Events Books

This book is full of examples of brutally racial crimes that go un reported or underreported ONLY because it's Black on White. When you look at all the coverage of the Sean Bell case, the Rodney King case, the Duke "fake rape" case, the Tawna Brawley case, the Imus debacle, etc. you wonder why none of these horrible cases never became common knowledge. People like me KNOW why, but "progressives" always come up with excuses.

This is one of the most disturbing books I've read in a long time.

Some of the essays are chilling, and all are informative, well-written and compelling. There is little here in which one can take comfort.

A must-read for whites and open-minded blacks as well.

This was great book. The chapters always kept my attention. It provides great insight into a lot of different areas. This book seems to be comprised of logic and clear thinking.

Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/R3HL090FZUAIMM Hi Bernard Chapin reviewing another great book. Why do I cherish so many that I review? Selection bias...as I wouldn't spend the cash if I didn't think I'd love them.

If Horowitz and the other Neo Cons are going to rightly criticize non-whites for playing the Race Card, then they need to stop playing the anti-semite and holocaust cards themselves and stop their knee jerk lobbying for an affirmative action monstrousity like Israel.

It is the story of a great race told by a sailor. Any person who knows about ocean racing cannot but enjoy this book. My only observation is about the edition, I would love to have some more pictures (better if in color)

An entire sailing subculture exists whose entire purpose is to see how far and how fast they can push a sailboat and her crew. This book chronicles the ultimate push, called The Race. The object of this race is to be the fastest boat to sail around the world without stopping.

Zimmerman first tells us the fascinating history of fast sailboats and their owner's constant quest for greater speed and longer distances. At first the quest was for commercial reasons. Eventually it became sport. The boats described in this book are its ultimate manifistation.

This is a wonderful book about tough determined people racing extreme boats in extreme seas. A blast from start to finish.

The Race acccurately describes the complex human dynamics, emotional tension, technological achievments, and capricious play of fortune that combined in the world's first non-stop around the world sailboat race. Beginning with a fascinating and sympathetic account of the early pioneers of round the world sailboat racing, Zimmermann then details the technological conundrums and challenges confronting the computer-aided designers of the Race's catamarans and explains the rationale for, and consequences of, the decisions they made. His account of the Race itself is a skillful blend of analysis and story telling that touches on all the factors that shaped the outcome of the contest, technology, tactical decision-making, human dynamics, and most of all, mother nature, in the form of wind and current. Throughout the book, the author provides just the right amount of technical detail and analysis without overwhelming the non sailor (or weatherman). More important, Zimmermann captures, in terms I believe accessible to the non sailing professional, a sense of the excitement, danger, and spiritual satisfaction that draws men to challenge the sea at her most fearsome. Very few of us can circumnavigate the world non stop in a catamaran, but The Race provides the closest substitute for that experience this side of Cape Horn and the roaring forties.

Although I am not a hard core sailor, I picked up this book because I love adventure. I was glad I did because I discovered a world of eccentric and entertaining characters who kept me engaged and amused as I clipped along with this well-written, fast-paced narrative. I loved the concise history of round the world racing and the crazy characters who got it started--like Blondie Hasler who believed sailors should "die like gentelmen" instead of calling for rescue and endangering the lives of the rescuers. The Race itself was run by the world's best sailors, but it was the hi-tech boats, the tactics and the challenge of the Southern Ocean that really hooked me. A great read for anyone who loves the oceans and extreme adventure.

The Race delivers on the promise of an intensely educational and suspenseful read. I learned much more than I expected to about multihull design, sailing history, and the characters involved in circumnavigation adventures, but I was also viscerally "there" during the more stressful parts of the Race itself. Zimmerman provides exceptional context as well as insight into what makes these men and their sailing machines run. I'd highly recommend this book to anyone curious about the quest for speed across the waves.

I read the Spanish version of this book, which I am still trying to find. It is very moving and interesting as it gives the reader who lacks knowledge of the atrocities that occurred in El Salvador a vivid and real insight from the individuals that experienced it. As an educator in a very diverse area in California, I would defenitely recommend this book to any of my students interested in learning about the history of their people. It is a very simple yet moving book which will make you think about how people struggle to survive yet are determined to do so against all odds.

This book's story is a little example of how cruel power could be against a people. El salvador gave the world some decades ago one of the most gallards fights in order to preserve freedom, justice, wealth, independence, work. Power, land and money inside a fisk and in the other hand a defendless people, armed only with reason. The resulting damages of salvadoran pro- USA death squads are horrendous: massacres, sexual violations, catholic nuns, union leaders, peasants, teachers, children killed. And the School of the Americas is still open :)... And still current El Salvador government refuses to cooperate with justice.... ... A great homage for those killed.

"Rebel Radio" is inspiring, moving, and impossible to put down, and not just for radio fans. It's the story of how a small band of young rebels put a guerrilla station (like a pirate station) on the air and kept it there for years against all odds, told in their own voices. We see them develop as journalists, as artists, and as revolutionaries. The Salvadorans are resourceful, creative, and audacious beyond belief. They tear down the station at a moment's notice and carry it off on their backs, staying just ahead of the government forces who want to destroy them, then taunting the generals on the air, like Wily Coyote and the Roadrunner. You'll fall in love with these people; they're fearsomely brave and committed, yet they have their funny and deeply human moments too. You'll want to run off to El Salvador immediately to see the museum that honors Radio Venceremos.

I bought this book in El Salvador in one of the few visits that I have made to my natal land, the strugles that all the fighters have to go thru to keep the radio waves opened for all the listeners was horrendous. The book tell the story of the freedom fighters moving all the equipment from site to site and hiding it from the attacks of the salvadorean army. The heroism displayed or let's say described in the book is to be admired. I am not a former guerrilla member nor do I like comunism in any form, but being salvadorean myself I could not hold some tears after reading some of the chapters in the book.

Hola Marvin, me llamo R. Manolo Mendez,24 años, vivo en Canada, Montréal.Leí este libro y me pareció fantastico, increíble, no sabes cuanto lo disfruté. Bueno, solo quería saludarte, soy un gran admirador de la gente que pelió por nuestro país, me han recomendado un libro llamado: Carceles Clandestinas, dicen que es muy bueno, pero no lo encuentro en ninguna parte.Bueno, fue un placer saludarte, adios.

"Blahous has produced a timely, comprehensive, accessible . . . review of the issues involved in financing Social Security after 2020. . . . Blahous is aware that the complexity of Social Security means there is no single best financial and political solution. Interested readers will find this a sound addition to the literature. Useful index. All collections." CHOICE

Given that I am a Democrat, now long gone from D.C. and that Dr. Blahous and I both happily sit at opposite ends of the political spectrum, one might think I'd have little interest in reading a book on Social Security reform by a member of the Bush administration. Frankly, the sole reason I bought this book was that I once had the pleasure of working with Chuck in Washington when we were both staffers in the office of Alan Simpson. Without a doubt, he was both one of the brightest people I'd ever met and one of the most human staffers ever to grace the Hill.

Chuck's book, "Reforming Social Security: For Ourselves and Our Posterity" is a reflection of that. One element of Blahous's brilliance is that he can gracefully translate the most complex issue into something anyone - even I - can easily grasp.

In a modern political environment, in which the five-second screambyte passes for reasonable discourse, Chuck thoughtfully presents a case for an approach to Social Security reform that I would normally not even consider, largely because the folks on "my side" are making political hay out of opposing it. I wish that Chuck's approach to the thoughtful discussion and development of policy were the standard in Washington. We'd all be the better for it.

Ignore the rhetoric from both sides on this issue. Take the time to read the book, consider his arguments, mark the heck out of the margins (despite that hefty $68 price tag), check his sources, weigh the evidence and then reach your own conclusions. You may well be surprised that your position has drifted somewhat. Odds are good that you'll be a bit closer to the truth for the effort.

Since Chuck's talents have largely been focused on Social Security issues for most of this past decade, it's often easy to forget that his PhD. is in chemistry and that much of his early work on Simpson's staff was devoted to questions of foreign policy. I, for one, would be pleased if his talents were relied upon in other areas as well.

Chuck's presence - indeed, Chuck's presence alone - reassures me that there is still some hope for this administration.

This easy-to-read book is a must read for anyone who is concerned about the future of Social Security and sick of the way politicians typically talk about the issue. This book provides hard facts about the problems facing the system and straight answers about the benefits and drawbacks of reform proposals.

I live and work "inside the Beltway" as we like to say here in Washington, DC. We tend to use a lot of big words, talk endlessly about inane topics, and congratulate ourselves that we have the American people "figured out".

In reality, there's a lot every Washington insider could learn simply by picking a point on the compass and driving a couple of hours away from DC in that direction. We need to hear what people really feel about issues that are important to them. Conversely, we need to educate the American people in a logical way, to give them all the information they need in digestible portions -- as Thomas Jefferson noted, "to set before mankind the commonsense of the subject in terms so simple as to command their assent [paraphrase]." It is in these terms, that Dr. Blahous writes.

Social Security reform is a weighty, complicated issue. Because it is not readily and easily understood by most, it is demagogued by politicians of every persuasion. Charles Blahous cuts through the demagoguery and provides a clear explanation of the Social Security retirement program's history, the need for reform, and events of the last few years that have led to the current debate on reform.

I enjoyed the author's writing style and tone. He conveys his message as one who earnestly wants to communicate the truth. Opponents of reform should pay heed -- with logic like this, there is nowhere left for them to hide.

Read this book. Get informed. Contact your elected officials in Washington and urge them to support Social Security retirement reform.

After the excellent "The Real Deal" (by Schieber and Shoven), is there anything more to say? Yes, a lot, actually, as Blahous's very original and valuable book makes clear. I loved several aspects. The honesty of the comments shines through. He criticizes the press, the demagogues, some unions, not in partisan fashion, but only where their bias or lack of knowledge contradicts facts -- a feature that earns the gratitude of all of us who want an honestly considered solution, whatever it turns out to be. His insider's view of the political evolution of Social Security's recent history is totally fascinating and another valuable feature. I'm a student of this subject, and Blahous's book helped me understand some things I didn't see clearly before. One is why certain factors in the NCRP plan were phased in over that particular 20-year period. Another is how valuable is the proposed raising of the benefuit for the lower-paid. A third is why he describes Senator Gramm's proposal as an add-on when I considered it a carve-out. Perhaps it's unnecessary for all members of Congress to read this book. But I do hope the necessary few on staff and others who help members decide how to vote read it, because the more it influences their deliberations, the better for the country.

The author writes that the costs of the Vietnam war weakened American economic power ; in the meantime West Europe/Japan had grown into full-fledge economic competitors with the U.S. In order to better compete in this environment, corporations decided that they couldn't tolerate the New Deal concessions to unions and other measures, so America began its rightward shift.

He writes, quoting the New York Times and Paul Krugman in The Nation(see endnotes), that from the early 1970's to 2000, the average income in real terms fell by seven percent for the bottom ninety percent in this country. Meanwhile, the income of the top one percent rose by 148 percent, the top tenth of one percent rose by 343 percent, and so on. The unemployed and "working poor" today comprise 40 percent of our employed class. Reagan's tax cuts helped this upward redistribution. In 1998, General Motors, Pepsi, Chevron, Texaco and Enron paid no federal taxes. Bush tax cuts have targeted the wealthy in obvious ways: taxes on capital gains and dividends,, which the vast majority of Americans do not report on their returns. Then there was the estate tax...Meanwhile a treasury department report suppressed in Bush's 2004 budget report projected the national debt reaching eventually reaching 44 trillion dollars. . Bush has proposed the further draconian measure of allow tax-shelter savings accounts where if enough money that only the rich can afford to save is placed it will be tax-free forever.

He should have quoted David Stockman's admission that the Reaganites embarked upon their insane military spending produced deficit in part in order to have an excuse to slash social programs. Bush is repeating this. Bush has already set in motion a partial Medicare privatization. Our political order encourages companies to move overseas to exploit repressed third world labor while leaving in wake a horde of workers who have to grasp for short term/temp jobs and have no health insurance, etc. It allows speculators to move two trillion dollars around the globe a day and leave financial disaster in their wake. It allows for companies to manipulate their stock value with their accountant's complicity. Now mutual funds are getting ready to have the government give them social security funds, so they can gamble with them on the stock market, an alarming prospect giving the recent accounting scandals on Wall Street. He quotes Fortune magazine as saying that the Enron-style chicaneries were quite widespread, not a few bad apples. Meanwhile the trade deficit may become completely unmanageable. The rich continue to get their corporate welfare, speculative bonanzas, etc but the country in the long term is heading towards a catastrophic debt.

He notes that the Cold War was a cover to support right wing dictators and death squads that repressed third world workers for the benefit of corporations. He mentions the flat tax imposed by Bremer on Iraq and the giving away of Iraq's economic assets to foreigners. He notes that Bush later admitted that there is no evidence of an Iraq-9/11 connection; for the Iraq war, he invoked a law that allowed the president to move against countries who played a role in the 9-11 butchery. Obviously the law didn't apply here. The "war on terror" is mainly about distracting Americans from Bush's draconian domestic measures and a cover to increase support for such pro-American, pro-oil and gas company murderers as Islam Karimov of Uzbekistan. He observes that Wolfowitz, Feith, etc. set up a Pentagon body (OSP) that would feed them the bogus intelligence for the war they needed.

Kerry would be somewhat better than Bush, but both are supporters of the current monstrous corporate order, though less extreme than Bush. The Republicans can gerrymander themselves into congressional victories.. They can throw voters off the rolls. But student, labor and other currently growing grassroots groups can affect a great change. He points to Moveon.org mobilizing its grassroots to get congress to repeal an FCC deregulatory measure . "An amazing organization!" he gushes about Moveon(but will they treat a democratic president as harshly when he does similar things as Bush?). He observes that Dennis Kucinich is one who has been overwhelmingly re-elected by the "Nascar Dads", "Reagan Democrats," by strongly articulating a populist economic message. Half of Americans don't vote; the dems could mobilize them but....

The author is a little simplistic in his invocation of American nostalgia. Teddy Roosevelt preached that corporations needed to be controlled in the public interest but that was mostly fraud. Corporations may have been paranoid about FDR but they were still very much in control. Inequality stayed the same from the beginning to the end of his rule. But his empowering to some extent of unions did play a role in eventually creating the American Middle Class. Gene Debs was a much better American hero.

The author's "new democracy" scheme for America, though accepting capitalism, goes a long way towards expanding democracy in this country.

I think the author should have made his factual points less vague; as it is, his main concentration seems to be to exhort the reader.

Derber has hit the nail on the head again - in this case it's a bulls-eye, with Bush in the center. But much more important than Bush the individual is Derber's penetrating analysis of the corporate/political elites' control of our democratic processes. By exposing the underlying structure of this control, Derber gives us a meaningful vantage point to understand how the unabashed self-interest of a powerful minority negatigvely impacts the vast majority. I found Derber's upbeat style and witty presentation ultimately hopeful. It's a complicated topic, but this is a readable and important book. We need to wake up ourselves and our country to the reality of what's really happening under Bush (not to mention whoever wins in Nov) - let's demand our leaders and institutions do a much better job of implementing the fundamental ideals and human rights that our country was founded on and that we teach school children to believe in.

When I first heard that Charles Derber's new book was entitled "Regime Change Begins at Home," I chuckled, and figured that he'd joined the Al Franken/Michael Moore wing of political sloganeering. Not that I have anything against Franken and Moore -- far from it -- but I expect greater depth from Derber, whose fine "Corporation Nation" was the first book to not only sound the alarm against corporate power but also dig into its roots.

So I got a copy of "Regime Change Begins at Home" -- and found not only the hoped-for depth but also a entire new perspective on politics that, once seen, is obviously true. This is quite simply the most important political book I've read in years. I urge you to get a copy as soon as you can, read it, and spread the word to your friends to do the same. This is a book that can make a difference in the direction of our country and the world, but only if lots of people read it. Happily, Derber writes not like the academic he is but in a clear, simple, populist style.

I won't go on and on. Suffice it to say that Derber, a sociologist and political economist at Boston University, uses the word "regime" not as an epithet but in its deepest meaning. He says that American political history since the Civil War has had only five regimes, each spanning several presidencies; we are now living in the Third Corporate Regime. The First Corporate Regime lasted from 1865 to 1901, when it was supplanted by the Progressive Regime; that was supplanted by the Second Corporate Regime during the Roaring Twenties; it gave way to the New Deal Regime, which lasted longer than any other but ended in 1980 as the Third Corporate Regime took power with Ronald Reagan. Regimes come and regimes go, Derber makes clear, and he delves into why they go and the necessary ingredients of regime change. Read this book and you will see George Bush, John kerry, and Howard Dean in new light.

The good news is that Derber sees and describes wide cracks in the Third Corporate Regime, and suggests how to stick crowbars in them and get on with regime change. It all makes elegant sense. Please, for the good of our nation and the world, get this book and read it -- and act on its wisdom.

If you have read either Corporation Nation or People Before Profit, I am sure you will want to read this new book by Charles Derber. In my opinion his new book provides an even more readable introduction to the ideas of an author who is on the path to becoming one of the nation's foremost public intellectuals. As far as I am concerned this is not a good book, it is a great book.

According to Derber we are currently in the midst of the "Third Corporate Regime," a political regime that began with the election of Ronald Reagan in 1980 and continues to the present. In case you were wondering, the "First Corporate Regime" ran from 1865-1901 (the Gilded Age) and the "Second Corporate Regime" ran from 1921-1933 (the Roaring Twenties). Thus regimes, as Derber uses the term, refer to broad swings with major realignments of power. All three are referred to as corporate regimes reflecting the marriage between corporate and political power, with big corporations having a great deal of control over the national government. A distinctive aspect of the Third Corporate Regime is that is has power that can be compared with that of both the British and the Roman Empires. It rules "not only America but much of the world."

If Bush wins in the 2004 election, Derber's view is that this will further solidify the Third Corporate Regime, particularly if he wins with substantial majorities in both houses of Congress. The fear is that the nation will become even more of a "corpocracy," his name for a pseudo-democracy in which a formally democratic government become a vehicle for corporate control. Kerry's election would reduce the damage done during the next four years, but it would not, by itself, represent genuine regime change.

A strength of this book is that Derber offers solutions. The entire third section of the book is devoted to what can be done to bring about the needed regime change. The election of a Democratic president and a Democratically controlled Congress might prove to be a regime-tipping election that would help create the conditions under which social movements dedicated to regime change could flourish and set the stage for eventual regime change down the pike.

While this book is written primarily for a Democratic and progressive audience it will inform and be of use to traditional conservatives and even some corporate elites. Those who are in close contact with corporate elites would be well advised to read this book because it provides a roadmap as to how progressives could topple the Third Corporate Regime. It also makes a very persuasive case as to why there is likely to be a strong movement to do just that in the not too distant future.

This book is a very easy read. It is hard to put it down and it could not be dealing with a more important set of issues. If enough people read this book, together we are going to be able to make a difference.

This review is a modified version of my original one published in the Autumn, 2005 issue of the journal, Personnel Psychology, pages 815-818.

Charles Derber, a prolific author (nine books since 1988), media commentator, and professor of sociology at Boston College had hoped this book might help derail the Bush administration. Alas, it was not meant to be, apparently. Nevertheless, Derber's book is still essential reading for thoughtful citizens worried about the status and direction of our nation, for much remains to be done, and Derber gives us the rationales and imperatives for acting and some suggested directions.

The general public is conditioned by its government and media to think of "regimes" as bad governments abroad to be neutralized if not overthrown by our country's might. Derber refutes this notion. The dictionary's definition, after all, is a nutral one-a regime being "any `system of rule' at home or abroad." There have been, in his assessment, two good and three bad regimes in the course of our history. The bad ones, including the current one, have all been "corporate regimes."

In the first of the book's three parts, he portrays the first four regimes, starting with the corporate regime that "was built by the robber barons" of the Gilded Age. The public backlash to it ushered in the trust busting regime of Teddy Roosevelt. Big business responded with the second corporate regime presided over by corporate toady's Harding and Hoover. FDR bowled it over with his New Deal regime. The corporate reaction to it ultimately created the third and current corporate regime, the subject of the second part of the book, with President Bush carrying this regime to the extreme in Derber's opinion.

Derber claims the current corporate regime was "conceived in the 1970s and shaped by the election of President Ronald Reagan. Yet Derber acknowledges that the current regime's self-preserving strategy of "marrying the enemy" (Iraq) had its precedents in the Cold War and the Vietnam War. Thus, I think he erred in not dating the start of the current regime with President Eisenhower. I personally think the latter's valedictory address about the military-industrial complex was as much a mea culpa as a warning and that the defense industry together with its demagogic and tenure-loving allies in Congress had a self interest in America's militaristic actions after WWII, the fear (hyped as it was) of the Soviet Union notwithstanding.

Derber likens regimes to "political houses designed and run by groups or organizations that control the money." Carrying the analogy further, he says the "house rests on five pillars; a dominant institution, a mode of politics, a social contract, a foreign policy, and an ideology." Each has a distinctive form in the current corporate regime.

The dominant institution is the transnational corporation, headed by the "top ten" (e.g., GE), with their total assets alone worth around $4 trillion, more than the whole economy of many countries. Look at the book's subtitle to see just how dominant Derber thinks big corporations really are. They rule America. Many other authors whose books I've read share his views or are even more critical of Corporate America. David Korten, a former Harvard economics professor, for instance, believes big corporations are ruling and ruining the world, not just America (Korten, 2001).

Like the other authors, Derber marshals considerable arguments and evidence on how such corporations through their actions are predatory, domineering, and destructive of the common welfare. These actions include sacrificing American labor by downsizing and outsourcing work, causing "one-third of all workers to resort to tempting, freelancing, part and timing; privatizing government for profit (e.g., the grabbing of public wilderness forests by mining and timber companies; abandoning the conservative foundation of democratic capitalism through speculative financing and lobbying for corporate subsidies and tax breaks (e.g. seven of the largest corporations paid no federal taxes at all in 1998); controlling the mass media to indoctrinate the public; eroding countervailing forces, such as unions; and making the public passively dependent on corporations for almost every sphere of life; etc., etc.

The current regime's mode of politics is the "corpocracy," in which big government and big business exchange roles, except, big government keeps getting bigger. Derber illustrates this pillar with the familiar revolving door of Bush appointees from big business who while there helped write lax federal regulations overseeing their business and then, with a tour of "duty" in government, ensure that the regulations remain lax or not enforced.

The third pillar, social contract, is actually an antonym, social insecurity, in the current regime that intends to trade "the social security of workers and citizens for profit maximization." While Bush's plan to commercialize part of the safety net appears at least temporaily to be dead in the water as a result of the staggering costs accumulating from hurricane Katrina, don't write off determined neo-conservaties' persistence to downsize government, or "starve the beast," as they callously put it.
The fourth pillar supporting the current corporate regime is an imperialistic foreign policy. Its aim, Derber charges, "is to shape a global corporate order under the political and military direction of the United States." The policy reveals a disdain for international law, a proclivity for military intervention, contempt for American civil liberties, protectionism of US businesses from foreign competition, and, through such captive organizations as the World Trade Organization, a push for "inviolable corporate rights" anywhere in the world.

The last pillar is the current ideology that Derber calls the "corporate mystique," a government and corporate propaganda campaign that trumpets personal liberty and "free market" capitalism all the while pursuing an "unimagined freedom for big business and big problems for the rest of us."

The first two corporate regimes were undone by public backlash to "terminal socioeconomic crises." Derber believes the same fate awaits the current corporate regime and points to several developments that are facilitating a grass-roots civil rebellion, including the networking of activist groups via the Internet locally and globally, activist students "sprouting up on campuses," and the rising voice of such groups as "Janitors for Justice."

If bad regimes inevitably self-destruct then why, one could ask, does Derber bother to write this book, or at least its third part that is chock full of ideas for ending the current regime? My answer is that I do not think his scholarship and professionalism would have allowed him not to write this book. As for its third part, he explains that he wrote it because "most political books attack a problem but offer no solutions."

In introducing his ideas, he returns to his analogy of the political house by proposing new pillars for it; an active citizens' network, a new democracy of ordinary people, real social security, a foreign policy of collective security, and an ideology of citizen empowerment. He then suggests numerous ways for freeing America from corporate rule, some of which would require legislative or regulatory changes such as the rewriting of state corporate charters, slowing the revolving door with a ten-year freeze on reentry, and taxing short-term, speculative global investment. He also provides good rationales for uniting disparate groups such as conservatives versus progressives into grass roots social movements all "under a big tent" aimed at ending the current regime. Finally, he urges the reader to become active and lists the websites for five activist groups, each targeting one of the five pillars.

I hope my review motivates you to read his book. We all should know what thoughtful critics have to say about the corporate role in and its effects on our society, and we all should decide what we think about it and what if anything we should do about it.

Reference

Korten, DC. (2001, 2nd Ed.). When corporations rule the world. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler and Bloomfield, CT: Kumarian Press.

After the communism and fascism, western culture ideals and the way of life are threatened, more than ever, by an aggressive and uncompromising religion. Radical Moslems want to conquer the world and impose their laws based on Dark Ages standards. And they have no respect for human life. They want to convert the rest of the world to their religion and destroy those who resist.

Helped by an infusion of enormous amounts of western capital, radical Islam, out of an irrelevant religious movement, has become a major threat to the West.

With the precision of an engineer, Dr. Joksimovich in his book "The Revenge of the Prophet" analyzed historical facts, explained the radicalization of Islamic countries and the goals of Jihadists. His book is a must read for those who want to understand present political situation in the world and specifically in the Middle East and Balkans.

S. Djuric

Dr. Joksimovich's book is an excellent and well researched account on the rise of Radical Islam. Most people in the West "noticed" militant Islamists only after 9/11, not realizing that there was a planned strategy in place long before 9/11. This book gives a historic review of when and how it all began and how it progressed to what it is now: The biggest threat to the democratic world since the II World War and Nazis.
When reading the Revenge of the Prophet it becomes clear how our own foreign affairs "experts" in the period from 1992-1999 helped the rise of Osama bin Laden during the wars in the former Yugoslavia by making decisions without taking into consideration long term consequences.
Very interesting book and I highly recommend it.

Did we, the US, sacrifice the middle east to win the cold war? To this end, did we empower and help radicalize Islam and the historically moderate countries in the middle east? Have we allowed radical Islam to get a foothold in Europe, creating a staging ground for terrorism throughout Europe? Has the war in Irac had the opposite intended effect by further radicalizing the middle east?

This book deals with these serious issues by giving a detailed historical perspective on Islam, the countries of the middle east, the key groups and figures who shaped this region, and the current policies that are shaping it now. In fact, the information in this book is so well researched and documentated that I doubt you could find more current or pertinent information on this subject outside of a CIA file. And, if they are not currently doing so, the CIA should be using this book as a primer on the middle east for all staff/personnel.

Radical Islam is on the rise, and Mr. Joksimovich makes it crystal clear that this ideology is a fundamental threat to western ideals and culture. It is radical Islams' stated goal to destroy western culture and religion. Not since Nazi Germany has the world faced a greater threat, and just like then we cannot afford to lose this war.

If you value the freedoms western culture has provided you, you must read this book.

If you read "The Revenge" carefully you will find the book written very much straight foreword,with dates,places and people ,full with data and facts that does not live much room to reader for speculation ,in short The Islamists road is narrow and the ultimate goal is the destruction of the two other great religions Judaism and Christianity as we know it.It was interesting to learn that last century "birthed" three "great movements" :Nazism and Black shirts, Fascism and the Brown shirts and Islamism and the Green shirts.The world and societies of the past dealt pretty successfully with the first two ..the third survived and is a great problem of this century.Needles to say , it has to be defeated by positive forces ,all the same ones that defeated Nazism and Fascism.

Once again polymath Dr. Joksimovich has authored a book notable for its deep research and thought-provoking analysis. Dr. Joksimovich illustrates in impressive detail how Islamic extremist terrorism was brought to life by U.S. support for the most retrograde elements in Afghanistan during the 1980s (the most massive CIA operation in history), and how this movement that the Western world helped to create turned into a classic case of blowback. Through mismanagement, the U.S. focus on short-term (and short-sighted) goals in its intervention in the Balkans and its blind support for Saudi Arabia has only fed this growing movement, the consequences of which we are paying for today. The Bush Administration's reckless invasion of Iraq, based, like the war on Yugoslavia, on deliberate lies, has only given Al Qaeda and like-minded movements a rallying cause with which to recruit many new adherents. 'The Revenge of the Prophet' documents these and many other disturbing developments in hard-hitting fashion. A book not to be missed.

Prof. Finkelstein gives us a crucial perspective on the effects both of the Israeli Occupation and of the Oslo accords on the people of the West Bank. Finkelstein's book is helped immeasurably by his excellent writing style; clear, concise and easy to read, this book will be attainable and required reading for laypeople and Mideast scholars alike. Rather than focus on the actions of politicians and self-aggrandizing "leaders", Finkelstein instead gives us a view of the Palestinian PEOPLE. We meet a wide array of folks in Finkelstein's book and we emerge, necessarily from the experience far more understanding of who these people are than when we started. Perhaps most important of all is that Finkelstein never lets us forget that he himself is a Jew. He therefore lets everyone know that to be Jewish is NOT to be Zionist and it is most certainly not to be necessarily supportive of the actions of the Israeli government. There are many books that amply chronicle Israeli brutality and the crimes of the Zionist regime (another by Finkelstein that I highly recommend among them, called "Image and Reality of the Israel palestine Conflict) but I can think of no book more important to the understanding of the dilemma of the Palestinian people and to open the door for Jewish opposition to Israel than this one

a brutally honest account of the palestinian intifada experience as written by a jewish american. exposes fallacies in the representation of the case as well as in foreign policy. very necessary in understanding the israel-palestine conflict

This book provides a welcome dissent from typical American Jewish political views, and provides refreshing objectivity towards the Arab/Israeli conflict. Finkelstein portrays West Bank Palestinians before and during the Gulf War: the effects of thirty years of brutal repression on these people, their lives, hope and aspirations--and why they might have cheered Saddam's scud missiles. One chapter is dedicated to Finkelstien's methodical summary of American foriegn policy toward Israel on one hand, and Iraq on the other--Finkelstein refrains from judging either of these two countries during his comparison--and the result demonstrates an undeniable double standard in the application of international law. There is much evidence--much of it taken from declassified Israeli documents--that suggests Israel's 1982 invasion of Lebanon was entirely an offensive operation, the sole purpose of which was to avoid having to come to political terms with the PLO, and Finkelstein touches on this as well. Overall, an excellent, insightful book well worth reading.

Finkelstein's book is that rare gem of a monumental work housed within a slim volume. What makes his ideas so astonishing, in addition to their being meticulously researched and footnoted, is that his parents were survivors of the Nazi holocaust. Based on encounters with Elie Wiesel and the like, one would not expect a Jew of this background to have such a profound understanding of the Palestinian people and of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

This book is a must-read in that it convincingly defies, with powerfully sculpted arguments and towering research, the tired and frequently hypocritical views of the New York Times and other news authorities.

Finkelstein will convince you.

As a Jewish woman living in the U.S. it was difficult for me to hear but one side of the story in the Israeli-Arab conflict. That side was the Zionist perspective. It wasn't until I spent time in Israel (ironic as this is) that I began to understand the fallacies in the arguments I grew up hearing. I read this book after picking it up at a friend's house, and now I'm feeling brave enough to buy a copy of my own. That courage comes from Finkelstein. I feel like I'm in good company. There ARE other Jews who can see and dare to shed some light on the OTHER SIDE--the Palestinian viewpoint. Finkelstein presents us with the Palestinian perspective in the context of the Israel-Arab conflict with such integrity and simplicity. As descendents of a terribly oppressed group of people, I whole-heartedly support all efforts to stop dehumanizing the "enemy." Finkelstien shows us the humanness of Palestinians.

I have read all of Michael T. Klare's books and I think this is his best work. The book is well written and well thought out. I think some of his other works, his liberal colors show and he showed his personal dislike for the President and Republicans and conservatives in general and liked to play the blame game. Don't get me wrong, I am not a Republican or a Democrat, I am just saying I can be more objective than Mr. Klare because I dislike everybody equally, Mr. Klare is political. In the past Mr. Klare seems to show his world view might be colored because he might have been a 1960's hippie and he's spent a lot of his professional career in rich New Hampshire in the comfort and safety of rich, and comfortable Hampshire College in squeaky clean Amherst. I don't question the author's smarts or his honesty. He believes what he says. What does the author want? Page 252, "devise new technologies and industrial processes that consume fewer resources while stimulating economic growth, improving human life, and protecting the global climate." You don't want much do you honey?! Page 254, China and the United States, "cooperation would be the development of super-efficient, lightweight motor vehicles." More cars?! You are not asking for much are you Mr. Klare? Then why can't I have a wife that's always 117 pounds, is never moody and easy to get along with, has an IQ of 150 and loves to cut grass and clean the gutters and doesn't like to go shopping? I am sure Mr. Klare will remember the 1960's Rolling Stone song, "You can't always get what you want." I admire the Author's love of his son and his wife. Again, this is a sharp book by a very smart man. I am glad I bought it. Regards, Keith Renick, Peachtree City, Ga.

A sobering non-ideological account of the struggle among world powers for energy resources.

The author points to actions that could be taken to avoid the catastrophe of world war or another arms race as countries seek to obtain control of the remaining world energy resources.

If anyone is wondering why we have such high gasoline prices in this country this book might give us some clues as to the reason(s) behind such increases in price- peak oil. But not just that- it's peak everything! Increasingly as China, India, Japan, Russia, United States, and Canada compete for natural resources, we are depleting them at a very rapid rate. The author thinks we are pretty much at peak oil and will soon reach peak natural gas in the next decade. Due to the increased competition for resources, alliances have been built to ensure access to these resources via weapons trade and security whether it be in Africa, Central Asia, or Latin America. Countries are even competing for the remaining 25% of oil reserves in the North Pole. Michael Klare believes that if this gun boat diplomacy build up continues, we will be looking at another global war which would be catatrophic for the world. Unfortunately, his suggestions for alternative energy sources are of little consolation give that research and development are still at the early stages and in no way can compete with petroleum. I seriously doubt diplomacy will work as Klare suggests given the history of world conflict and the quest for precious resources. I find the current state of world affairs to be very frightening. Nevertheless, this book provides important information that is sure to startle you. So if you want to understand world affairs and politics as it relates to oil and other natural resources, this book is a must. Highly recommend.

I found this book to be thorough, well written, and thought provoking. Though I had read other books about energy, this gave me a better understanding about the political aspects, changing alliances, and the extent of the problem. After several chapters that can be described as doom and gloom, Klare does offer some suggestions on the world's way out - if we make a serious effort to do so. I strongly recommend this book.

When the Cold war ended, Americans generally assumed the U.S. would enjoy unchallenged preponderance in the world. Instead, Russia now has reemerged as a major actor and the U.S. has, in contrast, sometimes found itself cajoling foreign suppliers to increase output. Meanwhile, China's foreign currency reserves in late 2007 were $1.4 trillion, and rich Arab states recently invested $20 billion into Citibank.

According to the U.S. DOE, world energy supplies must increase 57% over the next quarter-century. This will not be met by increased alternative fuels - existing sources will provide 87% of the total need, but be harder to obtain.

Many believe this DOE projection of increased supply is optimistic - it counts on a 67% increase from Saudi Arabia. Nearly half of current oil production comes from 116 fields - all but four were discovered over 25 years ago, and many are showing signs of diminished capacity. Regardless, current consumption is double the discovery rate. As for alternative sources, it takes about 1 billion cubic feet of natural gas to produce 1 million barrels of oil from tar sands, as well as enormous quantities of scare water. (Gas finds are similarly declining - production is expected to peak soon as well, and this is not even counting increased demand due to Kyoto promises to use less-polluting fuel.) Corn is no cure either - considerable energy is used producing ethanol and it already is linked to substantial protests over increased food prices.

America's military used 1 gallon of petroleum/soldier/day during WWII, 4 in Gulf War I, and 16 currently in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Other trends are that oil control is increasingly moving into national hands (eg. Russia, Venezuela), and oil companies are increasing their clout (and profits) by moving into refining, transportation, and marketing. Klare also tells us that coal production is expected to peak in the late 2020's, and nuclear fuel availability to last only 40 years - again assuming no increase in utilization.

Still another problem: Increasing "gunboat diplomacy" (eg. U.S. fleet sailing through the Straits of Hormuz, China and Japan squaring off over a large off-shore gas field that both claim, new U.S. and Russian bases in the "stans," and alliances between various nations to protect oil interests), and arming of second/third-level nations in Africa and the mid-East by the U.S., Russia, and China.

Klare suggests the U.S. begin working collaboratively with China, and increased research on alternatives fuel sources. Conservation is another key opportunity - for example, Paul Krugman's 5/12/08 column points out that France uses only half the per capita oil of the U.S., and is hardly considered an impoverished nation.

Excellent book, it's helping me a lot with my Thesis at School.... I love it

incredibly depressing and negative, leaves one with a sick feeling in the stomach. but its happening in China every day.

This is an astounding book, but very difficult to read. I still shake my head in disbelief.

"The River Runs Black" by Elizabeth C. Economy is an intelligent analysis of contemporary China and its burgeoning environmental crisis. This engaging book helps us understand how globalization is reshaping China and issues an urgent plea for international cooperation to help monitor and rectify an increasingly worrysome situation.

Ms. Economy tells us how China's environment has been steadily deteriorating over the past centuries due to wars, political power struggles and overpopulation. However, today's problems
are attributable to specific policy decisions by China's government that has favored rapid economic development through engagement with the international business community. Unfortunately, the particular kinds of economic development favored by China's rulers has led to myriad environmental problems including deforestation, desertification, and air and water pollution. The collusion of local government and business interests has made it difficult to obtain reliable data or to implement solutions where it is feared that plant shutdowns might
result in mass unemployment and social unrest, making difficult problems seem untractable.

Environmental consciousness in China has increased as the problems have become more visible and as the country has engaged with the world economy. Ms. Economy profiles some of the courageous and inspirational individuals who have struggled for conservation, urban renewal and grass-roots democracy such as Tang Xiyang, He Bochuan, Dai Qing and others. While environmentalists have achieved some successes (such as protecting endangered species of monkeys and antelopes), the author believes that the government's championing of highly destructive projects such as the Three Gorges Dam proves that much more needs to be done.

Ms. Economy recounts the experiences of the former Communist nations of Eastern Europe to gain insight into how China might resolve its environmental problems. The Chernobyl disaster catalyzed local environmental groups into pushing for political reforms that brought down the Communists in the USSR and elsewhere. Recognizing that China's Communist Party is a "patronage machine committed to rapid economic development" and devoid of any ideological purpose other than self-perpetuation, Ms. Economy believes that increasing democratization in China could easily undermine the country's single Party system. Of course, China's leaders are keenly aware of this threat and consequently have tightly circumscribed the activities of environmental organizations, but the author is hopeful that the contradictions between increasing environmental degradation and the lack of a meaningful democracy will eventually force China's political system to change.

In the last section, Ms. Economy speculates about the manner in which China may develop in the future. The author envisions three possible scenarios: China goes green; inertia sets in; and environmental meltdown. Ms. Economy thinks that the U.S. should take the lead in encouraging China to develop its regulatory system and implement green technologies so that the country can embark on an environmentally sustainable path. Indeed, the unpredictable consequences of a Chinese environmental meltdown should give the international community pause to consider how it might help China -- and by extension all of us -- to avoid a worse case scenario.

I highly recommend this superbly written book to everyone.

Previous reviewers have said good things about this book, and I can only agree. It is notably superior to other recent books about the Chinese environment, which (though often scholarly) are long on polemics and short on comprehensive vision.
Dr. Economy focuses on politics and policies. These have been notoriously awful under Communism, but there is now a realization of the damage being done, and thus some hope. Dr. Economy is as optimistic as one could reasonably be. Incidentally, interested readers should also look up her very fine chapter in Kristen Day's worthy edited volume CHINA'S ENVIRONMENT AND THE CHALLENGE OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT.
I am not so optimistic. One reason is that my training is more in biology, and I am aware that the devastating damage China has done to its environment will not be clear for 50 to 100 years. It takes that long for pollution and environmental degradation to show themselves fully.
As Dr. Economy says, China wanted to be "first rich, then clean" (that's the literal Chinese; she actually phrases it more academically). They thought that the west had done this. No, the west started conservation and scientific management long ago. The United States' golden age of conservation was under Theodore Roosevelt, when the US was still poor and rural. The US and western Europe never allowed anything close to what China has done. There was much degradation, but reaction always came eventually. China, like all Communist-led countries, missed this lesson. Marx had spoken: production is all, and top-down control is the way to do it. This has led, everywhere, to dismal environmental records, though much good has come from distributing food, health care, housing, etc., more evenly (this may no longer be the case). It is now too late. The white-flag dolphin, once common and resilient, is extinct, the Three Gorges are dammed, and much else has gone beyond possibility of repair.
Dr. Economy does not draw as sharp a contrast as I would between traditional management and Communist excess. Traditional China had major Malthusian problems, but they were caused more by imperial policy than by environmental mismanagement at the riceroots level. The peasants and workers created a system based on harmony and balance. The system was full of problems, and never got as harmonious as we would now wish, but it worked; it kept hundreds of millions of people alive in spite of a premodern technology, and it managed the key resources--topsoil, water, forests, and so on--sustainably enough that there was quite a bit left by 1950. Recent books trashing the old system have titles significantly featuring elephants and tigers instead of people. Even if you prefer the charismatic megafauna, note that China had some elephants and a lot of tigers in 1950.
So a flawed, antiquated, underproductive, but still well-designed and eminently functional system was sacrificed, and the result has been a royal mess. Yields of food are way up, thanks to modern technology (some of it developed in China by the Communists--to their credit), but the future is cloudy indeed.
If you want the best account of what can be done and what is being done, look no further than this book.

Not an easy read, but one that many Americans probably should...it demonstrates well how our life styles here in the US increases demand for cheap consumer goods, resulting in corporations poisoning other parts of the planet to supply them quickly and without major expense to us.

Incredibly sickening injury to the planet is well documented and presented in a professional way, and the book is very readable.

Recommended for all of those who need a greater repetoire of evidence that we are rather quickly destroying the planet, and as a means of strengthening arguments against "globalization" and consumerism.

This definitive edition has been edited and provided with a Foreword and Introduction by Bruce Caldwell who retained the prefaces and forewords of earlier editions. The text has been enhanced by explanatory notes and new appendices that are listed at the end of this review.

Even after six decades, The Road To Serfdom remains essential for understanding economics, politics and history. Hayek's main point, that whatever the problem, human nature demands that government provide the solution and that this is the road to hell, remains more valid than ever. He demonstrated the similarities between Soviet communism and fascism in Germany and Italy.

The consensus in post-war Europe was for the welfare state which seemed humane and sensible for a long time. Now it is clear that this has led to declining birth-rates amongst native Europeans, mass immigration from North Africa and the Middle East, and a tendency to exchange their ancient cultural values for multiculturalism and moral relativism which is just another form of nihilism as the French philosopher Chantal Delsol observes.

In this timeless classic, Hayek examines issues like planning and power, the fallacy of the utopian idea, state planning versus the rule of law, economic control, totalitarianism, security and economic freedom. He brilliantly explains how we are faced with two irreconcilable forms of social organization. Choice and risk either reside with the individual or s/he is relieved of both. Societies that opt for security instead of economic freedom will in the long run have neither.

Complete economic security is inseparable from restrictions on liberty - it becomes the security of the barracks. When the striving for security becomes stronger than the love of freedom, a society gets into deep, deep trouble. The way to prosperity for all is to remove the obstacles of bureaucracy in order to release the creative energy of individuals.

The government's job is not to plan for progress but to create the conditions favorable to progress. This has been proved by the impressive economic expansion under Reagan and Thatcher and by the amazing growth of the Asian Tiger economies, and most recently India since it started implementing sensible economic policies. Everywhere entrepreneurial energy is unshackled, massive improvements follow.

Nowhere is this more obvious than in the contrast between phenomenal growth in formerly communist countries like Estonia or Poland or even the economic health of the UK as measured against the stagnant economies of Germany and France during the first years of the millennium. Old Europe would have benefited by a Thatcher and the French would have welcomed Polish plumbers instead of being resentful.

Hayek warns against utopian yearnings that are exploited by politicians, the stealthy way in which welfarism diminishes individual freedom, the totalitarian impulse and different types of propaganda. As pointed out by Chantal Delsol in Icarus Fallen, lack of personal responsibility leads to perpetual adolescence where citizens conflate desires with rights. Defining this process as the "sacralization" of rights, she shows that freedoms are then transformed into entitlements.

What a pity people don't learn; what a blessing we have in The Road to Serfdom as a reminder and a warning. The new Appendix of Related Documents include: Nazi-Socialism (1933), Reader's Report by Frank Knight (1943), Reader's Report by Jacob Marschak (1943), Foreword to the 1944 American Edition by John Chamberlain, Letter from John Scoon to C. Hartley Grattan (1945) and Introduction to the 1994 Edition by Milton Friedman. The book concludes with an index.

I always am skeptical about experts and their predictions so it was a delight to read Hayek's thoughts in 1944 about the problems with the prevailing economic theories. Life becomes the "answer key" about who was right and who was wrong. I started reading the book because of its historical importance but ended up enjoying Hayek's conversational and relaxed style. Thoughtful and balanced with the right mix of personal and societal examples. It seems that he would have been a wonderful teacher.

Without question one of the finest books every written in the realm of economics and politics. This is required reading for all whom love liberty and freedom.

This new edition includes a foreword by Bruce Caldwell explaining the book's origins and publishing history and assessing common misinterpretations of Hayek's thought. Caldwell has also standardized and corrected Hayek's references and added useful explanatory notes.

Hayek's central thesis of "The road to serfdom" is that all forms of collectivism lead logically and inevitably to tyranny, and he used the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany as examples of countries which had gone down "the road to serfdom" and reached tyranny.

The book has many worthy observations. For example, all people are different by their mental development (which is also influenced by family environment and education, not counting the physical differences of the brain and endocrine system) and thus the classes of the society are needed at least to give more developed people to fully put into action their potential. Liquidation of social classes will also liquidate the abilities of more developed individuals. The same is on the international level. Consider international planning. Whichever honest and democratically open panning system will be adopted, it will be opposed by less developed and poorer nations, because they will see it as ignorance or oppression of their interests. This is obvious - the needs and goals of poor or underdeveloped countries cannot match the goals of rich or developed countries; as the interests of more educated people cannot match the interests of less educated ones.

Many people came to a conclusion that the wealth, in some extent, depends on a level of education. The problem is that not all the people in equal extend incline to the education, to their self-improvement. This is because of the differences of their needs, habits, abilities, capabilities, and so on. Leo Tolstoy in his novel "Resurrection" arose a question of how to improve the level of education: from inside of each individual or from outside? Which came first, the chicken or the egg? Should first the level of education in the society be risen which yields a revolution (dialectic transition of quantity into quality) or the revolution should make the environment to foster the education. Hayek doesn't explicitly raise this issue, but brings parallel between delegation of decision making in managing an enterprise and managing the state. Hayek thought that if a company boss makes all decision making solely by himself and doesn't give the work (of decision making) back to the people (see Ronald Heifetz's publications), it is similar to the states with totalitarian government. Such a dictatorship, enterprise-wide or country-wide, can be used in particular circumstances, but should not be used in all cases as the absolutely correct way of management, according to Hayek.

Over 30 years ago, when I was in graduate school, this book was nowhere to be found on any Political Science or Political Theory reading list. I suppose part of the reason was that once the Nazis and Fascists had been defeated, their ideas were no longer seen as important. The question then was whether or not Communism would succeed. Furthermore, then and now, many people in academia had no complaint about government power as long as their side holds the power.

Hayek skillfully deflates that delusion by showing how the very economic powers of government created by the Social Democrats were the powers the Nazis used to consolidate their power.

This book was published 64 years ago but is as timely today as it was then.