Political Doctrines Books - Page 27

And Justice for Some: An Expose of the Lawyers and Judges Who Let Dangerous Criminals Go Free

Wendy Murphy

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Total reviews: 16 Average rating: 3.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

A scathing exposé of the judges and lawyers who put criminals’ rights ahead of victims’ rights

When Wendy Murphy was a young prosecutor, she learned that the deck is stacked in favor of criminal defendants. Between their arrest and (potential) conviction, murderers, rapists, and drug dealers get more than a fair shake—they get an unfair advantage, often at the expense of their victims.

In many states, for instance, defendants can subpoena a victim’s private medical and counseling files, without any justification. They can threaten victims with brutal cross-examinations if they dare to testify. They can put on "dog and pony show" defenses that have nothing to do with the truth—and even lie under oath with virtually no risk of being prosecuted for perjury.

These kinds of injustices make Murphy fighting mad. She’s made it her mission to help the victims who get the least protection from our twisted legal system. And in her first book, she guides readers through one horror story after another about judges and lawyers who bend over backward to let the worst offenders go free.

You’ll meet judges who unapologetically declare that they care more about their liberal ideology than about the pain and suffering of abuse victims. Judges who let child molesters walk free because they’re "too frail" to go to prison. Defense attorneys who take big money from wealthy child molesters, then twist the Bill of Rights beyond recognition. And even a few prosecutors who go easy on criminals for their own selfish reasons.

Murphy’s true stories will shock you, but they will also inspire you to join the fight for a more rational system. This is an important book that is sure to infuriate America’s legal establishment.

The Limits to Capital, New Edition

David Harvey

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Total reviews: 5 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

The most thorough exposition of Marxist political economy in print 5 out of 5 stars.
50 of 50 people found this review helpful.

David Harvey is actually a geographer, but from reading this book, one would think him one of the great political economists. Based on this work alone, he should be in the popular range of Stiglitz, Schumpeter, Milton Friedman etc., but it is not likely that such 'honor' will ever befall a Marxist theorist. Nevertheless everyone interested in Marxist economics, for whatever reasons, simply must read this book.

Harvey's discussion of capitalism from a Marxist perspective is extraordinary clear, sharp and thorough. So much in fact that it is probably the most consistently in-depth exposition of capitalism from every aspect since "Capital" itself. This also makes it hard to review it, since one hardly knows where to begin.

Fortunately for political economy newbies (and this book is definitely the best kind of "introductory overview" you could give to an intellectual person), Harvey starts at the same point "Capital" starts, then works his way through. First he gives a clear exposition of the general framework of Marxist theory: the law of value, the differences between value, use value and exchange value, the mode of production etc. All this is done quite well, though there are of course many many such general descriptions available in print. Harvey does seem to skip over the "transformation problem" somewhat, which may annoy those who consider it a major hurdle. Harvey, in my view with good reason, does not.

The next two chapters discuss production, distribution, surplus value and its realization and the relation to supply and demand. Particularly useful here are his explanations of the importance of the concept of value composition of capital, and the reduction of skilled to simple labour, where he addresses one of Von Böhm-Bawerk's better critiques of Marxism.

The next part of the book is perhaps the core of the book. Here, Harvey delves into the organization of capital, the various forms which it can take and how these interrelate, and the tendency of the rate of profit to fall. He shows how the various manifestations of capital can interfere with each other's functioning and how this creates the tendency towards crises. He then posits the problem of overaccumulation (rather than underdevelopment) as the first 'layer' or 'cut' of crisis theory.

After the reader has grasped all this, the second crucial part of the book follows in a rapid manner, introducing first the problematic of fixed capital and its relation to the law of value, and then the role of credit in capitalism. The first is not very satisfactorily resolved and is in my view probably the weakest part of his theory. Alan Freeman has since given a quite different solution to the same issue, but that does not seem to really solve the problem either. Perhaps this is one of the things Marxist political economy has yet to fully solve.

Harvey's demonstration of the role of credit is however masterful and extremely enlightening for the many who are confused by the vast array of forms in which credit appears in modern society. His emphasis on the importance of understanding the so-called "fictitious capital", that is advanced capital not yet backed by actual value through production, allows him to show the second major appearance of crises in capitalism as well as explaining the theory of rent in Marxism, which forms the subject of the chapter thereafter. He corrects Marx' somewhat excessively anti-distributive theory of rent and explains the role of agricultural technology. Harvey is in many parts of this chapter rather confusing in his terminology, but a careful reader can certainly grasp the issue.

At the end of the book Harvey can finally follow up on his own area of expertise. By explaining the role of spatial and temporal relations in the flow of capital and the necessity of 'exporting' the internal contradictions of capitalist social relations, he is able to form a theory of imperialism that is largely in accordance with that of Lenin, but without the theory of underdevelopment. It also puts a good perspective on Marx & Engels' many journalistic articles about India and colonialism. Finally he combines this with the earlier two aspects to form the third 'cut' of capitalist crisis theory, which takes every aspect of capitalism in its modern appearance into account.

On the whole, Harvey has done an unparallelled and magisterial work in creating an exposition of capitalism that is at once as in-depth as "Capital" and much clearer (and shorter!) than that, although of course without Marx no such thing could ever have been made.
There are a few things nevertheless not covered (fully) in the book. Harvey pays surprisingly little attention to urban geography and (sub)urbanization as a factor in capitalism. Furthermore his theory of the state is a hodgepodge of different roles, which he never unites into one whole. Finally, people experienced in handling Marxist theory might have problems with Harvey's generally structuralist approach, which leaves relatively very little room for the autonomous significance of class struggle. Harvey mostly relegates that to the fields of production processes and labour mobility. Because of this, Lebowitz' "Beyond Capital" should probably be read alongside it as a complementary contribution, analyzing the same from the side of wage-labour.

Editorial Review:

Widely praised as an exciting, insightful exposition and development of Marx's critique of political economy, Harvey updates his classic text with a discussion of the turmoil in world markets today.

Explaining Hitler

Ron Rosenbaum

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Total reviews: 94 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Understainding evil 4 out of 5 stars.
4 of 4 people found this review helpful.

This book does not really explain Hilter. Rather it highlights what the various explanations for Hilter reveal about the people or societies attempting the explanations. Rosenbaum offers a balanced assessment of the various opinions commonly offered to explain what happened in Germany in the 1920's through the 1940's and the European reaction to those event. Explaining Hitler is not a full history of the Nazi era but it is a fascinating social analysis of our response to that era.

Intelligent and provocative 4 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

This is a book quite different to any other book I have read before. It is probing, controversial and, speculative. It has a philosophical bent to it and will make you think.

The book revolves not only about Hitler but also about the Holocaust and the Germans. Before reading this book, I happened to read Daniel Jonah Goldhagen's "Hitler's willing executioners". Goldhagen puts the Holocaust's responsibility squarely on the Germans but "Explaining Hitler" goes deeper and entertains the additional possibility that "no Hitler, no Holocaust".

The book has somewhat long chapters that sometimes feels were written in a haphazard fashion and, as a result of this, it is not a reader friendly book as far as reading mechanics go.

The War on Christmas: How the Liberal Plot to Ban the Sacred Christian Holiday Is Worse Than You Thought

John Gibson

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Total reviews: 353 Average rating: 2.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

In the United States of America, a nation overwhelmingly Christian, literally any sign of Christmas in public can now lead to complaints, litigation, angry protests, threats, and bruised feelings. Every year the limitations get tighter and tighter and spread to more and more communities, far from the big liberal cities. And as Fox News Channel’s John Gibson reveals in this shocking exposé, it’s not happening by accident.

Secular liberals say they’re just protecting the constitutional rights of non-Christians who don’t want to see or hear about Christmas. But what about the constitutional rights of millions of Americans who simply want to celebrate their traditional holiday—without insulting anyone else but also without having to hide behind closed doors?

Gibson unveils the coordinated work of American Civil Liberties Union lawyers, professional atheists, and Christian haters who have taken the war on Christmas to your front door.

The War on Christmas is heating up, maybe in your own town. Don’t let it catch you unprepared.

The Death of the West: How Dying Populations and Immigrant Invasions Imperil Our Country and Civilization

Patrick J. Buchanan

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Total reviews: 411 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

An important trend that is often ignored by the mainstream media 5 out of 5 stars.
3 of 4 people found this review helpful.

If birth rates are the best indication of a how much a people values itself, it's customs and it's traditions, then certainly Europeans and White Americans are in the pangs of self-loathing and self hatred. Nations and cultures usually die from internal causes and certainly the European way of life is rotten at the core. Europe and the American culture inherited from Europe is literally suicidal. Bucahanan does an outstanding job of laying out all of the grim statistics. The most important statistic is this: birth rates are exploding in the third world and developing nations while birth rates are exceedingly miniscule in the most developed nations of Europe, North america and Japan. What this means for the future no one can be certain but it is certainly an important phenomenon (maybe the most important trend in all of sociology) and one that for politically correct reasons does not receieve its due consideration in the mainstream media.

Editorial Review:

The national bestseller that shocked the nation--The Death of the West is an unflinching look at the increasing decline in Western culture and power.

The West is dying. Collapsing birth rates in Europe and the U. S., coupled with population explosions in Africa, Asia and Latin America are set to cause cataclysmic shifts in world power, as unchecked immigration swamps and polarizes every Western society and nation.
The Death of the West details how a civilization, culture, and moral order are passing away and foresees a new world order that has terrifying implications for our freedom, our faith, and the preeminence of American democracy.

The Death of the West is a timely, provocative study that asks the question that quietly troubles millions: Is the America we grew up in gone forever?

Aesthetics and Politics

Ernst Bloch

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Total reviews: 1 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

an invaluable volume 4 out of 5 stars.
50 of 50 people found this review helpful.

This is a well arranged volume of the essays essential to Marxist criticism from the 1930's to the 1950's. The essayists are all critical contributions are summed-up, and their current relevance traced, in a brilliant conclusion by Frederic Jameson, perhaps the most important Marxist critic writing today. I like this volume because the choice of essays is great and the selections are placed in a chronological, point-counterpoint format so that the 'conversation' is easy to follow. The essays are mainly concerned with the realism/modernism dialectic. Lukacs lauds the realism of Balzac and Mann as the exemplary approach to historicism in the novel. Adorno posits that high modernism, though it seems apolitical, provides the most ominous image of capitalism, and that it is thus the more viable revolutionary aesthetic. The other essayists chart the space between these (seemingly) polarized perspectives and provide important insights into the more mystical (Benjamin) and pragmatic (Brecht) applications of Marxist theory. Adorno takes Benjamin to task for not thinking dialectically. And, between Brecht and Adorno, Lukacs takes a beating for his reactionary attachment to the bourgeois realist novel. But Benjamin and Lukacs are both vindicated in Jameson's balanced conclusion. This is a short but invaluable volume for anyone interested in Marxist aesthetic theory.

The Spirit of Democracy: The Struggle to Build Free Societies Throughout the World

Larry Diamond

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Editorial Review:

One of America’s preeminent experts on democracy charts the future prospects for freedom around the world in the aftermath of Iraq and deepening authoritarianism

 

Over three decades, the world was transformed. In 1974, nearly three-quarters of all countries were dictatorships; today, more than half are democracies. Yet recent efforts to promote democracy have stumbled, and many democratic governments are faltering.
In this bold and sweeping vision for advancing freedom around the world, social scientist Larry Diamond examines how and why democracy progresses. He demonstrates that the desire for democracy runs deep, even in very poor countries, and that seemingly entrenched regimes like Iran and China could become democracies within a generation. He also dissects the causes of the “democratic recession” in critical states, including the crime-infested oligarchy in Russia and the strong-armed populism of Venezuela.
Diamond cautions that arrogance and inconsistency have undermined America’s aspirations to promote democracy. To spur a renewed democratic boom, he urges vigorous support of good governance—the rule of law, security, protection of individual rights, and shared economic prosperity—and free civic organizations. Only then will the spirit of democracy be secured.

Arabic Thought in the Liberal Age 1798-1939

Albert Hourani

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Total reviews: 3 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

The genesis of Arab modern thought 5 out of 5 stars.
8 of 8 people found this review helpful.

This book is an extensive version of Hisham Sharabi's Arab Intellectuals. It highlights the reaction of the Arab intellectual circles to the expanding European influence that had reached the Arab world by the early 19th century.
Hourani, however, presents a more thorough description of the life and thought of the most prominent Arab thinkers of the time including Jamaluddine Al-Afghani and Muhammad Abdo among others as opposed to Sharabi's brief account on the life and works of these people.
Despite the academic nature of this work, grasping what's in it is easy and not at all complicated. Hourani's narration is well-researched and elegant while his translation of the original texts is also remarkable. The end result is an accurate account that invites the admiration of the readers.
This book is so much needed for those who are interested to understand the evolution of Arab thought over the past two centuries and how this evolution was interrupted with the discovery of oil and the advent of imperialism.

Editorial Review:

Arabic thought in the liberal age is the most comprehensive study of the modernizing trend of political and social thought in the Arab Middle East. Albert Hourani studies the way in which ideas about politics and society changed during the nineteenth and the first half of the twentieth centuries, in response to the expanding influence of Europe. His main attention is given to the movement of ideas in Egypt and Lebanon. He shows how two streams of thought, the one aiming to restate the social principles of Islam, and the other to justify the separation of religion from politics, flowed into each other to create the Egyptian and Arab nationalisms of the present century. The last chapter of the book surveys the main tendencies of thought in the post-war years. Since its publication in 1962, this book has been regarded as a modern classic of interpretation. It was reissued by the Cambridge University Press in 1983 and has subsequently sold over 8000 copies.

Arabic Thought in the Liberal Age 1798-1939

Albert Hourani

Amazon Price: $39.59 List Price: $43.99 Usually ships in 2 to 3 weeks By: Cambridge University Press Amazon Marketplace: 30 new & used starting at $29.25

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 3 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

The genesis of Arab modern thought 5 out of 5 stars.
8 of 8 people found this review helpful.

This book is an extensive version of Hisham Sharabi's Arab Intellectuals. It highlights the reaction of the Arab intellectual circles to the expanding European influence that had reached the Arab world by the early 19th century.
Hourani, however, presents a more thorough description of the life and thought of the most prominent Arab thinkers of the time including Jamaluddine Al-Afghani and Muhammad Abdo among others as opposed to Sharabi's brief account on the life and works of these people.
Despite the academic nature of this work, grasping what's in it is easy and not at all complicated. Hourani's narration is well-researched and elegant while his translation of the original texts is also remarkable. The end result is an accurate account that invites the admiration of the readers.
This book is so much needed for those who are interested to understand the evolution of Arab thought over the past two centuries and how this evolution was interrupted with the discovery of oil and the advent of imperialism.

Editorial Review:

Arabic thought in the liberal age is the most comprehensive study of the modernizing trend of political and social thought in the Arab Middle East. Albert Hourani studies the way in which ideas about politics and society changed during the nineteenth and the first half of the twentieth centuries, in response to the expanding influence of Europe. His main attention is given to the movement of ideas in Egypt and Lebanon. He shows how two streams of thought, the one aiming to restate the social principles of Islam, and the other to justify the separation of religion from politics, flowed into each other to create the Egyptian and Arab nationalisms of the present century. The last chapter of the book surveys the main tendencies of thought in the post-war years. Since its publication in 1962, this book has been regarded as a modern classic of interpretation. It was reissued by the Cambridge University Press in 1983 and has subsequently sold over 8000 copies.