Joshua Landeros

Great Show!

Revisado: 06-28-21

Love these two! Check out Secular Talk and Breaking Points on YouTube. A working class focus on a variety of topics.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Eye Opening Book

Revisado: 06-02-21

This is a fantastic read. I think most people are aware, to varying degrees, of the long war drug war in America. After all, in recent years marijuana continues to enter the legal mainstream and other substances like shrooms have been at the center of promising studies. What the author does is breakdown old ideas around these drugs but even the more notorious like heroin, meth, and cocaine. To do this he uses history, research both his own and others, good old statistics, and personal anecdotes. This mix gives the book a fresh feeling and thankfully avoids coming off as a drab textbook while still maintaining academic thoughtfulness. What's more, the book doesn't shy away from the complexity and longevity of America's obsession with criminalizing drugs. The author points out the origin of most of these erroneous ideas, how the mass media dilutes the conversation, and how the educational and medical fields themselves muddle the data for various reasons. of course there's also a dive into the racial component of drug law which could be a book unto itself. In fact, someone should write that book!
Anyways, an enlightening read that left me wanting to know more.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

A Must Read

Revisado: 04-19-21

I've heard talk about this book for years. Conservatives have raged against it, accusing it of liberal propaganda. I've heard friends and educators praise it. I've even heard liberal professors call it ahistorical and rubbish. And so I read it for myself. Firstly, everything discussed in the book is FACT. What Zinn points out that while most historians (and by extension politicians and professors) all recognize the basic facts of American history. The question is how is it discussed. In the 'objective' narratives, one finds the stories of the down trodden largely minimized or washed away entirely. The founding fathers are messiahs in their own right, and while the question of slavery and civil rights may be addressed, they are covered in a way that paints America as troubled but also unique in it's pursuit of equality. The military exploits of America, outside of the bigger ones such as Korea and Vietnam, are largely left to bullet points or blanket statements. Hell, even on my exam for the CSET (The subject oriented exam given to prospective teachers), the cold war coups orchestrated by the US are mentioned in perhaps a sentence or two while focusing much more on the value of the free market and American ideals. This book takes all that into account and explores topics not so much discussed in the likes of Alexander the musical and the mainstream historical readings. The class angle of the founding fathers, the regime change legacy of the US, which stretches much farther back than Iraq and Afghanistan, and so much more. Feminism, class struggle, racial inequality, wealth distribution in the long view, and war are centra focus points in the book. Zinn cites historians, media and firsthand accounts, as well as statistics to analyze America's past and also it's trajectory. perhaps most importantly, the book gives agency to it's readers.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 5 personas

Extra Fluff at Start

Revisado: 02-26-21

Thr manifesto itself is fantastic. It's timeless and still very much relates to the dilemma between social democrats, liberals, "far left" today . Only problem was the opening pieces by other writers that tried to analyze and tell you the context of the manifesto. while also imposing meaning of thier own. I just wanted the manifesto, not someone else's opinion prior to reading.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

A book that saw 2020 coming a mile away

Revisado: 01-08-21

Chris Hedges has always been a knockout journalist. His work here exposes the hollowness and rot within American society, a lot of which has been magnified during the 2020 COVID pandemic. Excellent read.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña