What's Wrong with America
Author : Scott Bradfield
Publisher : Picador USA
Page : pages
File Size : 41,62 MB
Release : 1995-08-01
Category : Fiction
ISBN : 9780312136192
Democracy in America?
Author : Benjamin I. Page
Publisher : University of Chicago Press
Page : 400 pages
File Size : 31,72 MB
Release : 2020-04-02
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 022672493X
Book Description
America faces daunting problems—stagnant wages, high health care costs, neglected schools, deteriorating public services. How did we get here? Through decades of dysfunctional government. In Democracy in America? veteran political observers Benjamin I. Page and Martin Gilens marshal an unprecedented array of evidence to show that while other countries have responded to a rapidly changing economy by helping people who’ve been left behind, the United States has failed to do so. Instead, we have actually exacerbated inequality, enriching corporations and the wealthy while leaving ordinary citizens to fend for themselves. What’s the solution? More democracy. More opportunities for citizens to shape what their government does. To repair our democracy, Page and Gilens argue, we must change the way we choose candidates and conduct our elections, reform our governing institutions, and curb the power of money in politics. By doing so, we can reduce polarization and gridlock, address pressing challenges, and enact policies that truly reflect the interests of average Americans. Updated with new information, this book lays out a set of proposals that would boost citizen participation, curb the power of money, and democratize the House and Senate.
America Through Foreign Eyes
Author : Jorge G. Castañeda
Publisher : Oxford University Press, USA
Page : 321 pages
File Size : 36,49 MB
Release : 2020
Category : History
ISBN : 0190224495
Book Description
"Foreigners have been writing about the United States ever since its foundation. Now it is my turn. But please don't hold this against me: the United States itself is at fault. Like a great many people on earth, I've long been fascinated by this remarkable phenomenon which calls itself America. My fate -or perhaps good fortune- has been that of a foreigner who for half a century lived the American experience-as a child, as a student, as an author, as a recurrent visitor and as a university professor. Being Mexican places me in a special category: having lost half its territory to the United States in the 19th century, having found itself caught up in the maelstrom of America's current identity crisis, Mexico can never ignore what happens north of the border. Further, while serving as Mexico's Foreign Minister from 2000 to 2003, I had the privilege of peeping inside the machinery of power that makes this great nation tick. That said, this book is not written from a Mexican perspective but rather from that of a sympathetic foreign critic who has seen the United States from both inside and outside. And its hope is to contribute something to how Americans view themselves and are viewed by the world. Before embarking on this journey, I naturally looked back at some of my forebears, earlier foreigners who were drawn to visit or live in the United States and who then went on to offer their version of America to their home readers. Some like the French traveler Alexis de Tocqueville, author of the early 19th century classic, Democracy in America, felt European nations had much to learn from the American democratic experiment. Others like Charles Dickens left dismayed by what he considered to be the country's singular obsession with money. But they are just two of dozens who have tried-and continue to try- to find a magic key that unlocks the complexities and contradictions of American society. Indeed, it is as if the United States seeks to challenge foreign writers to explain it, confident they will fail. And in taking it on, these outsiders have variously experienced frustration, hope, anger, excitement, disappointment and enlightenment- but never indifference"--
What's Wrong with America?
Author : Jonathan Neale
Publisher :
Page : 294 pages
File Size : 26,10 MB
Release : 2004
Category : Political Science
ISBN :
Book Description
For the 30 million people who marched against the war in Iraq, there has long been a suspicion that all is not well with the world - and in particular the USA. Jonathan Neale's critique shows that what the US does to the rest of the world, it is also doing to its own people.
Government Is Good
Author : Douglas J. Amy
Publisher : Dog Ear Publishing
Page : 320 pages
File Size : 19,86 MB
Release : 2011
Category : Democracy
ISBN : 1457506580
Book Description
Why a book defending government? Because for decades, right-wing forces in this country have engaged in a relentless and irresponsible campaign of vicious government bashing. Conservatives and libertarians have demonized government, attacked basic safety net programs like Medicare, and undermined vital regulations that protect consumers, investors, workers, and the environment. This book takes on this anti-government movement and shows that most of its criticisms of this institution are highly exaggerated, misleading, or just plain wrong. In reality, American government - despite its flaws - plays a valuable and indispensable role in promoting the public good. Most government programs are working well and are actually improving the lives of Americans in innumerable ways. Democratic government is a vital tool for making our world a better place; and if we want an America that is prosperous, healthy, secure, well-educated, just, compassionate, and unpolluted, we need a strong, active, and well-funded public sector. Part I: Why Government is Good. The section of the book describes how government acts as a force for good in society. One chapter chronicles a day in the life of an average middle-class American and identifies the myriad ways that government programs improve our lives. Other chapters describe the forgotten achievements of government; how government is the only way to effectively promote public values like justice and equality; and how a free market economy would be impossible without the elaborate legal and regulatory infrastructure provided by government. Part II: The War on Government. This section of the book chronicles the unrelenting assault on government being waged by conservative forces in this country. Chapters describe how cuts in social programs and rollbacks of regulations have harmed the health, safety, and welfare of millions of Americans and how these assaults have taken place on many fronts - in Congress, the administrative branch, and the federal courts, as well as on the state and local level. Also addressed: how the right's radical anti-government agenda is out of touch with the views and priorities of most Americans, and what the real truth is about government deficits. Part III: How to Revitalize Democracy and Government. There are, in fact, some problems with American government, and we need to address these if we are to restore Americans' faith in this institution. One of the main problems with our government is that it is not accountable and responsive enough to the public. Moneyed special interests too often win out over the public interest. Chapters in this section describe this problem and how we can fix it. There are several reforms - including public financing of elections - that could help our government live up to its democratic ideals. The final chapter discusses strategies for building a pro-government coalition in this country.
What's the Matter with Kansas?
Author : Thomas Frank
Publisher : Picador
Page : 340 pages
File Size : 19,88 MB
Release : 2007-04-01
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 1429900326
Book Description
One of "our most insightful social observers"* cracks the great political mystery of our time: how conservatism, once a marker of class privilege, became the creed of millions of ordinary Americans With his acclaimed wit and acuity, Thomas Frank turns his eye on what he calls the "thirty-year backlash"—the populist revolt against a supposedly liberal establishment. The high point of that backlash is the Republican Party's success in building the most unnatural of alliances: between blue-collar Midwesterners and Wall Street business interests, workers and bosses, populists and right-wingers. In asking "what 's the matter with Kansas?"—how a place famous for its radicalism became one of the most conservative states in the union—Frank, a native Kansan and onetime Republican, seeks to answer some broader American riddles: Why do so many of us vote against our economic interests? Where's the outrage at corporate manipulators? And whatever happened to middle-American progressivism? The questions are urgent as well as provocative. Frank answers them by examining pop conservatism—the bestsellers, the radio talk shows, the vicious political combat—and showing how our long culture wars have left us with an electorate far more concerned with their leaders' "values" and down-home qualities than with their stands on hard questions of policy. A brilliant analysis—and funny to boot—What's the Matter with Kansas? presents a critical assessment of who we are, while telling a remarkable story of how a group of frat boys, lawyers, and CEOs came to convince a nation that they spoke on behalf of the People. *Los Angeles Times
America: What Went Wrong?
Author : Donald L. Barlett
Publisher : Andrews McMeel Publishing
Page : 256 pages
File Size : 16,17 MB
Release : 1992
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 9780836270013
Book Description
Articles and graphics describe economic conditions since the 1980s and their effect on the nation.
What the Hell’s Wrong with America
Author : Dr. Lune A. Teek
Publisher : Xlibris Corporation
Page : 237 pages
File Size : 36,26 MB
Release : 2021-10-19
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 1664111174
Book Description
What The Hell’s Wrong With America is a book about, well, what the hell’s wrong with America! It is the author’s contention that the one thing that causes more acrimonious intent, thoughts and acts than anything anyone can point to is race. Are you “black” or “white”? What makes you “black” of “white”? How did you become “Hispanic”? How did you become an “Arab” even if you’ve never been to Saudi Arabia?The answers may not be what you think. According to the author, this is due to the lack of the average man and woman’s understanding of the truth about what race is and what race is not. The author contends that as long as people keep referring to themselves as what they are referring to themselves as this country as well as the world will never experience the peace and prosperity they profess to want. The author states, “ Everyone wants to have a ‘Conversation’ about race but no one wants to consider that both sides will be starting and engaging in dialogue with false premises. In short, lies”. In this book you will be is asked powerful common sense questions about race that, in the author’s words, “you have never been asked before.” The author goes on to examine effective problem solving; the importance of having not just knowledge but correct knowledge; what “evil” is as well as the different forms that it manifests itself in, and how evil relates to the context of race as we have been taught to perceive it; the fictitious cultures both “black” and “white” people have created in an effort to solidify their concepts of these void constructs of “black” and “white”, and a lot more. The author started this book in 2015 at the height of civil unrest following several incidents of unarmed black men who were killed by police. In Chapter Five, the book explains how not to be killed during or at the end of a police interaction. There’s even a LGBTQ+ section dealing with the author’s views and insights on “gay” marriage. While the author states that the instructions given in this chapter may not be feasible for everyone, the chapter is a must read. And even though the author states that there will be secrets left untold it will be impossible for you to leave this book without a commitment to reexamine everything you have been taught. Starting with race. This book is a must read if you have been seeking insights on the truth about an issue that has in one way or another touched us all. Is America divided? Yes. But it doesn’t have to be. Read this book to understand how we got that way and what we can do to stop being that way. This book goes a long way to help one understand “What The Hell’s Wrong With America”. And that’s a good thing.
The Right Side of History
Author : Ben Shapiro
Publisher : HarperCollins
Page : 288 pages
File Size : 42,74 MB
Release : 2019-03-19
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 0062857924
Book Description
A #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER! Human beings have never had it better than we have it now in the West. So why are we on the verge of throwing it all away? In 2016, New York Times bestselling author Ben Shapiro spoke at the University of California–Berkeley. Hundreds of police officers were required to protect his speech. What was so frightening about Shapiro? He came to argue that Western civilization is in the midst of a crisis of purpose and ideas; that we have let grievances replace our sense of community and political expediency limit our individual rights; that we are teaching our kids that their emotions matter more than rational debate; and that the only meaning in life is arbitrary and subjective. As a society, we are forgetting that almost everything great that has ever happened in history happened because of people who believed in both Judeo-Christian values and in the Greek-born power of reason. In The Right Side of History, Shapiro sprints through more than 3,500 years, dozens of philosophers, and the thicket of modern politics to show how our freedoms are built upon the twin notions that every human being is made in God’s image and that human beings were created with reason capable of exploring God’s world. We can thank these values for the birth of science, the dream of progress, human rights, prosperity, peace, and artistic beauty. Jerusalem and Athens built America, ended slavery, defeated the Nazis and the Communists, lifted billions from poverty, and gave billions more spiritual purpose. Yet we are in the process of abandoning Judeo-Christian values and Greek natural law, watching our civilization collapse into age-old tribalism, individualistic hedonism, and moral subjectivism. We believe we can satisfy ourselves with intersectionality, scientific materialism, progressive politics, authoritarian governance, or nationalistic solidarity. We can’t. The West is special, and in The Right Side of History, Ben Shapiro bravely explains how we have lost sight of the moral purpose that drives each of us to be better, the sacred duty to work together for the greater good,.
Squandered Victory
Author : Larry Diamond
Publisher : Macmillan
Page : 420 pages
File Size : 34,25 MB
Release : 2007-04-01
Category : History
ISBN : 1429900261
Book Description
America's leading expert on democracy delivers the first insider's account of the U.S. occupation of Iraq-a sobering and critical assessment of America's effort to implant democracy In the fall of 2003, Stanford professor Larry Diamond received a call from Condoleezza Rice, asking if he would spend several months in Baghdad as an adviser to the American occupation authorities. Diamond had not been a supporter of the war in Iraq, but he felt that the task of building a viable democracy was a worthy goal now that Saddam Hussein's regime had been overthrown. He also thought he could do some good by putting his academic expertise to work in the real world. So in January 2004 he went to Iraq, and the next three months proved to be more of an education than he bargained for. Diamond found himself part of one of the most audacious undertakings of our time. In Squandered Victory he shows how the American effort to establish democracy in Iraq was hampered not only by insurgents and terrorists but also by a long chain of miscalculations, missed opportunities, and acts of ideological blindness that helped assure that the transition to independence would be neither peaceful nor entirely democratic. He brings us inside the Green Zone, into a world where ideals were often trumped by power politics and where U.S. officials routinely issued edicts that later had to be squared (at great cost) with Iraqi realities. His provocative and vivid account makes clear that Iraq-and by extension, the United States-will spend many years climbing its way out of the hole that was dug during the fourteen months of the American occupation.
