Political and Social Commentary
Common Sense and Rights Of Man
By Tom Paine
1776 and 1791
A fiery revolutionary, Tom Paine's writings still carry immense power
and insight. Paine, an Englishman, discusses the American and French
revolutions in order to explain a monumental change in social
paradigms. Paine's other well-known work, The Age Of Reason,
caused many to brand him an atheist. Not only is this untrue, but is
also an unkind categorization of a man with complex and profound
ideas.
The Natural Mind
By Andrew Weil
1986
Weil presents the argument that drug use and abuse should not be
viewed as subversive activities; but rather as the acting out of
natural desires within the mind to achieve altered states of reality.
A professor at the University of Arizona College of Medicine, Weil is
best known for a series of holistic medicine, natural living books.
The Natural Mind is one of his earlier works and presents a
compelling explanation of drug use. Perhaps the most important, that
drug users should be helped and treated; not arrested and locked up.
Zen In The Art Of Archery
By Eugen Herrigel
1989, Vintage Books/Random House
This is a "real" book about Zen. A German philosopher travels to
Japan in search of a true understanding of Zen Buddhism. "If one
really wishes to be master of an art, technical knowledge of it is
not enough. One has to transcend technique so that the art becomes
and 'artless art' growing out of the Unconscious," writes the author.
Steal This Urine Test: Fighting Drug Hysteria in America
By Abbie Hoffman
1987, Penguin Books
Radical Abbie Hoffman's last book is his most relevant to today's
world. American President Ronald Reagan's War On Drugs continues to
dominate the political conscience of the country. As more private
corporations begin to institute employee drug testing, this book is a
valuable resource for those wishing to subvert this oppressive
tactic.
Manufacturing Consent
By Noam Chomsky
Noam Chomsky turns his eye to the role of the media in Western
society as a tool of propaganda and control. His socio-scientific
appraoch views the foriegn policy of the US and it's interpretation
in the mass media as a means of disincentive and pacification for US
citizens. Topics include Vietnam, East Temor, and Nicaragua.
-- reviewed by Lindsay Taylor
Surfacing
by Margaret Atwood
In this novel, Margaret Atwood writes about a woman who takes her
boyfriend and another couple up to the cabin in rural Canada where
she grew up. She intends to only spend a weekend there with them, but
as the trip progresses, it turns into a real learning process about
both herself and her friends. Atwood expresses her fears of modern
industrial society taking over her beloved canada, and also adresses
importand feminist issues. Any naturalist or humanist would love this
book.
-- reviewed by Annemarie DuBois
Backlash: The Undeclared War Against American Women
By Susan Faludi
Backlash uncovers the historical role of the government and media in
protecting stereotypical social roles. This book is relevant to any
media consumer as it improves reader/viewer interpretation skills.
References to previous backlashes provide an excellent historical
overview of reactions to women's attempts to enter the work place and
reshape the female vision.
-- reviewed by Sharon Pittman
The Seduction of the Innocent
By Fredric Wertham
This book concentrated on the dehumanizing aspects of pop culture on
children primarily focusing on cheap, easily available comic books in
the 50s. BUT, very interestingly, the observations and effects are
almost identical to what's been happening on a vastly larger scale do
to television. It's very good reading. It's very interesting to
observe how pop culture tries to 'debunk' this book or its author in
almost the same obnoxious ways pop culture either ignores or attacks
Jerry Mander.
-- reviewed by Mark Warrian
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