Synopsis
Andersen's response to Gingrich's To Renew America has the impassioned flavor of a very wise uncle who captivates the family after dinner with his intellectual prowess. A retired engineer and philosophy professor, he uses his analytical abilities to dissect Gingrich's proposed "contract with America," refuting his proposals with historical and constitutional precedents, and offering his own vision of how America can achieve just economic and political structures. Lacks a bibliography. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.
Review
In Challenging Newt Gingrich, Alfred Andersen provides an in-depth analysis of America's options at its contemporary economic, political, and military crossroads. Andersen maintains that both the Republican and Democratic parties have American on what can only be described as a "collision course" in an age when labor-saving, increasingly automated high-tech business community is generating huge profits for its owners (corporate America) while the non-owners (workers) are growing more destitute and their standard of living is steading eroding year after year. While "high tech" saves labor and makes possible strong increases in the production of goods and services, it also results in the under-employed and unemployed from being able to afford these increases in goods and services. So the beneficiaries of an automated corporate America produce for (and sell to) each other -- thus the trend toward luxury goods (cars and homes) and luxury services (lawyers and politicians). To avoid a revolution among the downsized and unemployed, corporate America must either share their welfare or generate replacement jobs. Enter the global marketplace. The American corporate expectation is that ever more jobs can be creating in an ever more high-tech America provided Americans will accept perpetual and ever growing dependance on ever more sophisticated high-tech and a constant retraining in the next level of high-tech as the most recently employed level eliminates a whole new set of jobs. This high tech, bi-artisan agenda is therefore on a collision course with the global environment, the earth's eco-system, and the human spirit. Andersen has prescriptions for this alarming state of affairs based on our common heritage of capital, some of which is rightfully in the hands of private ownership, and a vision giving us a sense of direction toward long-range, commonly agreed upon goals. Challenging Newt Gingrich is a valuable contribution to the current national dialogue and highly recommended reading for anyone with an interest in avoding the economic and social crisis toward which we are currently impelled. -- Midwest Book Review
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