Progressive Viewpoint
Explore a curated list of progressive viewpoint books that challenge the status quo. Discover thought-provoking reads on social justice, equality, and transformative ideas.
Item Not Found
ID: 0226467716
(Type: books)
Book
War Is a Force That Gives Us Meaning
by Chris Hedges
Looks at the appeal of war, arguing that the ideas of combat are noble and glorious, providing a purpose for living for some people.
Book
The European Dream
by Jeremy Rifkin
Rifkin delves deeply into the history of Europe--and eventually America--to show how Europeans have succeeded in slowly and steadily developing a more adaptive, sensible way of working and living.
Item Not Found
ID: 0805073396
(Type: books)
Item Not Found
ID: 0385495048
(Type: books)
Book
A People's History of the United States
by Howard Zinn
Chronicles United States history from a grassroots perspective and provides an analysis of important events from 1492 through the current war on terrorism.
Item Not Found
ID: 0060530340
(Type: books)
Item Not Found
ID: 1583220488
(Type: books)
Book
The Lexus and the Olive Tree
by Thomas L. Friedman
From one of our most perceptive commentators and winner of the National Book Award, a comprehensive look at the new world of globalization, the international system that, more than anything else, is shaping world affairs today. As the Foreign Affairs columnist forThe New York Times, Thomas L. Friedman has traveled the globe, interviewing people from all walks of contemporary life: Brazilian peasants in the Amazon rain forest, new entrepreneurs in Indonesia, Islamic students in Teheran, and the financial wizards on Wall Street and in Silicon Valley. Now Friedman has drawn on his years on the road to produce an engrossing and original look at globalization. Globalization, he argues, is not just a phenomenon and not just a passing trend. It is the international system that replaced the Cold War system; the new, well-greased, interconnected system: Globalization is the integration of capital, technology, and information across national borders, in a way that is creating a single global market and, to some degreee, a global village. Simply put, one can't possibly understand the morning news or one's own investments without some grasp of the system. Just one example: During the Cold War, we reached for the hot line between the White House and the Kremlin--a symbol that we were all divided but at least the two superpowers were in charge. In the era of globalization, we reach for the Internet--a symbol that we are all connected but nobody is totally in charge. With vivid stories and a set of original terms and concepts, Friedman offers readers remarkable access to his unique understanding of this new world order, and shows us how to see this new system. He dramatizes the conflict of "the Lexus and the olive tree"--the tension between the globalization system and ancient forces of culture, geography, tradition, and community. He also details the powerful backlash that globalization produces among those who feel brutalized by it, and he spells out what we all need to do to keep the system in balance. Finding the proper balance between the Lexus and the olive tree is the great drama of he globalization era, and the ultimate theme of Friedman's challenging, provocative book--essential reading for all who care about how the world really works.
Item Not Found
ID: 0525948139
(Type: books)
Item Not Found
ID: 0896087247
(Type: books)
Item Not Found
ID: 0195176839
(Type: books)
Book
Rescuing the Bible from Fundamentalism
by John Shelby Spong
By popular demand—study guides to two of Bishop John Shelby Spong's bestselling and controversial works, including questions, reflections, and summaries for group and individual use.
Item Not Found
ID: 0971394253
(Type: books)
Item Not Found
ID: 0679751661
(Type: books)
Item Not Found
ID: 0140094385
(Type: books)
Item Not Found
ID: 1883319005
(Type: books)
Item Not Found
ID: 0684868784
(Type: books)
Item Not Found
ID: 0684832402
(Type: books)
Item Not Found
ID: 0312315619
(Type: books)
Book
The Culture of Fear
by Barry Glassner
There has never been another era in modern history, even during wartime or the Great Depression, when so many people have feared so much. Three out of four Americans say they feel more fearful today then they did twenty years ago. The Culture of Fear describes the high costs of living in a fear-ridden environment where realism has become rarer than doors without deadbolts.Why do we have so many fears these days? Are we living in exceptionally dangerous times? To watch the news, you'd certainly think so, but Glassner demonstrates that it is our perception of danger that has increased, not the actual level of risk. The Culture of Fear is an expose of the people and organizations that manipulate our perceptions and profit from our fears: politicians who win elections by heightening concerns about crime and drug use even as rates for both are declining; advocacy groups that raise money by exaggerating the prevalence of particular diseases; TV newsmagazines that monger a new scare every week to garner ratings.Glassner spells out the prices we pay for social panics: the huge sums of money that go to waste on unnecessary programs and products as well as time and energy spent worrying about our fears.
Book
Four Arguments for the Elimination of Television
by Jerry Mander
A total departure from previous writing about television, this book is the first ever to advocate that the medium is not reformable. Its problems are inherent in the technology itself and are so dangerous -- to personal health and sanity, to the environment, and to democratic processes -- that TV ought to be eliminated forever. Weaving personal experiences through meticulous research, the author ranges widely over aspects of television that have rarely been examined and never before joined together, allowing an entirely new, frightening image to emerge. The idea that all technologies are "neutral," benign instruments that can be used well or badly, is thrown open to profound doubt. Speaking of TV reform is, in the words of the author, "as absurd as speaking of the reform of a technology such as guns."
Book
Lies (and the Lying Liars who Tell Them)
by Al Franken
A New York Times Bestseller. Al Franken has been studying the rhetoric of the Right. He has listened to their cries of "slander," "bias," and even "treason." Examined the administration's policies of squandering our surplus, and alienating the rest of the world. Al bravely and candidly destroys the liberal media bias myth by doing what his targets seem incapable of: getting his facts straight.