An intriguing invitation to question and resist, rather than simply obey and serve.
Freedom-loving author argues that human progress lies in the individual, not government cure-alls.
America is a “sinking ship” and relying on the government to fix it will not work, says Zaugg (The Sounds of Silence: An Introduction to Ethics, 2005, etc.). Instead, the country’s future depends on its citizens rediscovering personal liberty and responsibility. With the zeal of a revolutionary and the discernment of a philosopher, Zaugg champions individualism over blind obedience to legislative bodies, religion and other forms of “collectivism.” He insists people are capable of making healthy choices and managing their own lives. Despite its academic-sounding title, the book is not the typical text on ethics. It is a call to action for Americans to become people of character armed with a moral compass. Belief in human potential, rationality and the existence of universal truths are held up as the cornerstones of civilization. Ethics, Zaugg argues, should be taught in schools alongside other core subjects. “Freedom recognizes the need for values, principles and ideals as the foundation for our success, not an escape from personal responsibility,” he writes. The book is more effective at exposing flaws in current thinking than proposing practical solutions. Zaugg blasts politicians who push for more government mandates and skewers intellectuals who deny the existence of absolute ethical standards. Government, in his view, exists to protect citizens, not to provide for them. Social security, national health care and income taxes are just a few of the sacred cows that come into his crosshairs. Yet this is not a political treatise that falls neatly under conservative or liberal, and readers of all stripes should prepare to have their worldviews challenged. Some the book’s recommendations seem unlikely, such as slashing military spending by 50 percent. The “homework” for each chapter may strike some as a series of loaded questions. Though heavy-handed at times, the author transmits his message in a quizzical style that reflects a deep mistrust for today’s prevailing wisdom.
An intriguing invitation to question and resist, rather than simply obey and serve.Pub Date: Sept. 30, 2009
ISBN: 978-1608603732
Page Count: 230
Publisher: Eloquent Books
Review Posted Online: Dec. 30, 2011
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Occasionally wonky but overall a good case for how the dismal science can make the world less—well, dismal.
“Quality of life means more than just consumption”: Two MIT economists urge that a smarter, more politically aware economics be brought to bear on social issues.
It’s no secret, write Banerjee and Duflo (co-authors: Poor Economics: A Radical Rethinking of the Way To Fight Global Poverty, 2011), that “we seem to have fallen on hard times.” Immigration, trade, inequality, and taxation problems present themselves daily, and they seem to be intractable. Economics can be put to use in figuring out these big-issue questions. Data can be adduced, for example, to answer the question of whether immigration tends to suppress wages. The answer: “There is no evidence low-skilled migration to rich countries drives wage and employment down for the natives.” In fact, it opens up opportunities for those natives by freeing them to look for better work. The problem becomes thornier when it comes to the matter of free trade; as the authors observe, “left-behind people live in left-behind places,” which explains why regional poverty descended on Appalachia when so many manufacturing jobs left for China in the age of globalism, leaving behind not just left-behind people but also people ripe for exploitation by nationalist politicians. The authors add, interestingly, that the same thing occurred in parts of Germany, Spain, and Norway that fell victim to the “China shock.” In what they call a “slightly technical aside,” they build a case for addressing trade issues not with trade wars but with consumption taxes: “It makes no sense to ask agricultural workers to lose their jobs just so steelworkers can keep theirs, which is what tariffs accomplish.” Policymakers might want to consider such counsel, especially when it is coupled with the observation that free trade benefits workers in poor countries but punishes workers in rich ones.
Occasionally wonky but overall a good case for how the dismal science can make the world less—well, dismal.Pub Date: Nov. 12, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-61039-950-0
Page Count: 432
Publisher: PublicAffairs
Review Posted Online: Aug. 28, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2019
SEEN & HEARD
A forceful, necessarily provocative call to action for the preservation and protection of American Jewish freedom.
Known for her often contentious perspectives, New York Times opinion writer Weiss battles societal Jewish intolerance through lucid prose and a linear playbook of remedies.
While she was vividly aware of anti-Semitism throughout her life, the reality of the problem hit home when an active shooter stormed a Pittsburgh synagogue where her family regularly met for morning services and where she became a bat mitzvah years earlier. The massacre that ensued there further spurred her outrage and passionate activism. She writes that European Jews face a three-pronged threat in contemporary society, where physical, moral, and political fears of mounting violence are putting their general safety in jeopardy. She believes that Americans live in an era when “the lunatic fringe has gone mainstream” and Jews have been forced to become “a people apart.” With palpable frustration, she adroitly assesses the origins of anti-Semitism and how its prevalence is increasing through more discreet portals such as internet self-radicalization. Furthermore, the erosion of civility and tolerance and the demonization of minorities continue via the “casual racism” of political figures like Donald Trump. Following densely political discourses on Zionism and radical Islam, the author offers a list of bullet-point solutions focused on using behavioral and personal action items—individual accountability, active involvement, building community, loving neighbors, etc.—to help stem the tide of anti-Semitism. Weiss sounds a clarion call to Jewish readers who share her growing angst as well as non-Jewish Americans who wish to arm themselves with the knowledge and intellectual tools to combat marginalization and defuse and disavow trends of dehumanizing behavior. “Call it out,” she writes. “Especially when it’s hard.” At the core of the text is the author’s concern for the health and safety of American citizens, and she encourages anyone “who loves freedom and seeks to protect it” to join with her in vigorous activism.
A forceful, necessarily provocative call to action for the preservation and protection of American Jewish freedom.Pub Date: Sept. 10, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-593-13605-8
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: Aug. 22, 2019
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