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The Kindness of Strangers: How a Selfish Ape Invented a New Moral Code
by Michael E. McCulloughWhy do we give a damn about strangers? Altruism is unique to the human species. It is also one of the great evolutionary puzzles, and we may be on the brink of solving it. It turns out that, over the last 12,000 years, we have become more and more altruistic. This is despite the fact that, the majority of the time, our minds are still breathtakingly indifferent to the welfare of others. In solving the enigma of generosity in a world of strangers, McCullough takes us on a sweeping history of society and science to warn that, if we are not careful, our instincts and sympathies have as much potential for harm as for good. The bad news is that we are not designed to be kind. The good news is that we can push ourselves to be kind anyway, together.
The Kindness of Strangers: How a Selfish Ape Invented a New Moral Code
by Michael E. McCulloughA sweeping psychological history of human goodness -- from the foundations of evolution to the modern political and social challenges humanity is now facing. How did humans, a species of self-centered apes, come to care about others? Since Darwin, scientists have tried to answer this question using evolutionary theory. In The Kindness of Strangers, psychologist Michael E. McCullough shows why they have failed and offers a new explanation instead. From the moment nomadic humans first settled down until the aftermath of the Second World War, our species has confronted repeated crises that we could only survive by changing our behavior. As McCullough argues, these choices weren't enabled by an evolved moral sense, but with moral invention -- driven not by evolution's dictates but by reason. Today's challenges -- climate change, mass migration, nationalism -- are some of humanity's greatest yet. In revealing how past crises shaped the foundations of human concern, The Kindness of Strangers offers clues for how we can adapt our moral thinking to survive these challenges as well.
The King in Orange: The Magical and Occult Roots of Political Power
by John Michael Greer• Details the magical war that took place behind the scenes of the 2016 election • Examines in detail the failed magical actions of Trump&’s opponents, with insights on political magic from Dion Fortune&’s war letters • Reveals the influence of a number of occult forces from Julius Evola to chaos magick to show how the political and magical landscape of American society has permanently changed since the 2016 election Magic and politics seem like unlikely bedfellows, but in e King in Orange, author John Michael Greer goes beyond super cial memes and extreme partisanship to reveal the unmentionable realities that spawned the unexpected presidential victory of an elderly real-estate mogul turned reality-TV star and which continue to drive the deepening divide that is now the de ning characteristic of American society. Greer convincingly shows how two competing schools of magic were led to contend for the presidency in 2016 and details the magical war that took place behind the scenes of the campaign. rough the in uence of a number of occult forces, from Julius Evola to chaos magicians as well as the cult of positive thinking, Greer shows that the main contenders in this magical war were the status quo magical state--as de ned by the late scholar Ioan Couliano--which has repurposed the &“manipulative magic&” techniques of the Renaissance magi into the subliminal techniques of modern advertising, and an older, deeper, and less reasonable form of magic--the &“magic of the excluded&”--which was employed by chaos magicians and alt-right internet wizards, whose desires coalesced in the form of a frog avatar that led the assault against the world we knew. Examining in detail the magical actions of Trump&’s opponents, with insights on political magic from occultist Dion Fortune&’s war letters, the author discusses how the magic of the privileged has functioned to keep the comfortable classes from being able to respond e ectively to the populist challenge and how and why the &“Magic Resistance,&” which tried to turn magic against Trump, has failed. Showing how the political and magical landscape of American society has permanently changed since the 2016 election cycle, Greer reveals that understanding the coming of the King in Orange will be a crucial step in making sense of the world for a long time to come.
The King of Sports: Why Football Must Be Reformed
by Gregg EasterbrookGridiron football is the king of sports – it's the biggest game in the strongest and richest country in the world. In The King of Sports, Easterbrook tells the full story of how football became so deeply ingrained in American culture. Both good and bad, he examines its impact on American society.The King of Sports explores these and many other topics:* The real harm done by concussions (it's not to NFL players).* The real way in which college football players are exploited (it's not by not being paid).* The way football helps American colleges (it's not bowl revenue) and American cities (it's not Super Bowl wins).* What happens to players who are used up and thrown away (it's not pretty).* The hidden scandal of the NFL (it's worse than you think).Using his year-long exclusive insider access to the Virginia Tech football program, where Frank Beamer has compiled the most victories of any active NFL or major-college head coach while also graduating players, Easterbrook shows how one big university "does football right." Then he reports on what's wrong with football at the youth, high school, college and professional levels. Easterbrook holds up examples of coaches and programs who put the athletes first and still win; he presents solutions to these issues and many more, showing a clear path forward for the sport as a whole.
The Kingdom Began in Puerto Rico: Neil Connolly's Priesthood in the South Bronx
by Angel Garcia&“A story of how a priest struggled to live the call of the Second Vatican Council, and . . . worked alongside laypeople for social justice in the Bronx.&” ―National Catholic Reporter South Bronx, 1958. Change was coming. It was a unique place and time in history where Father Neil Connolly found his true calling and spiritual awakening. Set in the context of a changing world and a changing Catholic Church, The Kingdom Began in Puerto Rico follows Fr. Neil Connolly&’s path through the South Bronx, which began with a special Church program to address the postwar great Puerto Rican migration. After an immersion summer in Puerto Rico, Fr. Neil served the largest concentration of Puerto Ricans in the Bronx from the 1960s to the 1980s as they struggled for a decent life. Through the teachings of Vatican II, Connolly assumed responsibility for creating a new Church and world. In the war against drugs, poverty, and crime, he created a dynamic organization and chapel run by the people, and supported Unitas, a unique peer-driven mental health program for youth. Frustrated by the lack of institutional responses to his community&’s challenges, he challenged government abandonment and spoke out against ill-conceived public plans. Ultimately, he realized that his priestly mission was in developing new leaders among people, in the Church and the world, and supporting two pioneering lay leadership programs, the Pastoral Center and People for Change. Angel Garcia ably blends the dynamic forces of Church and world that transformed Fr. Connolly as he grew into his vocation. This book presents a rich history of the South Bronx and calls for all urban policies to begin with the people. It also affirms the continuing relevance of Vatican II and Medellin for today&’s Church and world, in the US and Latin America. &“Garcia captures the spirit of the era, and the spirit of the man.&” —James Martin, S.J., author of Jesus: A Pilgrimage
The Kingdom and the Power: Rediscovering the Centrality of the Church
by Peter J. LeithartTo some extent, our perception of the church's present task depends largely on our perception of the current state of our civilization.If American Christians are victims of a vicious elite, working to regain the levers of power might seem a sensible strategy. If, however, American culture is a mess because the church is a mess, then the most sensible strategy would be to begin with the reform of the church. The World is trying to experiment with attempting to form a civilized but non-Christian mentality.
The Kingdom of Children: A Liberation Theology
by R. L. StollarEmpower the children in your faith community. Children are marginalized in our churches, dismissed into Sunday school or silenced for lengthy sermons aimed at adults. R. L. Stollar has spent his career advocating for the rights of children, and he thinks it&’s time to stop talking down to children and start listening to them.In The Kingdom of Children, Stollar proposes a liberation theology of the child. Stollar begins with a theoretical framework that centers children in our theology and ecclesial life. Reframing biblical stories to center children, we can see how the binding of Isaac reflects the spiritual effects of child abuse, or how children like Miriam can serve as leaders in their communities. Using scriptural examples as well as real studies of children&’s spiritual lives, Stollar asserts that children can be priests, prophets, and theologians in our communities. Each chapter concludes with activities and discussion points for introducing the book&’s concepts to children.The Kingdom of Children is a must-read for youth ministers, parents, and anyone who works with children. By embracing the liberation of children, we can avoid stunting their spiritual growth and passing on trauma. And when we lift up children—truly value and learn from them—we build up the kingdom of God here in our communities.
The Kingdom of Speech
by Tom Wolfe<P>The maestro storyteller and reporter provocatively argues that what we think we know about speech and human evolution is wrong. <P>Tom Wolfe, whose legend began in journalism, takes us on an eye-opening journey that is sure to arouse widespread debate. THE KINGDOM OF SPEECH is a captivating, paradigm-shifting argument that speech--not evolution--is responsible for humanity's complex societies and achievements. <P>From Alfred Russel Wallace, the Englishman who beat Darwin to the theory of natural selection but later renounced it, and through the controversial work of modern-day anthropologist Daniel Everett, who defies the current wisdom that language is hard-wired in humans, Wolfe examines the solemn, long-faced, laugh-out-loud zig-zags of Darwinism, old and Neo, and finds it irrelevant here in the Kingdom of Speech. <P><b>A New York Times Bestseller</b>
The Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory: American Evangelicals in an Age of Extremism
by Tim AlbertaThe award-winning journalist and staff writer for The Atlantic follows up his New York Times bestseller American Carnage with this timely, rigorously reported, and deeply personal examination of the divisions that threaten to destroy the American evangelical movement. <p><p> Evangelical Christians are perhaps the most polarizing—and least understood—people living in America today. In his seminal new book, The Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory, journalist Tim Alberta, himself a practicing Christian and the son of an evangelical pastor, paints an expansive and profoundly troubling portrait of the American evangelical movement. Through the eyes of televangelists and small-town preachers, celebrity revivalists and everyday churchgoers, Alberta tells the story of a faith cheapened by ephemeral fear, a promise corrupted by partisan subterfuge, and a reputation stained by perpetual scandal. <p><p> For millions of conservative Christians, America is their kingdom—a land set apart, a nation uniquely blessed, a people in special covenant with God. This love of country, however, has given way to right-wing nationalist fervor, a reckless blood-and-soil idolatry that trivializes the kingdom of Jesus Christ. Alberta retraces the arc of the modern evangelical movement, placing political and cultural inflection points in the context of church teachings and traditions, explaining how Donald Trump's presidency and the COVID-19 pandemic only accelerated historical trends that long pointed toward disaster. Reporting from half-empty sanctuaries and standing-room-only convention halls across the country, the author documents a growing fracture inside American Christianity and journeys with readers through this strange new environment in which loving your enemies is "woke" and owning the libs is the answer to WWJD. <p><p> Accessing the highest echelons of the American evangelical movement, Alberta investigates the ways in which conservative Christians have pursued, exercised, and often abused power in the name of securing this earthly kingdom. He highlights the battles evangelicals are fighting—and the weapons of their warfare—to demonstrate the disconnect from scripture: Contra the dictates of the New Testament, today's believers are struggling mightily against flesh and blood, eyes fixed on the here and now, desperate for a power that is frivolous and fleeting. Lingering at the intersection of real cultural displacement and perceived religious persecution, Alberta portrays a rapidly secularizing America that has come to distrust the evangelical church, and weaves together present-day narratives of individual pastors and their churches as they confront the twin challenges of lost status and diminished standing. <p><p> Sifting through the wreckage—pastors broken, congregations battered, believers losing their religion because of sex scandals and political schemes—Alberta asks: If the American evangelical movement has ceased to glorify God, what is its purpose? <p> <b>New York Times Bestseller</b>
The Kinsey Institute: The First Seventy Years (Well House Bks.)
by Judith A. Allen Andrew Clark-Huckstep Brandon J. Hill Hallimeda E. Allinson Liana Zhou Stephanie A. SandersAn in-depth history of Alfred Kinsey&’s groundbreaking Institute for Sex Research and the cultural awakening it inspired in America—&“it has no rival&” (Angus McLaren). While teaching a course on Marriage and Family at Indiana University, biologist Alfred Kinsey noticed a surprising dearth of scientific literature on human sexuality. He immediately began conducting his own research into this important yet neglected field of inquiry, and in 1947, founded the Institute for Sex Research as a firewall against those who opposed his work on moral grounds. His frank and dispassionate research shocked America with the hidden truths of our own sex lives, and his two groundbreaking reports —Sexual Behavior in the Human Male (1948) and Sexual Behavior in the Human Female (1953)—both became New York Times bestsellers. In The Kinsey Institute: The First Seventy Years, Judith A. Allen and her coauthors provide an in-depth history of Kinsey&’s groundbreaking work and explore how the Institute has continued to make an impact on our culture. Covering the early years of the Institute through the &“Sexual Revolution,&” into the AIDS pandemic of the Reagan era, and on into the &“internet hook-up&” culture of today, the book illuminates the Institute&’s enduring importance to society.
The Kissing Bug: A True Story Of A Parasite And A Nation's Neglect Of A Deadly Disease
by Daisy HernándezWinner of the PEN/Jean Stein Book Award National Book Foundation Science + Literature Selection Finalist for New American Voices Award and Lammy Award for Bisexual Nonfiction A TIME, NPR, Chicago Public Library, Science for the People, WYNC, WBUR Radio Boston, and The Stacks Podcast Best Book of the Year Longlisted for the PEN Open Book Award As heard on Fresh Air Growing up in a New Jersey factory town in the 1980s, Daisy Hernández believed that her aunt had become deathly ill from eating an apple. No one in her family, in either the United States or Colombia, spoke of infectious diseases. Even into her thirties, she only knew that her aunt had died of Chagas, a rare and devastating illness that affects the heart and digestive system. But as Hernández dug deeper, she discovered that Chagas?or the kissing bug disease?is more prevalent in the United States than the Zika virus. After her aunt’s death, Hernández began searching for answers. Crisscrossing the country, she interviewed patients, doctors, epidemiologists, and even veterinarians with the Department of Defense. She learned that in the United States more than three hundred thousand people in the Latinx community have Chagas, and that outside of Latin America, this is the only country with the native insects?the “kissing bugs”?that carry the Chagas parasite. Through unsparing, gripping, and humane portraits, Hernández chronicles a story vast in scope and urgent in its implications, exposing how poverty, racism, and public policies have conspired to keep this disease hidden. A riveting and nuanced investigation into racial politics and for-profit healthcare in the United States, The Kissing Bug reveals the intimate history of a marginalized disease and connects us to the lives at the center of it all.
The Know-It-Alls: The Rise of Silicon Valley as a Political Powerhouse and Social Wrecking Ball
by Noam CohenThe world&’s tech giants are at the centre of controversies over fake news, free speech and hate speech on platforms where influence is bought and sold. Yet, at the outset, almost everyone thought the internet would be a positive, democratic force, a space where knowledge could be freely shared to enable everyone to make better-informed decisions. How did it all go so wrong? Noam Cohen reports on the tech libertarians of Silicon Valley, from the self-proclaimed geniuses Jeff Bezos, Peter Thiel, Reid Hoffman and Mark Zuckerberg to the early pioneers at Stanford University, who have not only made the internet what it is today but reshaped society in the process. It is the story of how the greed, bias and prejudice of one neighbourhood is fracturing the Western world.
The Knowledge Café: Create an Environment for Successful Knowledge Management
by Benjamin AnyachoKnowledge Café is a process for sharing information, whether face to face or virtual. This popular and practical knowledge management tool supports a culture where projects and innovation thrive.The Knowledge Café is a mindset and environment for engaging, discussing, and exchanging knowledge within a group either face to face or virtually. At the café, participants can discuss hard-to-solve project issues or resolve a family or community crisis. This metaphorical town square supports knowledge circulation and rejuvenation and increases its velocity—making it a breeding ground for innovation. The aha moments at one Knowledge Café can match the benefits of multiple conferences, workshops, and training put together.When knowledge management (KM) is part of an organization's culture, performance improves, collaboration increases, and the competitive advantage accelerates. No one can force knowledge transfer. We must create the right environment where knowledge is freely shared, rewarded, and fun. This book demonstrates why the Knowledge Café is such an effective KM tool and shows how to design optimal café experiences and increase learning agility. The premium on knowledge and agility has never been greater. This book offers a technique for managing knowledge toward the greater good. Tips; templates; practical and relatable experiences; case studies; and examples of knowledge brokers, creators, and sharers across cultures are sprinkled throughout the book to show how the café interfaces with other KM techniques and in different work and project spaces.
The Knowledge Elite and the Failure of Prophecy (Routledge Revivals)
by Eva Etzioni-HalevyFirst published in 1985, The Knowledge Elite and the Failure of Prophecy presents a demystification of the role of the Knowledge Elite, or the role many intellectuals have purported to play in modern, Western, society. The author debunks their role as self-proclaimed prophets in charge of foretelling (or ‘forecasting’ as it is more fashionably called) things to come and in charge of guiding society towards a better future – devised by themselves. Scholars who have converged on the idea of the ‘post-industrial’ society have argued that the theoretical knowledge provided by what they call the Knowledge Class has been more useful than ever in guiding society towards greater rationality, affluence, equity, and liberty. In contrast, this book presents the argument that it is precisely in these years that the benefits of the knowledge provided by intellectuals have petered out, that its dubious and even harmful effects have become more prominent, and that the knowledge provided by intellectuals has been instrumental in helping to bring about a more confused society – a society increasingly incapable of coping with its mounting problems.This is a book on intellectuals, for intellectuals, by an intellectual. It is a book of social commentary, critique, and polemic. It is designed not to please, but to challenge intellectuals and to provoke counter-critique and controversy.
The Knowledge Revolution: An Analysis of the International Brain Market and the Challenge to Europe (Routledge Revivals)
by Dimitris N. ChorafasFirst published in 1968, The Knowledge Revolution has been written to discuss Europe’s economic and cultural future against the whole background of the world market for brains. It examines the role of industry, governments, and universities in meeting the challenge of the 1970s and thereafter. The realization that a modern economy's most important capital resource is not money, raw materials or equipment but brains has been slow in coming. This fact is the kernel of the Knowledge Revolution.There has been tremendous discussion both about the brain drain and about the American “takeover” of European industries. This book is the first to treat these phenomena as merely symptoms of the basic causes of European decay. Where others have concentrated on individual aspects of the problems faced by Europe, Professor Chorafas effectively examines the whole complex picture of the European malaise. Professor Chorafas maintains that Europe must take advantage of mass production and mass markets; and he not only advocates large scale pan-European industrial co-operation but also original methods of financing it. Although his attention is directed towards the economic future, he has not ignored cultural values. The book is mainly concerned with Continental Europe, Scandinavia and the USA, but the special problems of the Middle East and the developing territories are also discussed. This important historical reference work will be of interest to statemen, industrialists, academics, economists, and civil servants.
The Knowledge of Culture and the Culture of Knowledge
by Elias G. Carayannis Ali PirzadehThe Knowledge of Culture and the Culture of Knowledge explores the construct of information and information culture and its relationship to the prevailing culture. The author provides an analysis of the relationship of media to the core constructs in the book by explaining why they have been put together to form one single idea.
The Known Economy: Romantics, Rationalists, and the Making of a World Scale (CRESC)
by Colin DanbyWhy do critics and celebrants of globalization concur that international trade and finance represent an inexorable globe-bestriding force with a single logic? The Known Economy shows that both camps rest on the same ideas about how the world is scaled. Two centuries ago romantic and rationalist theorists concurred that the world was divided into discrete nations, moving at different rates toward a "modernity", split between love and money. Though differing over whether this history is tragedy or triumph, they united in projecting an empty "international" space in which a Moloch-like global capitalism could lurk. The Known Economy tracks the colonial development of national accounting and re-examines the ways gender and heteronormativity are built in to economic representation. It re-interprets the post-WWII spread of standardized economic statistics as the project of international organizations looking over the shoulders of national governments, rather than the expanding power of national governments over populations.
The Known, the Secret, the Forgotten: A Memoir
by Joan WheelisCrafted from slivers of reminiscence and reflection, Joan Wheelis’s beautifully written memoir explores the intricacies of attachment and the perils of love and inevitable loss. We glimpse the author’s childhood in San Francisco and her relationship with her distinguished psychoanalyst parents through a series of jewel-like vignettes. She explores her past through her questions about life and the lessons her parents taught her about the existence of God, how to cut a napoleon and build a fire, and the hazards of self-deception. Into this tapestry of memory Wheelis, also a psychoanalyst, weaves profound reflections from adulthood. Wrestling with the loss of her parents, the author faces the questions of what matters and what remains of their lives. She reckons with their histories and legacies, tracing the heritage of love and conflict through the generations. As she revisits the rooms and landscapes of her past, her prose takes on the poetic logic of memory itself.
The Korean Economic Developmental Path
by Seok-Choon LewThis book defines the Korean development as the moral economy of growth derived from a synergy between strong state and strong society and argues that Confucian cultural orientation has played a critical role in the process.
The Korean Government and Public Policies in a Development Nexus
by Min Gyo Koo Huck-Ju Kwon Jongwon ChoiIn the postwar period, Korea's economic and social-political metamorphosis is a rare example of a successful transition from one of the world's poorest developing countries to a highly sophisticated industrial society--an experience which many developing countries are keen to emulate The change is particularly significant as Korea was able to reduce poverty and keep social inequality at a modest level during its rapid economic development. This volume analyzes the Korean transition in regards to the political and institutional foundation of its government and public policies The government of Korea single-mindedly carried out public policies to stimulate economic growth, but the government and public policies have themselves been affected and changed by the process The contention of this volume is that the transition of Korean society and the evolution of the Korean government are the results of two-way interactions In this context, the volume analyzes the way in which the dynamics of public administration were shaped within the Korean government and the kinds of public policies and instruments that were adopted to encourage this economic and social development This analysis will allow a more complete understanding of the economic and social transformation of Korea Surprisingly, there is a paucity of research on this aspect--a gap which this volume seeks to fill This volume shows that it is necessary to maintain consistency and coherence in government and public policy in order to achieve economic and social transformation, making it of interest to both scholars and policy-makers concerned with development in the Asia-Pacific.
The Koreas
by Charles K. ArmstrongPresenting a succinct, historically informed introduction to North and South Korea, the second edition of The Koreas considers the radically different ways these countries have dealt with the growing challenges of globalization. Since the first edition’s publication, the economic, political, and social differences have only intensified, making evident the relevancy and importance of Armstrong’s work, in understanding the Koreas now and in the future. Ultimately, The Koreas is a crisp, engaging primer of Korea and the Korean people in the contemporary world. This book is ideal for many courses in a variety of disciplines, including politics, history, international business, and Asian studies.
The KunstlerCast: Conversations with James Howard Kunstler
by Duncan CraryBased off the popular podcast, this book collects one man’s conversations with an outspoken social critic on the negative effects of the suburbs.James Howard Kunstler has been described as “one of the most outrageous commentators on the American built environment.” An outspoken critic of suburban sprawl, Kunstler is often controversial and always provocative. The KunstlerCast is based on the popular weekly podcast of the same name, which features Kunstler in dialogue with author Duncan Crary, offering a personal window into Kunstler’s worldview.Presented as a long-form conversational interview, The KunstlerCast revisits and updates all the major ideas contained in Kunstler’s body of work, including:The need to rethink current sources of transportation and energyThe failure of urban planning, architecture and industrial societyAmerica’s plastic, dysfunctional cultureThe reality of peak oilWhether sitting in the studio, strolling city streets, visiting a suburban mall or even “Happy Motoring,” the grim predictions Kunstler makes about America’s prospects are leavened by his signature sharp wit and humor. This book is rounded out by commentary, footnotes and supplemental vignettes told from the perspective of an “embedded” reporter on the Kunstler beat.Readers may or may not agree with the more dystopian of Kunstler’s visions. Regardless, The KunstlerCast is bound to inspire a great deal of thought, laughter, and hopefully, action.Praise for The KunstlerCast“A bracing dose of reality for an unreal world.” —Stephen J. Dubner, co-author of Freakonomics and SuperFreakonomics“Erudite, eloquent . . . with good humor about the hilariously grotesque North American nightmare of car-addicted suburban sprawl.” —Dmitry Orlov, author of Reinventing Collapse“Prepare to be enlightened, infuriated and amused.” —Gregory Greene, Director, The End of Suburbia“So enlightening yet casual that the reader feels like they’re eavesdropping into the den of Kunstler’s prodigious mind.” —Andrew D. Blechman, author of Leisureville
The Kyoto Manifesto for Global Economics: The Platform Of Community, Humanity, And Spirituality (Creative Economy Ser.)
by Stomu Yamash’ta Tadashi Yagi Stephen HillThis book confronts the failings of current global economics to deliver the equity, sustainability and community empowerment which humanity now needs to handle a troubled future. The volume proposes an economy built from our society, not the other way around.The Kyoto Manifesto was built, layer by layer, over a period of 4 years, based on broad-ranging international symposia held in Kyoto between 2014 and 2017, hosted by the Center for the Creative Economy, Doshisha University. Not stopping at theory and untested ideas however, the Manifesto proposes practical action that will make a difference, including in the problematic technological and ecological context of humanity’s immediate and long-term future.The book is unique and innovative for it moves adventurously across very broad territory. The Manifesto draws from world philosophic arguments, including, specifically, a critique of “liberalism”, further, exploring sociology, cultural anthropology, politics, primatology and early humanity, even quantum physics. Argument is set within mainstream post-1972 economics and political economics as well as direct practical experience working to empower disadvantaged communities through the United Nations.Most importantly, the book’s analysis is deeply informed by the practice of searching for what is “sacred”, the ultimate essence of our humanity, what we can be as a human race—empowered, fulfilled individuals, deeply sharing and caring for each other across our separate cultures and lives. Stomu Yamash’ta’s On Zen performances, set the context for the Symposia, bringing different religions and cultures together across their dividing boundaries into a coherent search for peace and harmony through sacred music. Informed by alternate cultural paradigms for economics, the book probes deeply into philosophies and practices that already exist within Eastern and Western societies, and offer lessons for our future.The result is an economics that stresses harmony with nature, and balance in social relations. It places an emphasis on community—human sharing and trust—as a platform for our future, not separate from the global economy but integrated into its very foundations. This is a book for all who care: a plan for our sustainable future built from the best of what our humanity is and can offer.
The Labor of Lunch: Why We Need Real Food and Real Jobs in American Public Schools (California Studies in Food and Culture #70)
by Jennifer E. GaddisThere’s a problem with school lunch in America. Big Food companies have largely replaced the nation’s school cooks by supplying cafeterias with cheap, precooked hamburger patties and chicken nuggets chock-full of industrial fillers. Yet it’s no secret that meals cooked from scratch with nutritious, locally sourced ingredients are better for children, workers, and the environment. So why not empower “lunch ladies” to do more than just unbox and reheat factory-made food? And why not organize together to make healthy, ethically sourced, free school lunches a reality for all children? The Labor of Lunch aims to spark a progressive movement that will transform food in American schools, and with it the lives of thousands of low-paid cafeteria workers and the millions of children they feed. By providing a feminist history of the US National School Lunch Program, Jennifer E. Gaddis recasts the humble school lunch as an important and often overlooked form of public care. Through vivid narration and moral heft, The Labor of Lunch offers a stirring call to action and a blueprint for school lunch reforms capable of delivering a healthier, more equitable, caring, and sustainable future.
The Labors of Sisyphus: Economic Development of Communist China
by Joan RolandAlmost a half century has passed since the inception of the People's Republic cf China. In that time a charismatic leader has ruled and died, leaving a wake of .Destruction in his quest to transform China. In that time, too, the PRC's most powerful ally and mentor, the Soviet Union, has dismantled and announced that jcmmunism had failed. Today, China fluctuates between tradition and modernity, ideology and pragmatism, between an antiquated collectivist ethic and a new spirit rf individualism. It is a country precariously suspended between past and future. Maria Hsia Chang's The Labors of Sisyphus is a long overdue reassessment of rie meaning and purpose of the Chinese communist revolution. In it, she discusses ihe thought of Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping, reform and its dilemmas, regionalism in greater China and autonomous areas, and nationalism. She also eyjnines China's immediate present and uncertain future. If it manages to transform economic growth into development, China--filled with natural resources and a large, capable labor force--has the potential to become a world superpower. It could also collapse under the weight of its own problems: regionalism, a flawed state sector, corruption, and a pronounced decline in state capacity. If China succeeds, an imposing new economic power will enter the global stage, one that is often arbitrary and prone to despotism and xenophobia, unless it is tempered by political reform. Prior accounts of communist China have failed to capture China's evolving present In all its complexity and variety, misrepresenting Maoist China In the process. Information shortfall was partly to blame: as recently as August 1994, the Chinese government itself decried falsification of statistics by government officials and cadres. Sinologists in the 1960s and 1970s had to approach analysis of contemporary China with clear recognition of the limitations involved and the questionable validity of the factual sources available. Maria Hsia Chang lends structure, meaning, and purpose to the very complex recent political and historical past of communist China. With greater access to more accurate information, Chang is able to analyze objectively, without political motive or intention, providing readers with a fresh look at the People's Republic. Her pathbreaking work will be of interest to scholars of international economics and politics, sinologists, and historians.