Posted by Destroyo on November 14, 2003, at 17:37:53
I generally read fiction; magical realism, horror and a little SF, but occasionally I see something non-fiction that's compelling enough to drag me back into the real world (though the real world horrifies me more than Stephen King or H .P. Lovecraft ever could). I'm sure Andrew Solomon's depression tome "The Noonday Demon" has been recommended ad nauseum. To increase your understanding of the human condition, also read "A General Theory of Love" by Thomas Lewis, et al. I used to feel contempt for women who kept hooking up with abusive men time after time, and sticking with them way too long, but "General Theory" enlightened me to the notion that these women grow up in abusive households, and abusivness becomes "imprinted" upon their psyches, such that non-abusive relationships don't feel right to these women, and yes, they go out of their way to avoid NICE guys, but it's not their fault. They need a good therapist (not, hopefully, any of the "Dr. Stupids" I've had to deal with, but someone like Lewis and his two colleauges who wrote the book).
I don't enjoy political polemics, and I don't want to pick a fight with any of you more conservative than I, but there's a book you may want to look into, regardless of your place on the left-to-right spectrum, though admittedly it supports more left leaning conclusions. "Plenty of Nothing" (1996) by a Mr. Palley (William?) Palley's a union economist. In his book, he explains how fiscal, monetary, trade, labor, and budgetary policy were carefully and incrementally rigged over 20-some odd years to divert the fruits of economic growth straight to the top 1-2% of the wealthiest Americans. It didn't used to be that way; in the 50's and 60's, if our economy grew 5%, both rich and poor alike got about 5% richer. Now the working man gets 0% richer, and all the increased wealth flows straight to the top. This is by design. Palley's info pretty much can't be disputed. He just explains the way certain laws and regulations are currently configured, and uses Gov't statistics, to explain how things are now in contrast to how they used to be 20-30 years or more ago. This book is complex. It is NOT a fun read, though it's not torturous, either. The point is all this stuff is very complicated; that's why you simply can't explain to the great unwashed public how they're being screwed, their eyes just glaze over. Anyhow, if they have it at your library, look it over. If you don't want to make the effort to actually comprehend it, at least skim it over so that you can get the gist of how all this complexity is being used to deliberately conceal the machinations of a government that does not govern in the interest of the large majority of the governed.
poster:Destroyo
thread:279830
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/books/20030426/msgs/279830.html