Altri libri che potrebbero interessarti

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  What Works - Common Sense...

  Cal Thomas

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  We didn’t just crawl out of a cave. We know what works based on experience. Why must we constantly re-fight the same battles over and over? Our politics and even our spiritual lives too often resemble the film “Groundhog Day” in which actor Bill Murray wakes up and repeats the same event again and again and nothing ever changes, as in present-day Washington.Why don’t we consult the past and common sense in order to see that what others discovered still works. Wisdom existed before the Internet and other forms of mass communication – and video games, Facebook and Twitter.Today, we have more information than ever, but less wisdom; more talk, but less listening; more things in the superficial showroom (celebrities are a good example) and less in the intellectual storeroom (that would be knowledge).We KNOW what works – historically and instinctively—but politics too often gets in the way, as does ignorance. Too few people pay attention and the politicians easily pick their pockets – literally and intellectually.  That’s why Congress has an approval rating lower than cockroaches and colonoscopies and only slightly above pedophiles.Instead of the constant jockeying for political advantage, suppose we start focusing on what promotes the general welfare, regardless of which party or ideology gets the credit.  It’s amazing what problems can be solved if solutions, not partisan gain, become the goal.The American public is being “gamed” by politicians, the big media and other “elites,” whose main interest centers on themselves. When was the last story you saw on TV, or read in a newspaper, about anyone pursuing, much less achieving, a solution to any major problem?This book is about solutions, not theories or an attempt to gain political advantage.  It’s about pressuring our political leadership to forget about the next election and start focusing on the needs of the people who work hard to provide for themselves, send their tax dollars to Washington, and want to see the country achieve something of value as it has always done. How about abandoning things that don’t work and start focusing on what does work?  The alternative is more of the past.  And Bill Murray with the ground hogs.

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  Know-It-All Society - Truth and...

  Michael P Lynch

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  Taking stock of our fragmented political landscape, Michael Patrick Lynch delivers a trenchant philosophical take on digital culture and its tendency to make us into dogmatic know-it-alls. The internet - where most shared news stories are not even read by the person posting them - has contributed to the rampant spread of "intellectual arrogance". In this culture, we have come to think that we have nothing to learn from one another; we are rewarded for emotional outrage over reflective thought; and we glorify a defensive rejection of those different from us.  
   
  Interweaving the works of classic philosophers such as Hannah Arendt and Bertrand Russell and imposing them on a cybernetic future they could not have possibly even imagined, Lynch delves deeply into three core ideas that explain how we've gotten to the way we are: our natural tendency to be overconfident in our knowledge; the tribal politics that feed off our tendency; and the way the outrage factory of social media spreads those politics of arrogance and blind conviction. In addition to identifying an ascendant "know-it-all-ism" in our culture, Lynch offers practical solutions for how we might start reversing this dangerous trend.

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  Polycentric Water Governance in...

  Nora Schütze

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  Increasing irrigation efficiency has been high on the political agenda in Spain for many years. However, the overarching aim to reduce agricultural water consumption has not been met so far. To explore this phenomenon, Nora Schütze investigates processes of coordination between the water and agricultural sector in three Spanish river basins in the context of the EU Water Framework Directive implementation. From the perspective of polycentric governance, she identifies multiple mechanisms which illustrate how and why actors interact in certain ways, and thus shows why environmental aims of the Water Framework Directive remain unachieved.

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  For ALL The People -...

  Michael Slaby

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  Greater connectivity and superpowered storytelling through digital media systems were supposed to spark a democratic renaissance. Instead, our platforms don’t work for us—we’re the inventory, and our outrage fuels a tech revolution optimized for profit. But we have the power to break free and create a healthy civic life for all Americans.Michael Slaby identifies four necessary avenues to build a future that serves us all:  redesign our platforms; restore journalism, government, and corporations; reclaim the power and diversity of our storytelling; and ultimately redeem ourselves. Optimistic and passionate, For ALL the People breaks down how we got here and how we can work together toward a better democracy empowered by—rather than exploited by—technology.

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  "Right Makes Might" - Proverbs...

  Wolfgang Mieder

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  “A powerful and timely addition to the literature of rhetoric and folklore.” —Choice 
   
  In 1860, Abraham Lincoln employed the proverb Right makes might—opposite of the more aggressive Might makes right—in his famed Cooper Union address. While Lincoln did not originate the proverb, his use of it in this critical speech indicates that the fourteenth century phrase had taken on new ethical and democratic connotations in the nineteenth century. In this collection, famed scholar of proverbs Wolfgang Mieder explores the multifaceted use and function of proverbs through the history of the United States, from their early beginnings up through their use by such modern-day politicians as Barack Obama, Hillary Rodham Clinton, and Bernie Sanders.  
   
  Building on previous publications and unpublished research, Mieder explores sociopolitical aspects of the American worldview as expressed through the use of proverbs in politics, women’s rights, and the civil rights movement—and by looking at the use of proverbial phrases, Mieder demonstrates how one traditional phrase can take on numerous expressive roles over time, and how they continue to play a key role in our contemporary moment.

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  Assassins of the Turquoise Palace

  Roya Hakakian

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  A New York Times Notable Book: “A rumination on the Islamic Republic’s culture of terror . . . [A] captivating narrative” (PBS).   On the evening of September 17, 1992, eight leading members of the Iranian and Kurdish opposition had gathered at a little-known restaurant in Berlin when two darkly-clad men burst through the entrance. Within moments, the roar of a machine gun filled the air. Two rounds of fire and four single shots later, four of the men were dead. One of the survivors of that shooting, along with the widow of one of the victims and a handful of reporters, attorneys, and fellow exiles, began a crusade that would not only pit them against Tehran but against some of the greatest powers in Germany. When an undeterred federal prosecutor and an endlessly patient chief judge took over the case, a historic verdict followed that shook both Europe and Iran, and achieved something few could have predicted—justice.   “This is a brilliant, riveting book, with all the elements of a great thriller—a horrific crime, sociopathic villains, international intrigue, personal betrayals, a noble prosecutor and an honorable judge. And it is all too real: with remarkably comprehensive reporting and brisk, smart writing, Roya Hakakian has told a great story but, more important, she has made plain the lethal immorality at the heart of Iran’s regime” —Joe Klein, Time

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