A sturdy argument that small choices can lay a foundation for larger collective shifts.
A professor of professional practice champions social and political change that will reshape our economies into a circular model that protects the planet—and us.
This is a carefully researched and closely reasoned critique of consumerism, resource depletion, cheap labor, waste, and the ruinous belief in unbridled growth. In 2013, Goldmark employed her skills as a theatrical set and costume designer to open a series of short-term pop-up repair shops in New York City, discovering more sustainable ways of utilizing the “stuff” we too often discard. The author clearly educated herself on the many complex threads of local, national, and global issues involved in the promotion of rampant consumerism. She demonstrates how our linear manufacturing model inevitably creates monumental waste, not just planned obsolescence, and how durability and ease of repair seldom enter the equation. The real environmental tab is the energy we waste and the human costs of cheap labor. Goldmark places responsibility not just with corporations, but also with the consumer. Paraphrasing Michael Pollan’s guidelines on eating, she advocates buying well-made, durable products, not too many, mostly reclaimed, caring for them and, when possible, passing them on. Beyond individual behavior, some of the author’s proposed systemic solutions are sound. However, she sometimes clouds her arguments with sermons on the myth of the American West and religion, sounding like a left-leaning urban ideologue who brooks no argument with her interpretation of the facts. Some matters are more complicated than she would have it. Insofar as the big picture is concerned—countering excessive consumerism, transforming capitalism’s eternal growth ethic into something more reasonable—one fears that the author is up against a tide that will refuse to wane until it’s too late. Nonetheless, at least she’s trying, as are others, to educate and inspire change. Many of Goldmark’s narrative threads are ripe for further study.
A sturdy argument that small choices can lay a foundation for larger collective shifts.Pub Date: Sept. 22, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-64283-045-3
Page Count: 232
Publisher: Island Press
Review Posted Online: July 15, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2020
A cosmic straw man is vanquished in the fight against dangerous ideals such as social justice and equality. This is not the place to look for original ideas or honest analysis. Presumably, Sowell’s (Migrations and Cultures, 1996, etc.) goal is to entertain those who share his convictions rather than convince open-minded readers, and this audience will be pleased. “Cosmic justice” is presented as a fundamental departure from the “traditional” conception of justice, which Sowell claims has the “characteristic of a process,” rather than of a particular outcome. He conveniently forgets to mention that this “tradition” dates back only to the emergence of liberal-democratic states and that contrasting notions of procedural vs. substantive justice remain the subject of lively debate. Admitting legitimate disagreement over even something as slippery as justice would soften the blows he aims at those who think inequality and any associated oppression raises concerns a just society should address, and Sowell is not one to temper a political argument simply to maintain intellectual integrity. He is not straightforwardly defending inequality, of course, but rather is pursuing the familiar strategy of attacking measures that could alleviate it. Sowell, a fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford, boldly asserts that those who believe equality should be pursued through public policy “assume that politicizing inequality is free of costs and dangers.” No names are mentioned, and it is indeed hard to imagine that anyone would believe there are no costs or dangers. By stating the issue in terms of extremes, however, he ducks the real issue—the challenge of weighing costs and benefits—and avoids the need for incorporating any subtlety into his discussion. Confronted with such disingenuous blather, readers may find Sowell’s criticism of others applies well to Sowell himself: “To explain the levels of dogmatism and resistance to facts found in too many writings . . . it is necessary to explore what purposes are served by these visions.”
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-684-86462-2
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Free Press
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1999
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A solid work of investigation that, while treading well-covered ground, offers plenty of surprises.
An account of the last gasps of the Trump administration, completing a trilogy begun with Fear (2018) and Rage (2020).
One of Woodward and fellow Washington Post reporter Costa’s most memorable revelations comes right away: Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, calling his counterpart in Beijing to assure him that even after Jan. 6 and what Milley saw as an unmistakable attempt at a coup d’état, he would keep Trump from picking a war with China. This depiction has earned much attention on the talking-heads news channels, but more significant is its follow-up: Milley did so because he was concerned that Trump “might still be looking for what Milley called a ‘Reichstag moment.’ ” Milley emerges as a stalwart protector of the Constitution who constantly courted Trump’s ire and yet somehow survived without being fired. No less concerned about Trump’s erratic behavior was Paul Ryan, the former Speaker of the House, who studied the psychiatric literature for a big takeaway: “Do not humiliate Trump in public. Humiliating a narcissist risked real danger, a frantic lashing out if he felt threatened or criticized.” Losing the 2020 election was one such humiliation, and Woodward and Costa closely track the trajectory of Trump’s reaction, from depression to howling rage to the stubborn belief that the election was rigged. There are a few other modest revelations in the book, including the fact that Trump loyalist William Barr warned him that the electorate didn’t like him. “They just think you’re a fucking asshole,” Barr told his boss. That was true enough, and the civil war that the authors recount among various offices in the White House and government reveals that Trump’s people were only ever tentatively his. All the same, the authors note, having drawn on scores of “deep background” interviews, Trump still has his base, still intends vengeance by way of a comeback, and still constitutes the peril of their title.
A solid work of investigation that, while treading well-covered ground, offers plenty of surprises.Pub Date: Sept. 21, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-982182-91-5
Page Count: 512
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Sept. 23, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2021
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