T.C. Boyle fields Full Stop’s Situation in American Writing questions.
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Tag Archives: politics
A Different Sort of Swindle
Michiko Kakutani of the New York Times reviews Thomas Frank’s Pity the Billionaire.
(Bonus: Fake Kakutani on Twitter.)
Posted in Reading
Tagged book review, capitalism, michiko kakutani, new york times, nonfiction, politics, thomas frank, usa
There Is Power in a Union: The Epic Story of Labor in America by Philip Dray
Recommended.
Posted in Read in 2012
Tagged anchor books, capitalism, economics, history, nonfiction, philip dray, politics, recommended, usa
To Focus the Attention of the World
The Taipei Times interviews Peng Ming-min (彭明敏), chairman of the International Committee for Fair Elections in Taiwan.
TT: Since 1996 Taiwan has held four direct presidential elections. What is so special about next month’s election that you felt the need to establish this committee?
Peng: This time is special because the presidential election is being held in tandem with the legislative elections. In light of the KMT government’s attitude toward China these past four years, not just us, but many in the international community feel this election could have a critical impact on Taiwan’s future.
Taiwan’s overall environment and historical milieu make the holding of a fair election particularly difficult. There is this party [the KMT] that is one of the richest political parties in the world — how it accumulated that wealth is beside the point here — the thing is that its enormous wealth poses a threat to the holding of a fair election in Taiwan.
Posted in Reading
Tagged interview, peng ming min, politics, taipei times, taiwan
Skin in the Game
So that IPO birthday boy is now standing up and insisting, with a straight face, that America’s problem is that compared to taxpaying billionaires like himself, poor people are not invested enough in our society’s future. Apparently, we’d all be in much better shape if the poor were as motivated as Steven Schwarzman is to make America a better place.
But it seems to me that if you’re broke enough that you’re not paying any income tax, you’ve got nothing but skin in the game. You’ve got it all riding on how well America works.
You can’t afford private security: you need to depend on the police. You can’t afford private health care: Medicare is all you have. You get arrested, you’re not hiring Davis, Polk to get you out of jail: you rely on a public defender to negotiate a court system you’d better pray deals with everyone from the same deck. And you can’t hire landscapers to manicure your lawn and trim your trees: you need the garbage man to come on time and you need the city to patch the potholes in your street.
At Rolling Stone Matt Taibbi relays a holiday message.
Posted in Reading
Tagged capitalism, matt taibbi, politics, rolling stone, usa
Feeding on Dreams: Confessions of an Unrepentant Exile by Ariel Dorfman
Not recommended.
Posted in Read in 2011
Tagged argentina, ariel dorfman, chile, houghton mifflin harcourt, memoir, nonfiction, not recommended, politics, usa
A Thing to Deplore
At Harper’s Thomas Frank gives a brief history of the capital strike.
Posted in Reading
Tagged ayn rand, capitalism, harpers, history, john boehner, politics, thomas frank, usa
Questionable Generalizations
As in his previous books, Mr. Ferguson does little to mute his own strong ideological views: He denounces Marx as “an odious individual”; disdains what he calls “a lumpenproletariat with vices” like drinking gin and engaging in street fights; and emphasizes what he sees as the positive aspects of colonialism.
Michiko Kakutani of the New York Times reviews Niall Ferguson’s Civilization.
Posted in Reading
Tagged book review, history, michiko kakutani, new york times, niall ferguson, nonfiction, politics, uk, usa