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  The Rise of the American...

  Beatrice Edwards

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  "A vital book about the ridiculously cozy relationship between corporate wealth and government power and how it only seems to be getting worse" (William Cohan, author of Money and Power). 
   
   
   
  In the United States today we have good reasons to be afraid. Our Bill of Rights has been rendered powerless by ubiquitous surveillance and our freedoms are impaired by government control of information, systemic financial corruption, and unfettered corporate influence in our elections. Behind a thinning veneer of democracy, the Corporate Security State is tipping the balance between the self-interest of a governing corporate elite and the rights of the people to freedom, safety, and fairness. 
   
   
   
  In The Rise of the American Corporate Security State, Beatrice Edwards examines the real reasons to be afraid in twenty-first-century America, and outlines how we can address them. Our first steps in the right direction may be small, but they are important. They are based on the principle that we have a right to know what our government is doing and to speak openly about it. Creeping censorship, secret courts, and clandestine corporate control are all anathema to democratic practices and must be corrected now—before this last chance to redeem our rights is lost.

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  The Revolution Betrayed - What...

  Leon Trotsky

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  It is June 1936. Leon Trotsky (1879-1940) has finally been granted a visa for asylum in Norway, having been banned first from living in Paris, and then the whole of France. With him comes the draft of The Revolution Betrayed: What Is the Soviet Union and Where Is It Going?, which is completed and sent to the publishers on the 4th of August. The book, published by Faber in 1937, is considered to be Trotsky’s major work on Stalinism. Trotsky’s passion for the spirit of the Revolution he co-founded, his disgust and sadness at how the people of Russia have been betrayed by Stalin and his acolytes, shows us the bleak lives of 170 million Russians under the absolute control of ‘the Ten Thousand’ of the bureaucracy.  
   
  Trotsky reminds us of the high concepts of the 1917 October Revolution, (Marx’s 'From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs') with the sharing of the nation’s resources for the benefit of all. Prominent among such forward thinking was the commitment to lift women out of the trap of housework and childbirth by communal refectories and creches in the workplace. He praises the positive economic advances of the USSR since the death of Lenin - the growth in areas such as industrial and electrical output. But he notes the continued and inevitable low productivity (much lower than the capitalist West, he acknowledges) that is the result of lack of incentive for the Soviet worker. This, he argues, will never allow the country to lift itself up to full potential, despite Stalin’s ever-changing Five-Year Plans. 
   
  Indeed, it is this zig-zagging of panicked policy and bovine directionlessness that frustrates Trotsky so much. It is bad enough that Stalin and his self-serving cohorts have formed a Thermidorian regime of brutal repression and conservative nest-feathering. But even worse, their economic adventurism is carrying ‘the nation to the edge of disaster’.  
   
  Trotsky brings us a clear picture of the miserable existence of the vast majority of Russians, barely surviving on bad rations, endemic corruption and fear, and the promise of a tomorrow that will never come. He laments the lack of a proletarian uprising in the West that might encourage Russians to change their own off-course regime. He notes the rise of Hitler and Mussolini, and seems, even in 1936, to see war as inevitable. He predicts the toppling of Stalinism but would have wept at how many decades it took and how many millions of lives would be wasted by stupidity and war.  
   
  Only 10 days after Trotsky sent this book to the publishers, Stalin announced the first of the Moscow show trials that began the Great Purge. Trotsky and his wife were badly treated and muzzled by the Norwegians to prevent his protesting at Stalin’s actions, and they moved to Mexico City in early 1937. There they lived, terrorized by Stalin’s determination to assassinate his old rival, until Trotsky’s death following a blow from an ice pick on 20th August 1940. The Revolution Betrayed, with its vivid translation by Max Eastman, is presented with clarity and commitment by Jonathan Booth.

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  What's So Great about America

  Dinesh D'Souza

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  What's So Great About America isn't a question—it's a statement. From the unique perspective that perhaps only an immigrant can have, Dinesh D'Souza says that America is a land of opportunity and freedom. A leading conservative thinker, D'Souza trumpets the science, democracy, and capitalism that he believes have led the West to global supremacy. Along the way, he spares no opportunity to bash those who he thinks have "denigrated" America and trivialized its freedom: multiculturalists, feminists, hippies, and vegetarians. As an "outsider" from India who has had amazing success in the United States, D'Souza defends not an idealized America, but America as it really is.

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  George Soros - A Life In Full

  Peter L. W. Osnos

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  The name George Soros is recognized around the world. Universally known for his decades of philanthropy, progressive politics, and investment success, he is equally well known as the nemesis of the far right—the target of sustained attacks from nationalists, populists, authoritarian regimes, and anti-Semites—because of his commitment to open society, freedom of the press, and liberal democracy. At age ninety-one, Soros still looms large on the global stage, and yet the man himself is surprisingly little understood. 
   
   
   
  Biographers have attempted to tell the story of George Soros, but no single account of his life can capture his extraordinary, multifaceted character. Now, in this ambitious and revealing new book, Soros's longtime publisher, Peter L. W. Osnos, has assembled an intriguing set of contributors from a variety of different perspectives—public intellectuals (Eva Hoffman, Michael Ignatieff), journalists (Sebastian Mallaby, Orville Schell), scholars (Leon Botstein, Ivan Krastev), and nonprofit leaders (Gara LaMarche, Darren Walker)—to paint a full picture of the man beyond the media portrayals. 
   
    
   
  Through this kaleidoscope of viewpoints emerges a vivid and compelling portrait of this remarkable man's unique and consequential impact. It has truly been a life in full.

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  The Myth of Left and Right - How...

  Verlan Lewis, Hyrum Lewis

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  A groundbreaking argument that the political spectrum today is inadequate to twenty-first-century America and a major source of the confusion and hostility that characterize contemporary political discourse. 
   
   
   
  As American politics descends into a battle of anger and hostility between two groups called "left" and "right," people increasingly ask: What is the essential difference between these two ideological groups? In The Myth of Left and Right, Hyrum Lewis and Verlan Lewis provide the surprising answer: nothing. As the authors argue, there is no enduring philosophy, disposition, or essence uniting the various positions associated with the liberal and conservative ideologies of today. Far from being an eternal dividing line of American politics, the political spectrum came to the United States in the 1920s and, since then, left and right have evolved in so many unpredictable and even contradictory ways that there is currently nothing other than tribal loyalty holding together the many disparate positions that fly under the banners of "liberal" and "conservative." Cutting against the grain of most scholarship on polarization in America, this book shows why the idea that the political spectrum measures deeply held worldviews is the central political myth of our time and a major cause of the confusion and vitriol that characterize public discourse.

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  Obfuscation - Deliberately...

  Cito Harder

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  Obfuscation is the deliberate act of making information unclear, ambiguous, or misleading to obscure the truth. It is a technique used in various fields, from politics and business to science and everyday communication. Whether through complex language, excessive detail, or intentional vagueness, obfuscation serves to manipulate perceptions, control narratives, and, in many cases, maintain power. Understanding how and why obfuscation is used is essential to identifying and countering its effects in a world where misinformation and deception are widespread. 
  Throughout history, obfuscation has played a critical role in shaping societies. Governments have used it to control populations, corporations to shield questionable practices, and individuals to navigate social interactions. In politics, leaders often employ ambiguous language in speeches and policies, leaving room for multiple interpretations and avoiding accountability. Businesses use complex legal terms in contracts to obscure hidden fees or unfavorable clauses. Even in science and technology, obfuscation can be found in manipulated research data or complex algorithmic systems that hide biases. 
  One of the most common techniques of obfuscation is the use of technical jargon and complexity. Specialized terminology, while necessary in professional fields, can be used to confuse outsiders and prevent scrutiny. Legal documents, financial statements, and medical reports often contain dense language that makes it difficult for the average person to understand crucial information. This deliberate complexity benefits those in power while keeping the public uninformed.

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