Ravenweb Blog

Paul Krugman's The Conscience of a Liberal is a well-researched and masterfully crafted book that examines why the American middle class and relative income equality following the New Deal through the late 1970s have eroded over the past three and a half decades. Krugman begins by demonstrating how the modern American middle class did not evolve but was systematically created through political movements, principally the New Deal reforms that led to the American welfare state. From this premise, Krugman shows how "movement conservatives" organized and came to power and exploited racial and cultural divisions until they were powerful enough to win elections and begin undermining the New Deal's achievements. This has culminated, Krugman argues, in the movement conservative presidency of George Bush, whose disaster in Iraq and policies that favor the wealthy and big business have all exacerbated income inequality and, in effect, laid the groundwork for a new liberalism...

What We Say Goes presents Chomsky's latest thoughts and concerns about Iran, the unreported backdrop to the Israel-Palestine conflict, the occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan, and the growing power of the populist left in Latin America. As with many of Chomsky's recent publications, the overarching themes are unchanged and remain focused on state power, propaganda, and social change. What We Say Goes was culled from a series of Chomsky interviews with David Barsamian.

In The Assault on Reason , Al Gore examines the recent trend in U.S. politics -- especially in the current Bush administration -- of ignoring facts and analysis when making policy decisions. Impassioned and fiercely critical of Bush and the state of public discourse in America, this is the Al Gore I wish we saw more of in 2000.

The Greatest Story Ever Sold is a damning, step-by-step chronicle of the Bush administration's many propaganda campaigns to manipulate and distort truth. Laboriously researched, the text covers the administration's Iraqi WMD claims, Bush's "Mission Accomplished" triumph, the intimidation of the press, the Swift-boating of John Kerry, and much more.

The Audacity of Hope is an accessible and expressive exploration of some of the major problems facing America today and Senator Obama's thoughts about possible solutions. While this is clearly a positioning piece in which Obama works hard to speak to a large cross section of Americans (including Republicans and others who may have never heard of him), the book doesn't descend into safe answers and campaign stumping. On the contrary, throughout Obama maintains a sincere voice, speaking as a father and husband as often as a politician, and providing honest answers about his beliefs to a wide range of political questions.