From my Shelf

Another year is winding down, so it seems like a good time to reflect on the books I've been reading these past eleven months. Not all of the books I read in 2011 were published in 2011. This isn't really a review of "new releases" then. Work keeps me busy, so I'm often late to the party as it were, and my reading wish list seems only to grow longer, never shorter. However, these books, I guarantee, are timely and relevant.

I've chosen only a few to feature, but they are so critically important to understanding the times in which we live that I feel compelled to talk about them every chance I get. I'm sure I drive my friends crazy.

So rather than a long-winded commentary from me, I'd prefer to let the authors speak for themselves. I'll just include a passage or two from each book. Maybe the quoted material will entice you to read more. There's also plenty on the Net about each one of them.

I'll start with Chris Hedges: Death of the Liberal Class, published in 2010.

In a traditional democracy, the liberal class functions as a safety valve. It makes piecemeal and incremental reform possible. It offers hope for change and proposes gradual steps toward greater equality. But the assault by the corporate state on the democratic state has claimed the liberal class as one of its victims.

….

The belief that we can make things happen through positive thoughts, by visualizing, by wanting them, by tapping into our inner strength, or by understanding that we our truly exceptional, is peddled to us by all aspects of the culture, from Oprah to the Christian Right. It is magical thinking. We can always make more money, meet new quotas, consume more products, and advance our careers. This magical thinking, this idea that human and personal progress is somehow inevitable, leads to political passivity. It permits societies to transfer their emotional allegiance to the absurd―whether embodied in professional sports or in celebrity culture―and ignore real problems. It exacerbates despair. It keeps us in a state of mass self-delusion.