The New American Crisis

Gathers pamphlets, interviews, and commissioned essays that reflect postmodern opinions on protest, economics, Mexican politics, Saddam Hussein, the war on drugs, and the invasion of small nations for economic benefits

This book of essays, based in part on the Open Magazine Pamphlet series (which the editors publish), is a mixed bag. Several challenging essays, on topics like NAFTA or the Zapatistas are already dated. It's fine for Howard Zinn to decry the Gulf War, but this book says nothing about a radical posture toward Bosnia. Similarly, Manning Marable's thoughtful exegesis of the legacy of Malcolm X is followed by a transcript of a too vague discussion on race and politics between Cornel West and bell hooks. Some essays resonate: Nancy Kranich argues for a public infrastructure in cyberspace; the reliable Noam Chomsky deconstructs the spurious triumph of conservatism, noting that few 1994 voters truly backed the Contract With America; Seymour Melman suggests a demilitarized economy could yield rich fruits, but how to get there?; and Joel Rogers proposes enhanced grassroots democracy and support for the New Party (but doesn't discuss third-party possibilities like Colin Powell). The sensible closing essay, by New Party supporter Juliet Schor, offers ways (reduced hours, democratized corporate governance) to make the economy more people-oriented. An appendix lists organizations and resources for those ready to act.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

As pols rush to prove their more-conservative-than-thou credentials, some still maintain that what's wrong with these United States is not "too much government" but "too much unbridled corporate power." Drawing in part on their Open Magazine Pamphlet series, editors Ruggiero and Sahulka have gathered 20-plus essays on what's wrong and what can be done about it: David Dellinger and Noam Chomsky on the nature of the crisis; Chomsky, Tom Athanasiou, Kristin Dawkins, Jeremy Brecher, Howard Zinn, and Seymour Melman on globalization and its part in the current corporate order; several pieces on the Chiapas, Mexico's Zapatista struggle, including Winona LaDuke's "Learning from Native Peoples" ; Herbert Schiller, Nancy Kranich, and Laura Powers on freedom in cyberspace and on the info highway; Manning Marable on Malcolm X and Cornel West and bell hooks in dialogue; Joel Rogers and Juliet Schor on political and economic strategies for the future. Although this book won't get a promotional blitz like Newt Gingrich's pseudohistory, it supplies information and analysis that the targets of Gingrich's contract will welcome. Mary Carroll