I watched Chris Hedges and others on the Agenda last night. I gathered Hedges didn't really feel very comfortable in a panel discussions setting. He seemed awfully reserved and had trouble getting his points across.
I first got hooked on Hedges when reading "War is a force that gives us meaning", his take on the Balkan wars of the 1990s. He witnessed much of what went on as a correspondent. I've since read "American Fascism", his take on organized religion in the US, and "Empire of Illusion" in which he takes on a variety of big things that he sees as wrong with the US of today. I've not read "Death of the Liberal Class" but may pick it up shortly. What I've found about Hedges is that he tends to begin with an assumption that he has to back up in the rest of the book. Sometimes the backing up becomes a little laborious. Still, he's a heavy thinker and very much worth reading. I've recently read Jacob Hacker's and Paul Pierson's "Winner Take All Politics". It's about about the huge change in wealth and power that's taken place in the US from about 1970 to the present. Only about the first half of the book needs to be read. It gives you all of the facts. Much of the rest is about who did what to whom and how they managed to do it -- great stuff for someone interested in political detail but rather confusing to someone who isn't. I'd highly reccomend. Ed ----- Original Message ----- From: "Arthur Cordell" <[email protected]> To: "'RE-DESIGNING WORK, INCOME DISTRIBUTION,EDUCATION'" <[email protected]>; <[email protected]> Sent: Saturday, October 23, 2010 10:41 AM Subject: Re: [Futurework] FW: [SPAM] A Lifetime of 'You're On Your Own' > See also, > > Chris Hedges: The Liberal Class | Death of the Liberal Class? > Friday, October 22 2010 8:00 PM > > * Chris Hedges: The Liberal Class > * Death of the Liberal Class? > > Chris Hedges: The Liberal Class > The Interview: Chris Hedges: The Liberal Class > > American journalist and author Chris Hedges will discuss his upcoming book > "Death of the Liberal Class", where he laments the failure of the liberal > class to act as a moderating influence in public life - and has allowed > for > the rise of radicalism - the very threat to liberal democracy. > > -----Original Message----- > From: [email protected] > [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Michael > Gurstein > Sent: Saturday, October 23, 2010 4:29 AM > To: 'RE-DESIGNING WORK, INCOME DISTRIBUTION, EDUCATION'; > [email protected] > Subject: [Futurework] FW: [SPAM] A Lifetime of 'You're On Your Own' > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: Portside Moderator [mailto:[email protected]] > Sent: Saturday, October 23, 2010 3:59 AM > To: [email protected] > Subject: [SPAM] A Lifetime of 'You're On Your Own' > > > [For documentation of each of the points made in this > article, go to the links in the original. - moderator] > > A Lifetime of 'You're On Your Own' > > by Faiz Shakir, Benjamin Armbruster, George Zornick, > Zaid Jilani, Alex Seitz-Wald, Ian Milhiser, and Tanya > Somanader > October 21, 2010 > http://pr.thinkprogress.org/2010/10/pr20101021 > > More than seventy years ago, the Supreme Court abandoned > a brief, disastrous experiment with "tentherism," a constitutional theory > that early twentieth century justices wielded to protect monopolies, strip > workers of their right to organize and knock down child labor laws. This > discredited constitutional theory is back -- with a vengeance -- > endangering > Medicare, Social Security, the minimum wage and even the national highway > system and America's membership in the United Nations. For the first time > in > three generations, the right is fielding a slate of candidates convinced > that any attempt to better the lives of ordinary Americans violates the > Constitution -- while a number of sitting lawmakers such as Reps. John > Shadegg (R-AZ) and Donald Manzullo (R-IL) are already actively pushing > tentherism from within the Congress. Make no mistake, this agenda > threatens > all Americans, from the youngest schoolchild to the most venerable > retirees. > > SLAMMING SCHOOLHOUSE DOORS: Tentherism's core tenet is > that the 10th Amendment must be read too narrowly to > permit much of the progress of the last century. Thus, > for example, because the Constitution doesn't actually > use the word "education" -- it instead gives Congress > broad authority to spend money to advance the "common > defense" and "general welfare" -- Senate candidates like > Ken Buck (R-CO) and Sharron Angle (R-NV) claim that the > federal Department of Education is unconstitutional. > That means no federal student loan assistance or Pell > Grants for middle class students struggling to pay for > college, and no education funds providing opportunities > to students desperately trying to break into the middle > class. And that's hardly the worst news tenthers have in > store for young Americans. Alaska GOP Senate candidate > Joe Miller wants to declare child labor laws > unconstitutional -- returning America to the day when ten-year-olds > labored > in coal mines. > > THANKLESS LABOR: Tenther candidates have even worse > plans for working age Americans. Miller and West > Virginia GOP Senate candidate John Raese both claim that > the federal minimum wage is unconstitutional -- a > position the Supreme Court unanimously rejected in 1941. > If you're a person of color or a woman or a person of > faith than you are also out of luck, because Kentucky > GOP Senate candidate Rand Paul agrees with Justice > Clarence Thomas that the ban on employment and pay discrimination is > unconstitutional (don't try to get a meal on your lunch break either, > because both men feel the same way about the ban on whites-only lunch > counters). Significantly, the constitutional doctrine which supports the > minimum wage is the same one which supports child labor laws and bans on > discrimination, so when a candidate comes out in opposition to any one of > these laws, it is likely that they oppose all of them. To top this all > off, > Alaska's Miller even claims that unemployment benefits violate the > Constitution, so Americans who are unable to find work in the new tenther > regime will simply be cast out into the cold. > > AN IMPOVERISHED RETIREMENT: Social Security may be the > most successful program in American history. Without it, > nearly half of all seniors would live below the poverty > line. Yet, because words like "retirement" don't > specifically appear in the Constitution, tenthers think > that Social Security is forbidden. Indeed, Social > Security has not just been labeled unconstitutional by > specific GOP candidates, the Republican Party's "Pledge > To America" embraces a tenther understanding of the Constitution which > endangers both Social Security and Medicare. Tenthers respond to claims > that > they would abolish America's entire safety net for seniors by pointing out > that state governments could still create their own retirement programs, > but > such a state takeover of retirement programs is economically impossible > unless America forbids its citizens from retiring in a different state > than > the one that they paid taxes in while working. Some tenther candidates > have > also suggested that Social Security can survive so long as it is > privatized, > but privatization would impose significant new risks on seniors, create > new > administrative costs, force benefit reductions and cost more money than > the > present system. In other words, the right has a simple plan for American > families: making sure that everyone at the dinner table is completely on > their own. > > _____________________________________________ > > Portside aims to provide material of interest > to people on the left that will help them to > interpret the world and to change it. > > Submit via email: [email protected] > Submit via the Web: portside.org/submit > Frequently asked questions: portside.org/faq > Subscribe: portside.org/subscribe > Unsubscribe: portside.org/unsubscribe > Account assistance: portside.org/contact > Search the archives: portside.org/archive > > > !DSPAM:2676,4cc24293308681911810821! > > > _______________________________________________ > Futurework mailing list > [email protected] > https://lists.uwaterloo.ca/mailman/listinfo/futurework > > _______________________________________________ > Futurework mailing list > [email protected] > https://lists.uwaterloo.ca/mailman/listinfo/futurework > _______________________________________________ Futurework mailing list [email protected] https://lists.uwaterloo.ca/mailman/listinfo/futurework
