From Presence to Power
Why do some fights for justice hit a wall while others succeed? What does it take to win social change, especially now? It comes down to understanding one thing: the difference between presence and power. Failing to do so is one way we got into this mess, but understanding how power really works is a big part of how we get out of it. Rashad Robinson would know. A social change strategist, he's spent more than twenty years at the highest levels of leadership in two of the most significant social movements of our time: the fight for LGBTQ rights and the fight for racial justice. He's taken on tech giants and the criminal justice system, politicians in Washington and corporate executives in Hollywood. He's been on the front lines of protest and in the back rooms of negotiation. Robinson argues that achieving presence--the visibility of marches, media fads, and making issues popular--is not the same as gaining the leverage required to change the rules for how society works or change the decisions that politicians, corporate executives, and other people in authority make. This book offers a set of essential lessons about power for anyone who wants to understand it, gain it, and use it to win the progress we all deserve--and to defeat the forces trying to take our freedoms away. Robinson provides the tools needed to help everyday people build real leverage in systems designed to prevent them from doing so. As someone who helped shape the resistance after the 2016 election, and continues to help leaders at every level find innovative ways to fight back and win progress today, Robinson offers a hopeful, practical guide to achieving positive impact in the most challenging times.
Crisis and Leviathan
Crisis and Leviathan is Higgs' masterwork on how government grows in size, scope, and power in response to real or imagined "crises." From war to economic upheavals, government overreach endures long after each crisis has passed, impinging on civil liberties and fostering extensive corporate welfare. Few topics are as timely as the growth of government. To understand why government has grown, Robert Higgs asserts, one must understand how it has grown. This book offers a coherent, multi-causal explanation, guided by a novel analytical framework firmly grounded in historical evidence. More than a study of trends in governmental spending, taxation, and employment, Crisis and Leviathan is a thorough analysis of the actual occasions when and the specific means by which Big Government developed in the United States. More than an abstract account, it names names and highlights the actions of significant individuals. The author examines how 20th-century national emergencies--mainly wars, depressions, and labor disturbances--have prompted federal officials to take over previously private rights and activities. When the crises passed, a residue of new governmental powers remained. Even more significantly, each great crisis and the subsequent governmental measures went hand in hand with reinforcing shifts in public beliefs and attitudes toward the government's proper role in American life. Integrating the contributions of scholars in diverse disciplines, including history, law, political philosophy, and the social sciences, Crisis and Leviathan makes compelling reading for all those who seek to understand the transformation of America's political economy over the past century.
Ungoverning
How a deliberate dismantling of political institutions undermines the essential work of government In this unsettling book, Russell Muirhead and Nancy Rosenblum trace how ungoverning--the deliberate effort to dismantle the capacity of government to do its work--has become a malignant part of politics. Democracy depends on a government that can govern, and that requires what's called administration. The administrative state is made up of the vast array of departments and agencies that conduct the essential business of government, from national defense and disaster response to implementing and enforcing public policies of every kind. Ungoverning chronicles the reactionary movement that demands dismantling the administrative state. The demand is not for goals that can be met with policies or programs. When this demand is frustrated, as it must be, the result is an invitation to violence. Muirhead and Rosenblum unpack the idea of ungoverning through many examples of the politics of destruction. They show how ungoverning disables capacities that took generations to build--including the administration of free and fair elections. They detail the challenges faced by officials who are entrusted with running the government and who now face threats and intimidation from those who would rather bring it crashing down--and replace the regular processes of governing with chaotic personal rule. The unfamiliar phenomenon of ungoverning threatens us all regardless of partisanship or ideological leaning. Ungoverning will not be limited to Donald Trump's moment on the political stage. To resist this threat requires that we first recognize what ungoverning is and what it portends.
How to Interpret the Constitution
From New York Times bestselling author Cass Sunstein, a timely and powerful argument for rethinking how the U.S. Constitution is interpreted The U.S. Supreme Court has eliminated the right to abortion and is revisiting other fundamental questions today--about voting rights, affirmative action, gun laws, and much more. Once-arcane theories of constitutional interpretation are profoundly affecting the lives of all Americans. In this brief and urgent book, Harvard Law School professor Cass Sunstein provides a lively introduction to competing approaches to interpreting the Constitution--and argues that the only way to choose one is to ask whether it would change American life for the better or worse. If a method of interpretation would eliminate the right of privacy, allow racial segregation, or obliterate free speech, it would be unacceptable for that reason. But some Supreme Court justices are committed to "originalism," arguing that the meaning of the Constitution is settled by how it was publicly understood when it was ratified. Originalists insist that their approach is dictated by the Constitution. That, Sunstein argues, is a big mistake. The Constitution doesn't contain instructions for its own interpretation. Any approach to constitutional interpretation needs to be defended in terms of its broad effects--what it does to our rights and our institutions. It must respect those rights and institutions--and safeguard the conditions for democracy itself. Passionate and compelling, How to Interpret the Constitution is essential reading for anyone who is concerned about how the Supreme Court is changing the rights and lives of Americans today.
Reboot
A blueprint for rescuing our fragile democracy by harnessing AIDemocracy is in retreat at home and abroad. Our institutions and our politics are more broken than ever. At this delicate moment, artificial intelligence has burst onto the scene, a powerful technology that holds as much potential to bolster democracy as to harm it. But we have stopped treating democracy as a solvable problem. We have built extraordinary tools but are not yet using them where they are needed most: to forge institutions that work better for people.Many warn that AI will accelerate authoritarianism. In Reboot, Beth Simone Noveck makes a different case. Drawing on decades of work building technology and working inside government, from the White House to 10 Downing Street, she shows how democratic institutions can deliberately design, govern, and invest in AI to strengthen democracy rather than undermine it.Noveck takes readers inside real-world efforts already underway, from European cities engaging residents in policymaking to Latin American legislatures drafting stronger laws and U.S. states transforming how they deliver public services, revealing what democratic AI looks like in practice and what it takes to make it work at scale.We stand at an inflection point. Will governments and companies use AI to tighten their grip on power, or to help institutions listen more closely, decide more wisely, and act more effectively? Reboot offers a bold and practical playbook for tipping the balance in favor of democracy.
The Rainbow Chaser
"This is a superb book--beautifully written, engaging, and punchy. It tells Bob Livingston's own great American story, gives an inside view of historical events, and provides a trenchant analysis of two phenomenon that are corrupting our justice system--Lawfare and the thuggish behavior of a certain prosecutors fixated on headhunting rather than justice."--WILLIAM P. BARR, former Attorney GeneralFORMER CONGRESSMAN BOB LIVINGSTON HAS A WARNING FOR ALL AMERICANSLAWFARE IS A WEAPON THAT IS DESTROYING THE UNITED STATES AND RUINING PEOPLE'S LIVESTHE POLITICIZATION OF THE JUDICIAL SYSTEM MUST END NOWLawfare has been with us since the inception of the country. Both Democrat and Republican prosecutors and investigating agents have misused their authority to pursue otherwise innocent victims over time. But with the arrival of Hillary Clinton at the White House, the practice was refined in tandem with her efforts to pursue all those who offered public criticism about her husband and the Clinton Administration. She was and is as corrupt as anyone in American politics. Her "war rooms" in the White House, the Senate, and at the State Department sowed the seeds for ongoing corruption within the Department of Justice.Former Attorney General Merrick Garland, once denied a seat on the Supreme Court, adopted the practice of incredible abuse of the American judicial system with relish to accommodate the horribly corrupt Biden presidency and the Democrat agenda. AG Garland was unrestrained in his persecution of innocent Americans, be they protestors at school board meetings, religious and right to life advocates, non-violent January 6'ers, current and former Republican Members of Congress, and last but certainly not least, the past and current President of the United States. In THE RAINBOW CHASER, former Congressman Bob Livingston lays-out the abuses of power and the weaponization the judicial system that almost destroyed him, his company and staff, his family, and many more innocents, and offers solutions to this national disgrace, including pushing Congress to waive all immunity from prosecutors or investigators who without probable cause target and persecute individuals for personal or political reasons. And once provided full due process, such persons should be held accountable civilly or criminally for misusing their awesome power of state over an individual.Livingston's much praised first book, The Windmill Chaser, is a gripping and inspirational memoir recounting his life and work through his days in Congress and work with the Robert Livingston Group. And THE RAINBOW CHASER serves as its worthy sequel, and an indictment of corrupt political warfare being waged on the innocent, and rejection of abuses by specific individuals in the Democrat Party who transgress the American Constitution for political and personal ends. As a former prosecutor and assistant U.S. Attorney at the DOJ in New Orleans - who worked with the FBI--Livingston is the right person to wage a war of righteous integrity on abuses of the judicial system and bring those guilty of breaking the law for personal gain to justice.
Electoral Politics in India
Electoral Politics in India: Dynamics and Democratic Dilemmas is a timely and incisive edited volume that provides a comprehensive analysis of India's evolving electoral democracy. Synthesising a wide range of scholarly contributions, this work examines the historical evolution, current challenges, and future prospects of democratic practice in India. Grounded in both classical and contemporary democratic theory, it engages with foundational thinkers such as James Bryce, Robert Dahl, Joseph Schumpeter, Giovanni Sartori, and Arend Lijphart, alongside prominent Indian scholars like Rajni Kothari, Yogendra Yadav, and Christophe Jaffrelot. A key strength of the volume is its intersectional and multidisciplinary approach, examining how caste, religion, region, gender, and class influence electoral outcomes, alongside the impact of social media, campaign finance, and digital technologies on democratic participation. Crucially, the book does not refrain from confronting the pressing concerns of democratic regression. It provides a trenchant critique of the post-2014 political landscape, marked by majoritarian populism, centralised authority, and institutional erosion and evaluates the 2024 general election as a potential turning point in resisting authoritarian trends. The inclusion of comparative perspectives, particularly on women's political representation in India and Sri Lanka, further enhances the analytical richness of the volume. The volume not only documents the current state of democracy but also calls for civic vigilance, inclusive participation, and institutional renewal to safeguard India's constitutional ethos. Overall, this edited book is a valuable academic contribution for scholars, students, policymakers, and anyone interested in the state of democracy in India.
Electoral Politics in India
Electoral Politics in India: Dynamics and Democratic Dilemmas is a timely and incisive edited volume that provides a comprehensive analysis of India's evolving electoral democracy. Synthesising a wide range of scholarly contributions, this work examines the historical evolution, current challenges, and future prospects of democratic practice in India. Grounded in both classical and contemporary democratic theory, it engages with foundational thinkers such as James Bryce, Robert Dahl, Joseph Schumpeter, Giovanni Sartori, and Arend Lijphart, alongside prominent Indian scholars like Rajni Kothari, Yogendra Yadav, and Christophe Jaffrelot. A key strength of the volume is its intersectional and multidisciplinary approach, examining how caste, religion, region, gender, and class influence electoral outcomes, alongside the impact of social media, campaign finance, and digital technologies on democratic participation. Crucially, the book does not refrain from confronting the pressing concerns of democratic regression. It provides a trenchant critique of the post-2014 political landscape, marked by majoritarian populism, centralised authority, and institutional erosion and evaluates the 2024 general election as a potential turning point in resisting authoritarian trends. The inclusion of comparative perspectives, particularly on women's political representation in India and Sri Lanka, further enhances the analytical richness of the volume. The volume not only documents the current state of democracy but also calls for civic vigilance, inclusive participation, and institutional renewal to safeguard India's constitutional ethos. Overall, this edited book is a valuable academic contribution for scholars, students, policymakers, and anyone interested in the state of democracy in India.
Let Not My Country Die. The Harsh, Prophetic Reality of Old and New Apartheid
The world claims that apartheid ended in South Africa more than 30 years ago, but it never truly left. Instead, it is spreading, and life for South Africans is now becoming worse than it was during the old apartheid years. The time to heal is about to expire. South Africa is an autocratic backsliding democracy, and is on the brink of a major collapse. Credo Mutwa prophesied about South Africa's future and its possible coming "Armageddon of Africa." However, the African National Congress (ANC) and the communists labeled Mr. Mutwa as a supporter of old apartheid. They dismissed his belief that people of various cultures and religions should be free to be "apart" from other people, tribes, and religions, while still connecting to each other with love and support.Mr. Mutwa said: "I call your attention to the sordid spectacle of what is happening in Soweto at this moment, and ask you whether what is happening in Soweto is in South Africa's interests or not-especially in these days when conflict shows every sign of escalating in our country. I call on you to abolish the councils everywhere in South Africa and replace them with groups of people who would have the interests of their people at heart, and who would take an oath in public to run clean administrations in the Black townships." Indaba, with love, must start NOW. South Africa needs to become a country of self-governing states (well-governed states, like Florida and Texas in the USA), or through Balkanization, or become separate countries; otherwise, South Africa, forcing communism-jihadi to its people, will be forced it into a civil war, a starvation war, that will turn it into the worst "apart hate" place and the last one on the African continent. Read Credo Mutwa's 1986 book, his widely regarded prayer for South Africa, after the Introduction, the essays, and the forthcoming commented editions of his call to save our country, South Africa. The introduction, chapters, his recent prophecies, and the following essays will provide commentary to help you think deeply and consider the precise options. The chapters illustrate what South Africa was like during the era of "old apartheid" over 40 years ago. The commentary and essays compare those times to the current situation under what is referred to as "new apartheid," which must be eliminated.
Not Your Victim
Empire and race have become the most discussed - and most problematic - subjects in political and historical discourse. It is now an unquestionable orthodoxy both in academia and in progressive political discourse that European colonial empires - particularly the British - were uniquely evil, the West's 'original sin', and that their legacy continues to underpin systemic racism, injustice, and oppression.Marie Kawthar Daouda, a Moroccan and French academic who now lives in Britain, argues that this narrative is dangerously wrong. Weaving her personal experience with erudite reflection on history, literature, and politics, she argues that we are all heirs of complex waves of immigration, conquest, and colonization. A closer look at French and British history belies a simplistic worldview wherein all the evil in the world is the result of the peculiarly vicious nature of white, Western colonizers. Indeed, she argues, such a perspective nurtures the very prejudices it claims to fight by valorizing victimhood above individual or collective agency and by denying ethnic minorities any sense of responsibility.A coruscating attack on the perverse solipsism, moral blindness, and historical illiteracy of 'decolonizing' progressive elites, this book upends our tired debates over colonialism, empire, and immigration. It offers a more nuanced, hopeful vision of our historical self-understanding.
The Great Realignment
The re-election of Donald Trump has illustrated in spectacular fashion the extent to which politics all over the world is in a state of continual flux. Old political configurations and parties are under unprecedented strain, with new forces, particularly on the hard right, challenging the status quo everywhere.Rejecting stale analyses based on moralistic panics about 'populism' or social media, political commentator Steve Davies shows how we are going through a deep-seated process of realignment rooted in underlying structural trends. We are transitioning, he argues, from an era where the key political division was over the economic structure of society to one where the primary division is between a vision rooted in national identity and sovereignty, and an essentially post-national cosmopolitanism. This change upends the ideological and electoral alliances that have structured our political systems for decades.No-one who wishes to truly understand the crises currently roiling the political status quo can afford to miss this stunning panoramic analysis of how this process works and how it is playing out across the world, from the USA and Germany to Argentina and India, and beyond.
Wise Men not so Wise
The nine "Wise Men" (called "Sages" in France) of the Constitutional Council are responsible for censoring legislation that does not comply with the Constitution. Yet the presidents of the Republic, the Senate and the Assembly legally appoint these judges for nine non-renewable years, without requiring the slightest competence or experience. Welcome to the madhouse!These nine septuagenarians are former politicians or senior civil servants appointed simply for political cronyism. In fact, the work of these "Wise Men" is carried out discreetly by a dozen or so competent and experienced senior civil servants. This "stiflers' club" imposes a terrible silence, from both right and left, on.For the sake of convenience, journalists and humorists have dubbed them the "Wise Men" ever since General de Gaulle created the Council. This label is an illusion, a chimera. It masks the incredible and multiple dysfunctions of a veritable sinecure. Our investigation reveals that 56% of the "Wise Men's" remuneration is illegal. It depends on the executive, which in turn produces the majority of the laws examined by the Council. When, at any time, the State can withdraw this illegal allowance, what independence and impartiality can we expect from those who are supposed to be the guarantors of the Constitution, the rule of law and French freedoms?
After the Fall
A renowned political scientist's searing explanation for the rightward turn of global politics since the end of the Cold War. "A compelling analysis--profoundly challenging to so many Western assumptions--with an admirable blend of realism, imagination, unflinching criticism, and generosity." ―Rory Stewart, author The Places in Between The collapse of the Berlin Wall in 1989 ushered in an era of tremendous political optimism: communism was receding and democracy was on the march in Eastern Europe, Latin America, and much of Asia. Even surviving communist regimes were adopting capitalism, and the stagflation of the 1970s and industrial strife of the 1980s were in the rearview mirror. Four decades later, euphoria has given way to resentment and pessimism. Britain left the EU, Donald Trump's populist crusade gained him the White House not once, but twice, and right-wing parties have gained power across Europe and other parts of the world on a scale not seen since the 1930s. What happened? In After the Fall, pre-eminent political scientist Ian Shapiro argues that the current crisis was far from inevitable. Politicians made consistently bad choices on topics ranging from NATO's future to the War on Terror to humanitarian intervention and the governance of their economies. In doing so, they fostered a crisis of confidence in political institutions, empowered anti-system parties and candidates, and produced a new Cold War as dangerous as the last. By scrutinizing the roads not taken by politicians in the past, Shapiro maps out what better futures might still be possible.
Why Nothing Works
A provocative exploration of the forces that keep us from getting things done, and how we can restore confidence in government "Dunkelman summarizes the history perfectly." --David Brooks, The New York Times Named a Best Book of the Year by Financial Times - The Economist America was once a country that did big things. But today, even while facing a host of pressing challenges--a housing shortage, a climate crisis, dilapidated infrastructure--we feel stuck. As Marc J. Dunkelman reveals, America is the victim of a vetocracy that allows nearly anyone to stifle progress. While conservatives deserve some blame, progressives have overlooked an unlikely culprit: their own fears of "The Establishment." A half century ago, reformers began to put speaking truth to power ahead of exercising that power for good. Now, the ensuing gridlock has pummeled faith in public institutions of all sorts and opened the door for MAGA-style populism. Why Nothing Works uncovers the roots of this predicament, and boldly shows how progressives can once again build a better future for all.
The Backup Plan Portfolio Diversify with gold, real estate, and crypto for protection
What if everything you ve worked for your savings, your home, your future could vanish with the next market crash, government freeze, or digital glitch? In a world of rising inflation, eroding trust in institutions, and financial systems built on sand, you don t just need investments. You need a backup plan. This book is your lifeline a powerful, no-nonsense guide to asset protection strategies that will help you build an unshakeable fortress around your wealth. It doesn t promise fantasies. It delivers clarity, direction, and a blueprint for inflation-proof wealth through three timeless, high-conviction asset classes: crypto and gold investing, real estate for financial freedom, and decentralised financial planning designed to thrive even when the system breaks. Whether you're just starting your journey or already have significant assets, this book gives you the tools to protect your money from collapse, diversify intelligently, and regain control over your financial destiny. Learn how to navigate offshore investing for beginners without confusion, and how to craft your own backup plan portfolio that s legally sound, globally resilient, and emotionally empowering. But this isn t just about money it s about peace of mind. It s about having something no government, bank, or crisis can take from you. It s about becoming the kind of person who knows exactly how to survive economic collapse not by chance, but by choice. If you ve ever felt that quiet, gnawing fear that your current strategy won t hold when the storm hits this book was written for you. Read it. Rethink everything. Reclaim your freedom
American Carnage
A gripping narrative of federal workers caught in Trump's second-term purge, and the devastating consequences for American democracy. American Carnage follows eleven federal workers, in eight government agencies, from the time they were told they were fired in the early weeks of Donald Trump's second presidential administration through to the summer of 2025. With Trump having empowered the world's richest man, Elon Musk, and his Department of Government Efficiency, to make dramatic cuts to many of the country's most important agencies, what unfolded in these months was a cascading tragedy of historic proportions. Their stories, which show a country in a profound moment of crisis and dislocation, are America's stories. What happened to them-the bullying, the intimidation, the deliberate removal of financial stability--also happened to hundreds of thousands of other employees. A fierce reckoning with the intimate and far-reaching effects of these layoffs, both on the individuals who lost their jobs and on the millions of Americans who found their access to basic government services curtailed, American Carnage is the first book-length account of how these cuts dulled and denuded our city on the hill, leaving a morally impoverished landscape in their wake.
I Used to Like You Until...
THE INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER A "whip-smart" (USA TODAY) exploration of the dangers of binary thinking and how it threatens to take over our institutions, relationships, and freedoms--alongside hilarious and illustrative personal stories from New York Times bestselling author Kat Timpf. We've become a society of non-thinkers. After all, we've largely limited ourselves to just two options when it comes to complex issues. As an independent, libertarian voter who has spent the last ten years at Fox News, Kat has faced this phenomenon too many times to count. She's learned that surprising things can happen when you refuse to choose a team, especially when you work at a place some people call an existential threat to America. Binary thinking is much more than just the enemy of critical thinking, it's also an immediate danger to our political discourse, our institutions, our way of consuming news, our relationships, our creativity, and even to our freedoms. All too often, we will let a single difference in viewpoint, an assumption, or an association be enough to write off another person entirely. We miss out on opportunities to connect and collaborate, all while the people in power benefit from our division. Through humorous examples from her own life and insight only someone in her bizarre position can possess, Kat reminds us that the world doesn't have to be so black and white. In her signature witty voice, Kat inspires us to lean into thoughtful consideration, genuine conversation, vulnerability, and only hating people when they really deserve it.
Fractured Mirrors
Fractured Mirrors is not just a collection of essays-it is an act of defiance.Across seventy probing reflections, Balvinder Ruby unmasks the unseen architecture of our lives-where democracy is reduced to spectacle, identity is commodified, and algorithms shape our very thoughts. From climate deception to the illusion of choice, this work exposes the systemic forces that keep us scrolling, spending, and surrendering agency.With a voice that blends philosophical depth with poetic clarity, Ruby draws on political economy, sociology, and media theory to illuminate the fractures within modern civilisation. These essays challenge the reader to question consensus, resist manipulation, and reimagine a world where people matter more than profit. This is not a book for the passive. Fractured Mirrors is for thinkers, resistors, and those ready to reclaim meaning from the chaos.
The Tesla Files
A whistleblower. A 100-GB-leak of confidential internal documents. A corporation in crisis A riveting tale of journalistic enterprise, ethics, and the courage to follow the evidence where it leads The 1st major work about Elon Musk and Tesla since Musk inserted himself directly into presidential politics and, through DOGE, into the lives of millions of Americans When an anonymous whistleblower and former Tesla employee approached Germany's business newspaper Handelsblatt in November 2022, the newsroom was stunned. The allegations were astounding. Months of relentless investigation confirmed them to be true. In The Tesla Files, Handelsblatt journalists S繹nke Iwersen and Michael Verf羹rden tell the full story. Drawing on 23,000 leaked documents, 100 gigabytes of confidential data, and hundreds of interviews with employees and customers, they deliver an unprecedented look inside the world's most secretive automaker. This is a portrait of a company that values hype over substance, and a CEO who demands devotion while ruling through fear. It also traces Elon Musk's ascent into the highest echelons of politics--marked by a pattern of obfuscation and manipulation.
If There Is No God
One of the most important conservative voices of the last century takes on the dangers of secularism, perhaps the most important issue in our lives.Your beloved dog and a stranger are drowning. Who do you try to save first?Every time famed radio host, New York Times bestselling author, and Co-founder of PragerU, Dennis Prager, has asked this question, one-third of the audience voted for the dog, one-third for the stranger, and one-third was not sure. We live in an era when people increasingly make moral judgments based on their emotions. But if feelings determine what is right and wrong, then whether murder, rape, and theft are wrong is no more than an opinion. Why are those who riot and destroy property wrong, especially if they feel their behavior is justified? Prager explains that without objective morality, the world will descend into chaos, with every individual engaging in any behavior they feel is right.For fifty years, Dennis Prager, one of the best-known public intellectuals in the Western world, has explored the vital role Judeo-Christian values play in shaping individual lives and entire societies. In If There Is No God, he engages in provocative and sometimes heated exchanges with questioners who offer some of the greatest challenges he has faced concerning how one determines good and evil and why one's feelings can be life-enhancing yet morally unimportant.If God exists, why doesn't He punish the unjust? Why does He allow the innocent to suffer? How can religion better the human condition when so many of the religious are often immoral? These timeless questions are in urgent need of answers. The reader need not be religious or even believe in God to find the arguments and debates in this book compelling and meaningful. All one needs is reason to appreciate the ideas Prager presents.Thought-provoking, important, and accessible for the devout and the skeptic, If There Is No God is a guide for anyone seeking clarity in a morally troubled age.
Unhyphenated America in Transition
The upper South - starting in the Appalachian Mountains and stretching west across the Ohio and Tennessee River Valleys and into Arkansas - has its own culture and history distinct from the Deep South. It also has its own distinct political realignment that has pushed the region toward the right starting in the mid-1990s.The region is defined by concentrations of unhyphenated Americans - whites who trace their ethnicity not to the European country of their ancestors, but directly to the United States. Examining counties with concentrations of these American ethnic identifiers, the book uses election data to show the region's rapid shift to the Republicans. Public opinion data shows the region was pushed to the Republicans by its conservatism on issues such as abortion, guns, and the environment, and the increased national salience of racial issues prompted by the emergence of Barack Obama and Donald Trump.
I Went to Prison So You Won't Have to
They locked him up to send a message. This book sends one right back. When senior Trump White House advisor Peter Navarro refused to kneel before the Democrats' rigged J6 witch hunt, they came for him with guns and handcuffs. Ambushed by five armed FBI agents at Reagan airport, shackled in leg irons, and strip-searched, Navarro became the first ever top presidential aide in US history to be put in federal prison for defending the Constitution. I Went to Prison So You Won't Have To presents Peter's raw, unfiltered account of what really happens when the American justice system is weaponized for political revenge. Told through a powerful exchange of personal letters between Peter and his fianc矇e, this book pulls back the curtain on a corrupt and bloated federal prison system in which Trump-era reform laws are ignored, taxpayer dollars are wasted by the billions, and families are torn apart. This isn't just Navarro's story. It's a warning to every American: If rabid partisans can weaponize our justice system to imprison a senior White House official for doing his job, no citizen is truly safe. Candid, defiant, and deeply personal, I Went to Prison So You Won't Have To delivers a searing indictment of the Left's lawfare machine--and a stirring defense of freedom, love, and constitutional principle in the face of overwhelming injustice. If they can come for Peter, they can come for you. Read this book. Before it's too late.
The Origin of Politics
Societies that ignore social disintegration and collapsing birth rates are putting their future in peril. So why are we ignoring the signs??In The Origin Of Politics, Nicholas Wade explains how our political systems compete with a more ancient set of rules for organizing society--those developed by evolution. Modern ideologies are in constant tension with structures inherent in human social behavior, such as the family, the tribe, and male-dominated institutions. This tension plays out in various ways. Sometimes nature prevails over politics, as in the proposal by Marx and Engels to eliminate the family, the basic unit of society. The founders of the kibbutz movement put this radical idea into practice, only to find that the conflict with human nature was unsustainable. In other cases, culture has successfully modified evolutionary behaviors, replacing polygamy with monogamy and dissolving the bonds of tribalism to make way for modern states. But the evolutionary framework of human societies is not infinitely flexible. The nation-state, especially in the case of the United States, is prone to disintegration if disruptive ideologies are allowed to undermine the cohesive affinities that hold its disparate cultures together. The worldwide decline in fertility in most countries except those in Africa signals a severe derangement in the behaviors evolution has devised for ensuring that a population will maintain itself. If the causes of this disruption cannot be understood and reversed, human societies will embark on an unsought path to extinction. Other fraught issues in which human biology and politics conflict include the innate specializations of the sexes, the stratification of society by ability, and the mismatch between the inequalities of wealth-creating societies and the egalitarian ethic inherited from our hunter-gatherer ancestors.We live in an iridescent bubble, the intoxicating richness of modern culture. Shielded from the natural world, we have lost our awareness of the evolutionary forces that still guide our motivations and shape the foundations of our societies. The Origin of Politics explores the risks of underestimating evolution's fundamental role in human affairs. Why do modern political systems so often fail when they conflict with the ancient blueprints of our own biology?Politics and Evolution: A critical look at how modern ideologies are in constant tension with the social structures--family, tribe, kinship--that evolution has wired into our species.The Family Unit: The revealing story of the Israeli kibbutz, where a utopian attempt to abolish the family ultimately failed against the powerful, innate bonds between parents and children.Tribalism to Nation-State: How societies successfully modified deep-seated behaviors, replacing polygamy with monogamy and dissolving ancient tribal bonds to pave the way for the modern state.Inherited Behaviors: An examination of the conflicts over innate sex specializations, social stratification, and the mismatch between modern inequality and the egalitarian ethic from our hunter-gatherer ancestors.
Marxist Left Review 29
Marxist Left Review 29, August/Winter.Issue title: Socialists against the streamEditorial: Trump ushers in a more barbaric capitalism - Omar HassanMarxism and National Liberation - Mick ArmstrongThe rise and fall of the Palestinian Fronts - Vashti FoxWhy socialists should oppose the sex industry - Emma NortonA socialist view on the India-Pakistan conflict: Interview with Imran Kamyana - Jordan HumphreysWhat is liberalism? - Luke HockingReview: The rise and fall of union power in the Pilbara - Liz RossReview: The origins of the modern police force and the socialist case for their overthrow - Jasmine Duff
Borders of the Mind
What if everything you believed about where you belong-your identity, your homeland, your people-was a story someone needed you to believe?This provocative and eye-opening book reveals how the very idea of "us" and "them" was invented by states to control the minds of millions. Through gripping history and sharp psychological insight, it shows how governments have used national identity manipulation, political control through belonging, and the emotional roots of nationalism to shape not just borders, but the deepest parts of our self-perception.You'll discover how passports, myths, and schoolbooks became tools of power, how nations create enemies not out of necessity, but narrative. And how your sense of pride, fear, and loyalty may not be your own-but a design handed down through generations of control.This is not just a book about politics. It's about you.- Understand the real purpose behind identity and nationalism- Learn how imagined communities were engineered-and why they still hold sway- Explore the psychological machinery behind "othering" and mass obedience- Begin to deconstruct national myths and reclaim authorship of your own identityPerfect for readers of history, psychology, philosophy, and political thought, this book is for anyone who has ever wondered why we belong to nations-and what it would mean to live beyond them.If you've sensed that something about your cultural identity doesn't quite feel like a choice... you're not alone. This book is your invitation to break the trance, question the script, and see beyond the psychological history of borders.Because once you see the lines in your mind, you can begin to erase them.
The Price of Peace
What if the world isn't broken by accident-but by design?This eye-opening investigation reveals how global chaos has quietly become one of the most lucrative business models of our time. From defence contractor analysis to the hidden strategies behind NGOs in conflict zones, this book pulls back the curtain on the economic machine that thrives not on resolution, but on disorder.Forget what you thought you knew about peacekeeping. In a system where corporate war profiteering is standard operating procedure and where geopolitical instability investment is tracked like weather patterns, the old narratives of heroism and diplomacy collapse. In their place lies a sprawling ecosystem of security firm profit motives, data brokers' conflict analytics, and governments addicted to the revenue of risk.You'll discover why the military-industrial complex critique barely scratches the surface-and how conflict economy has evolved into a subscription-based model of engineered emergency. Whether you're a policymaker, investor, journalist, or simply a citizen trying to make sense of the headlines, this is your map to the financial anatomy of endless war.With chilling clarity and urgent relevance, this book doesn't just expose the business of global unrest-it challenges you to rethink what "peace" really means in a world where stability is no longer profitable.
American Insomniac
American Insomniac: Reflections on the future of a dying democracy is a compilation of academic articles, blog pieces, other writings, and op-eds written during the first years of the twenty-first century about current political, economic, cultural, and social events which are shaping our reality. The author, Jim Smith, has a unique perspective stemming from his childhood experiences of growing up on the carnival, living in a rural area, experiencing poverty and homelessness, and then radicalization through the anti-war and civil rights movements of the 1960's and 1970's.The writings are about the great challenges facing the future of democracy, the struggle for equality and equity, and will, hopefully, add to a civil discourse on the solutions to the social, economic, and cultural problems that are interwoven within the times we live in. These issues and concerns have kept thinking people awake at night trying to figure out how we got here, how to reach a consensus for solutions for the common good, and how to protect the gains made in the prior century from the forces at work to deconstruct and destroy them currently. Hence the title, American Insomniac.The problems and challenges are complex. The forces at work on all sides are equally complex, with intentions that are both noble and immoral. No perspective is purely evil or purely altruistic. But there is still truth, facts, and progress to oppose lies, fiction, and barbarism. This is one person's attempt to add to this conversation.
The Price of Peace
What if the world isn't broken by accident-but by design?This eye-opening investigation reveals how global chaos has quietly become one of the most lucrative business models of our time. From defence contractor analysis to the hidden strategies behind NGOs in conflict zones, this book pulls back the curtain on the economic machine that thrives not on resolution, but on disorder.Forget what you thought you knew about peacekeeping. In a system where corporate war profiteering is standard operating procedure and where geopolitical instability investment is tracked like weather patterns, the old narratives of heroism and diplomacy collapse. In their place lies a sprawling ecosystem of security firm profit motives, data brokers' conflict analytics, and governments addicted to the revenue of risk.You'll discover why the military-industrial complex critique barely scratches the surface-and how conflict economy has evolved into a subscription-based model of engineered emergency. Whether you're a policymaker, investor, journalist, or simply a citizen trying to make sense of the headlines, this is your map to the financial anatomy of endless war.With chilling clarity and urgent relevance, this book doesn't just expose the business of global unrest-it challenges you to rethink what "peace" really means in a world where stability is no longer profitable.
Constitution of the United States (America 250 Edition)
Elegantly stamped in celebration of America's 250th and printed in America, this beautiful gift edition contains the complete text of the United States Constitution, as well as all of its amendments.The landmark legal document of the United States, the U.S. Constitution comprises the primary law of the Federal Government. Signed by the members of the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia on September 17, 1787, the Constitution outlines the powers and responsibilities of the three chief branches of the Federal Government, as well as the basic rights of the citizens of the United States.
American Insomniac
American Insomniac: Reflections on the future of a dying democracy is a compilation of academic articles, blog pieces, other writings, and op-eds written during the first years of the twenty-first century about current political, economic, cultural, and social events which are shaping our reality. The author, Jim Smith, has a unique perspective stemming from his childhood experiences of growing up on the carnival, living in a rural area, experiencing poverty and homelessness, and then radicalization through the anti-war and civil rights movements of the 1960's and 1970's.The writings are about the great challenges facing the future of democracy, the struggle for equality and equity, and will, hopefully, add to a civil discourse on the solutions to the social, economic, and cultural problems that are interwoven within the times we live in. These issues and concerns have kept thinking people awake at night trying to figure out how we got here, how to reach a consensus for solutions for the common good, and how to protect the gains made in the prior century from the forces at work to deconstruct and destroy them currently. Hence the title, American Insomniac.The problems and challenges are complex. The forces at work on all sides are equally complex, with intentions that are both noble and immoral. No perspective is purely evil or purely altruistic. But there is still truth, facts, and progress to oppose lies, fiction, and barbarism. This is one person's attempt to add to this conversation.
Documents of Freedom Boxed Set (America 250 Edition)
This handsome three-book set, elegantly stamped in celebration of America 250 and proudly made in the USA, features the three most historic founding documents of the United States of America: The Declaration of Independence, The Constitution of the United States of America, and The Bill of Rights.Drafted by Thomas Jefferson between June 11 and June 28, 1776, the Declaration of Independence summarizes America's founding political philosophy. At once a cherished symbol of liberty and an expression of Jefferson's monumental talents as a writer, the document captures in unforgettable phrases the ideals of individual liberty that formed the backbone of American's Revolutionary movement. In setting forth these "self-evident truths" alongside a list of grievances against King George's Britain, the Declaration of Independence justified the breaking of ties with "Mother England" and the formation of a new country. This gift edition contains illustrations and biographies of the signers alongside the document itself.The landmark legal document of the United States, the Constitution of the United States of America, comprises the primary law of the Federal Government. Signed by the members of the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia on September 17, 1787, the Constitution outlines the powers and responsibilities of the three chief branches of the Federal Government, as well as the basic rights of the citizens of the United States. This beautiful gift edition contains the complete text of the United States Constitution, as well as all of its amendments. It is a treasure for people of all ages.Collectively known as the United States Bill of Rights, these first ten amendments to the United States Constitution limit the powers of the federal government and protect the rights of all citizens, residents and visitors on United States territory. Introduced in 1789 in the First United States Congress by James Madison, these amendments came into effect on December 15, 1791, when ratified by three-fourths of the states. This document plays a central role in American law and remains to this day a symbol of the freedoms and culture of this nation. In this beautiful gift edition, the text of the Bill of Rights is set alongside a history of the amendments, thus placing the document in its historical context.The America250(TM)️ word mark and logo are trademarks owned by the United States Semiquincentennial Commission and any use of such marks by Applewood Books is under license.
Land, Labour, and Agrarian Change in Nepal's Tarai-Madhesh
This book offers a historically grounded and multi-scalar analysis of agrarian change in Nepal's far-eastern Tarai. It shows how this region has since the 1700s evolved from a forested frontier home to relatively autonomous Adivasi (indigenous) cultivators, to a feudal economy grounded in landlord-tenant relations, which has persisted alongside a rapidly expanding industrial and commercial sector. The book explores the changing land ownership patterns and distribution of surplus, the flow of labour between agriculture and industry, and more complex interactions with global capitalism. The book thus offers unique insights into both the reproduction and transformations of class, ethnic and labour relations in Nepal during a period of rapid political transformation.
Globalizing Eastern Europe
For far too long, views of Eastern Europe as a negligible and peripheral region have shaped popular perceptions of this part of the world. Presenting new research, Globalizing Eastern Europe: Politics, Culture and Economics from the 18th to the 21st Century offers refreshing arguments to counter such misconceptions. Global politics and international law have been profoundly shaped by the experiences and expertise that emanated from this region. Migration to and from Eastern Europe, has fostered deep ties with neighbouring and distant societies, as have this area's literature and music. The importance of its agricultural development has reverberated in the global economy. This volume recasts Eastern Europe as a global region. It shows how people from this part of the world shaped the 'global', and how in turn, the 'global' shaped them. Authors from a range of disciplines, chart century-long traditions of entanglements and contemporary interactions. In doing so, this book further enriches the perennial debates regarding this region's spatial boundaries.
Voters' Perceptions of Party Brands
In order to cast a satisfying vote, understand politics, or otherwise participate in political discourse or processes, voters must have some idea of what policies parties are pursuing and, more generally, 'who goes with whom.' This Element aims to both advance the study of how voters formulate and update their perceptions of party brands and persuade our colleagues to join us in studying these processes. To make this endeavor more enticing, but no less rigorous, the authors make three contributions to this emerging field of study: presenting a framework for building and interrogating theoretical arguments, aggregating a large, comprehensive data archive, and recommending a parsimonious strategy for statistical analysis. In the process, they provide a definition for voters' perceptions of party brands and an analytical schema to study them, attempt to contextualize and rationalize some competing findings in the existing literature, and derive and test several new hypotheses.
The Homeland of the Strong
Homeland of the Strong is a soldier's testament, a firebrand of philosophy written in the language of struggle. Kurt Eggers offers no comfort - he tears away illusions. He declares war on weakness, falsehood, and the hollow religions that robbed Europe of its soul. He strikes at the false gods that enslave men, the weakness that poisons nations, and the hollow peace that drains life of its meaning.In their place, Eggers sets before you a vision of the homeland as sacred ground - where blood and sacrifice forge strength, where culture becomes creation instead of decay, and where man seizes his destiny with his own will. This is a book that dares to ask the forbidden questions: Where is God? What is the meaning of weakness? What does it mean to live and die for a homeland worthy of the strong?Every page burns with the conviction that life must be lived in strength - or not at all.
Gold in India
India is developing as a global gold powerhouse. Yet its intricate web of trade and transformations remains largely overlooked in scholarly research. This book delves into the economic significance and cultural currency of gold in India. Drawing on insights from economic sociology, political economy and history, it combines comprehensive fieldwork with archival research to explore the circuits of gold - looking at legal and illegal imports, refining, trade, craft and mechanised production, retail and re-export. Through multidisciplinary research, it relates the roles of gold in the building and sharing of familial and gendered wealth, in the diversity of rural economic life and in women's sexuality, subordination and agency to a range of issues in state policy. It shows how exploring the quiddity of gold offers a perfect plot to deepen our understanding of the socially regulated Indian economy.
The Delivery Gap
Sometimes, government has to build something big. Really big. A high-speed railway network, a fleet of nuclear submarines, an IT system big enough for the health records of every person in the country. But Britain has a woeful record of delivering projects of this scale. They are either late, over budget, deliver less than promised - or all three. Some are never completed at all. What is going wrong? In the wake of the cancellation of HS2, Jonathan Simcock, former Major Projects Director of the Office of Government Commerce, provides answers. This eye-opening text draws on testimony from the Ministers, officials and project managers who have tried, and mostly failed, to deliver the country's biggest projects. To face up to its challenges - productivity, growth, national security, and the changing climate - Britain needs huge publicly funded investment. So how do we close the Delivery Gap?
Voters' Perceptions of Party Brands
In order to cast a satisfying vote, understand politics, or otherwise participate in political discourse or processes, voters must have some idea of what policies parties are pursuing and, more generally, 'who goes with whom.' This Element aims to both advance the study of how voters formulate and update their perceptions of party brands and persuade our colleagues to join us in studying these processes. To make this endeavor more enticing, but no less rigorous, the authors make three contributions to this emerging field of study: presenting a framework for building and interrogating theoretical arguments, aggregating a large, comprehensive data archive, and recommending a parsimonious strategy for statistical analysis. In the process, they provide a definition for voters' perceptions of party brands and an analytical schema to study them, attempt to contextualize and rationalize some competing findings in the existing literature, and derive and test several new hypotheses.
The Podcaster Posse
In the corrupt corridors of Dolton, Illinois, one woman's greed and narcissism spiraled into a four-year reign of terror that would captivate the nation. Tiffany "Supermayor" Henyard wielded unprecedented power as both mayor and township supervisor, earning nearly $300,000 annually while her community crumbled under debt and dysfunction. But this isn't just another political corruption story. This is the tale of how ordinary citizens armed with smartphones and YouTube channels became the watchdogs that traditional media failed to be. Meet the "Podcaster Posse" - independent content creators like "Cooking with Frank," "Hannibal Is Hungry," and "Just Doing Nails" who used wit, persistence, and social media savvy to expose Henyard's alleged crimes to a worldwide audience. From Las Vegas junkets funded by taxpayers to public brawls in government meetings, from sexual assault cover-ups to million-dollar ice rinks named after her daughter, Henyard's story reads like fiction but delivers the devastating truth about unchecked power in America's heartland. When FBI investigations stalled and state officials turned a blind eye, these digital detectives kept digging, broadcasting, and building the pressure that ultimately brought down one of America's most brazen political criminals. "The Podcaster Posse" reveals how grassroots journalism in the internet age can succeed where traditional institutions fail, offering both a cautionary tale about political corruption and an inspiring example of citizen activism in action.
Novatore
In the chaos of post-World War I Italy, Renzo Novatore (1890-1922) emerged as a poet and philosopher of uncompromising individualist anarchism. Inspired by Nietzsche, Stirner, and Wilde, he rejected church, state, and rising fascism, advocating for the sovereignty of the individual. His writings, crafted while a fugitive facing execution, blend lyrical nihilism with a fierce celebration of personal freedom. Novatore lived his defiance until his death in a 1922 shootout with authorities at age 32.This collection, translated by Wolfi Landstreicher, includes Novatore's key works-"Toward the Creative Nothing," "My Iconoclastic Individualism," "Black Flags," and "Cry of Rebellion." Reissued in 2025 by the Union of Egoists' Stand Alone project, it features a fresh design, Landstreicher's insightful introduction, and all original 2012 content. Novatore's voice resonates with readers drawn to radical thought, anarchism, and the unbound self.
Mapping, Connectivity, and the Making of European Empires
This volume seeks to collectively explore how maps can be used to understand the making of European empires, how the epistemological practices embedded in them can be approached to understand European imperial space-making, and how maps can be seen as representations of imaginaries of connectivity. Rehearsing mapping's past and its multifarious relations with European imperial orders is not merely an historical exercise to contribute to a global history of cartography. What binds the several interventions is rather an awareness that looking at a particular moment of the past with composite methodologies and interdisciplinary gazes may harbour potential discoveries on the context-embedded relations between mapping, connectivity, and European empire to which we are not yet attuned. By exploring the imaginaries of the world in the mapping of Western modern empires, the book also links to the burgeoning literature on the history of international relations and empire. The emphasis on empires serves here as an important corrigendum for IR's state centrism and Eurocentrism and contributes to further erode the myth of Westphalia.
Political Rumors
Why debunked political rumors persist and how to combat them Political rumors and misinformation pollute the political landscape. This is not a recent phenomenon; before the currently rampant and unfounded rumors about a stolen election and vote-rigging, there were other rumors that continued to spread even after they were thoroughly debunked, including doubts about 9/11 (an "inside job") and the furor over President Obama's birthplace and birth certificate. If misinformation crowds out the truth, how can Americans communicate with one another about important issues? In this book, Adam Berinsky examines why political rumors exist and persist despite their unsubstantiated and refuted claims, who is most likely to believe them, and how to combat them. Drawing on original survey and experimental data, Berinsky shows that a tendency toward conspiratorial thinking and vehement partisan attachment fuel belief in rumors. Yet the reach of rumors is wide, and Berinsky argues that in fighting misinformation, it is as important to target the undecided and the uncertain as it is the true believers. We're all vulnerable to misinformation, and public skepticism about the veracity of political facts is damaging to democracy. Moreover, in a world where most people simply don't pay attention to politics, political leaders are often guilty of disseminating false information--and failing to correct it when it is proven wrong. Berinsky suggests that we should focus on the messenger as much as the message of rumors. Just as important as how misinformation is debunked is who does the debunking.
On Liberalism
A much-needed defense of liberalism--what it is, why it is under threat, and why we need it more than ever--from one of our most important political thinkers today. More than at any time since World War II, liberalism is under pressure, even siege. On the right, some have given up on liberalism. They hold it responsible for the collapse of the family and traditional values, rampant criminality, disrespect for authority, and widespread immorality. On the left, some are turning their backs on liberalism. They think that it lacks the resources to handle the problems posed by entrenched inequalities, racism, sexism, corporate power, and environmental degradation. But those opposed to liberalism do not depict it accurately; they offer a caricature, and they neglect its history. In On Liberalism, former advisor to Presidents Obama and Biden and New York Times-bestselling author Cass Sunstein offers a timely and clear understanding of liberalism--of its core commitments, of its breadth, of its internal debates, of its evolving character, of its promise--and why we need it more than ever. He also shows how and why liberalism has been, and should be, appealing to both the left and the right. The book begins with a manifesto on behalf of liberalism, and then goes on to explore the central idea of "experiments of living," to which a liberal constitutional order gives pride of place. From there, it discusses John Stuart Mill and Friedrich Hayek, defining liberal thinkers; the rule of law as liberals understand it; freedom of speech (including the place of lies and falsehoods within that freedom); free markets, economic liberty, and regulation; Franklin Delano Roosevelt's Second Bill of Rights, with its social and economic guarantees; and finally, the concept of opportunity. Never more urgently needed, On Liberalism moves the conversation well beyond the reductive and inflammatory political sound bites of our moment and advances a compelling argument on behalf of liberalism as the foundation of freedom and self-government.
