way through the book my admiration for the authors and the work they put into this grew without reservation.

This is a superb orientation for any adult; a superb assigned reading for any level from undergraduate to graduate; and a truly stellar example of what informed advocacy and public purpose scholarship would be…

As with any book I immediately recognize as being best in class, I started with the index, the bibliography (many book titles I did NOT know), and the six pages of centers and web pages as resources.

I am late to finding this 2004 book, but would suggest that it is the perfect partner for Grand Illusion: The Myth of Voter Choice in a Two-Party Tyranny.

The authors set out to address the corporation within the framework of domestic politics, and they conclude that the corporate charter is a grant of, by, and for We the People, and therefore corporations must be subordinate to the sovereign people, and must not be allowed to harm the public interest.

The first three chapters define the corporate “threat” and attributes; the next two discuss the use of existing tools, the sixth addresses obstacles, and then the conclusion. Although a very broad mature reader could fly through a great deal of this, I was struck by the even pace, the concise sensible organization, and it occurred to me that there was not a word wasted. In my world, it takes a LOT of work to get a book to read this well. The authors strike me as exceptional.

The core concern with the corporation is combination of their being virtually no limits on corporate (mis)behavior, and virtually no liability for investors, owners, and managers.

I like the manner in which the authors review the history, both of the corporation as it systematically disembowels federal and state regulation (with lots of help as the states “race to the bottom”), and of the attempts by Ralph Nader, a Nobel Prize level reformer if ever there was one, who has often been misunderstood as being about safety rather than corporate responsibility, and as a spoiler of elections rather than a champion of honest democracy. The authors meet my high standards for crediting others, doing their homework, and tying it all together.

Page 44 gives us a list of corporate rights claimed, citing Carl Mayer:
+ First amendment guarantees of political speech, commercial speech, and negative free speech rights
+ Fourth amendments safeguards against unreasonable regulatory searchers
+ Fifth amendment double jeopardy and liberty rights
+ sixth and seventh amendment entitlements to trial by jury

Page 76 gives us the list of psychopathic attributes of the corporation, for those that have not seen this often quoted section before, Dr. Robert Hare as explained by lawyer Joel Bakan:
– irresponsible
– manipulative
– grandiose
– lack of empathy
– asocial tendencies
– refuse to accept responsibility for their own actions
– unable to feel remorse
– relate to others superficially

The authors review the disconnects between corporate ownership and management, discuss all the standard aspects of corporate escape from accountability including impotent boards of directors.

I myself learn for the first time about 78 corporate governance reforms itemized by Richard C. Brendon, “Restoring the Trust,” in August 2003. Note 38 on page 290 provides a web URL that I am placing in the comment below.

I learn on page 119 of Robert Hinkley (author of the Cord for Corporate Responsibility) and his view that adoption of the following would be helpful in refining the role of directors and officers, now focused on maximizing shareholder profit: “but not at the expense of the environment, human rights, the public health or safety, the communities in which the corporation operates, or the dignity of its employees.”

Wow. Wal-Mart is toast if that ever comes to pass–along with most corporations.

The authors discuss the consequences of deregulation; the need for anti-trust, and the need to protect inherently governmental functions from being privatized.

I really appreciate the concise detailed overview of what Enron gave to George Bush, and what it got in return, including $7 billion in subsidies, over 50 key positions in the US government, and so on.

As the authors wind toward a conclusion, having discussed funded lobbyists, funded think tanks, legal attacks on regulations, and the 527s that are also a target in Grand Illusion (linked above), the authors made some critical final points:

1. They are at pains to distinguish between corporate crime by the corporation in all its forms; and white collar crime by individuals, noting that difference natures require different responses.

2. They are at pains to point out that financial crime is not the only crime, and cite a litany of others including crimes against humanity.

3. I am fascinated by the estimate of the cost to the public of corporate irresponsibility. The authors cite 1994 estimate by Ralph Estes of 2.6 TRILLION; others add up to at least 1 trillion; and the corporation kills 50,000 to 60,000 people in the USA alone (violent crime kills roughly 16,000). I compare this to the $2 trillion a year that organized crime pulls down within a global economy estimated at 7-9 trillion, and see clearly that corporate crime is every bit as toxic as organized crime. See Illicit: How Smugglers, Traffickers, and Copycats are Hijacking the Global Economy for the other half of global crime.

The book closes with a heartening list of initiatives local communities are taking (page 256), and a call for the labor, environmental, and consumer movements to coalesce around one shared common goal, “a just and sustainable economy [within] a functioning democracy.”

They challenge us all to be citizens rather than consumers, to demand media reform as a means of being empowered with knowledge, and conclude that in a democracy, the rights of citizens to govern themselves must trump the rights of corporations to make money at the expense of the public.

2009/06/172013/09/02

Review: Descent into Chaos–The United States and the Failure of Nation Building in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Central Asia

5 Star, Cultural Intelligence, Insurgency & Revolution, Peace Intelligence

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Ahmed Rashid

5 out of 5 stars Broad but Nuanced, Exudes Intelligence,Absorbing Speaking of Truth, June 17, 2009

Among the observations from the author”

1. U.S. has destabilized the world after 9-11, not made it safer.

2. Pakistan is the key to peace in the region, but the US has been totally taken in by Musharraf and his army and ISI colleagues, all of whom have played the US (easily) for the total fool.

3. “No coherence to US tactics and strategy” combined with a collapsed Cabinet system and “ruinous laws” making torture the norm.

4. Pashtuns lacked leadership on the ground for decades, a major reason why they did not counter the Taliban

5. If Pakistan is the key to peace in the region, Uzbekistan is the key to future war, mixing as it does the worst of dictatorial tyranny (I know, tautologically redundant, enjoy) with deep Islamic fundamentalism.

Continue reading “Review: Descent into Chaos–The United States and the Failure of Nation Building in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Central Asia”