Book Review: Freedom from the Market: America’s Fight to Liberate Itself from the Grip of the Invisible Hand by Mike Konczal This book is the best explainer I’ve seen in telling how neoliberal dogma gained a dominant foothold in American economic and social thinking; and in so doing it provides critical pointers for regaining lost …
Author Archives: marwalk
From Here to Equality: Reparations for Black Americans in the Twenty-First Century
Book Review: From Here to Equality: Reparations for Black Americans in the Twenty-First Century by William A. Darity Jr., A. Kirsten Mullen This is the most convincing case for African American reparations I’ve ever heard—making this book well worth reading by everyone. It’s a bit of a tedious left-brain slog through quantitative data on purpose—to …
Kill Switch: The Rise of the Modern Senate and the Crippling of American Democracy
Book Review: Kill Switch: The Rise of the Modern Senate and the Crippling of American Democracy by Adam Jentleson This is the best explanation I’ve seen yet for how the US Senate has become so dysfunctional and undemocratic. Jentleson covers Senate history from its being as intended by Madison and the other founders, through its …
The Price of Peace: Money, Democracy, and the Life of John Maynard Keynes
Book Review: The Price of Peace: Money, Democracy, and the Life of John Maynard Keynes by Zachary D. Carter In this book, Zachary D. Carter decodes the academic, political, and ideological conflicts that John Maynard Keynes lived through, contributed to, and participated in—and provides practical meaning for us today over 70 years after the end …
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The New Human Rights Movement: Reinventing the Economy to End Oppression
Book Review: The New Human Rights Movement: Reinventing the Economy to End Oppression by Peter Joseph This is a must read proposal for establishing a sustainable and just economy and society. Peter Joseph skillfully identifies the causes of our current malady—describing with unique clarity the origins and effects of the usual suspects of global warming, …
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The Secret History of the American Empire: Economic Hit Men, Jackals & the Truth about Corporate Corruption
Book Review: The Secret History of the American Empire: Economic Hit Men, Jackals & the Truth about Corporate Corruption by John Perkins Published over a decade ago, this book is even more relevant today—providing a practical road map to reforming the corporate oligarchy and shutting down exploitative capitalism. John Perkins starts by recounting much of …
Redefining Job and the Conundrum of Suffering
Book Review: Redefining Job and the Conundrum of Suffering by Victoria Adams, David von Schlichten (Foreword) This book is a must-read that presents a unique perspective on human suffering that is simultaneously broad based and finely focused. Victoria Adams addresses head on the extensive amount of undeserved suffering in our own time by bringing to …
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Capital and Ideology
Book Review: Capital and Ideology by Thomas Piketty, Arthur Goldhammer (Translator) This is radical common sense well worth implementing worldwide—and the sooner the better. Although the succinct summary at the conclusion provides the essential gist of the author’s recommendations, this book is well worth the long hard slog to get through its entire length. Piketty …
The Hidden History of Burma: Race, Capitalism, and the Crisis of Democracy in the 21st Century
Book Review: The Hidden History of Burma: Race, Capitalism, and the Crisis of Democracy in the 21st Century by Thant Myint-U This book is a must-read, by the grandson of former Secretary-General of the United Nations U Thant. There are uncanny analogs (in substance, not necessarily degree) between Burma/Myanmar and other countries, including the US. …
This Land Is Their Land: The Wampanoag Indians, Plymouth Colony, and the Troubled History of Thanksgiving
Book Review: This Land Is Their Land: The Wampanoag Indians, Plymouth Colony, and the Troubled History of Thanksgiving by David J. Silverman Once you start reading this book it is likely you will continue with it to the end—this is gripping documented history that will have you on the edge of your seat in some …