'I think, watch and babble'

[midcan5]

One of my favorites, always worth the time. Ideology.

"So I try to write about irreducible human experience or observations (or just plain emotion, the value and importance of which has been vastly underestimated, completely discarded in fact, thanks to the worship of science and supposed rationality -- much the same as the power of free will has been vastly overstated, so that the captive masses can entertain the illusion of freedom). To the degree that I do contrive toward persuasion, I do so by using disarmingly plain language. But I don't try to sway readers. I really don't. I am simply an irrepressible loudmouth. The power of persuasion is what has gotten us into this mess, and besides, there are just too many screaming voices in this workhouse nation already."

http://www.joebageant.com/joe/2009/07/ideology-discussions-have-been-demonized.html

[ame="http://www.amazon.com/Deer-Hunting-Jesus-Dispatches-Americas/dp/0307339378/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1248871097&sr=1-1"]Amazon.com: Deer Hunting with Jesus: Dispatches from America's Class War (9780307339379): Joe Bageant: Books[/ame]

http://ten.com.au/videos.htm?channel=9AM+WITH+DAVID+AND+KIM&clipId=1427_9am_432lg1_061107

"This book is written from a changing town in Virginia, but this class of mine, these people--the ones who smell like an ashtray in the checkout line, devour a carton of Little Debbies at a sitting, and praise Jesus for a truck with no spare tire--exist in every state in our nation. Maybe the next time we on the left encounter such seemingly self-screwing, stubborn, God-obsessed folks, we can be open to their trials, understand the complexity of their situation, even have enough solidarity to pop for a cheap retread tire out of our own pockets, simply because that would be the kind thing to do and surely would make the ghosts of Joe Hill, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Mohandas Gandhi smile." Joe Bageant

 

[Cancel5]

One of my favorites, always worth the time. Ideology.

"So I try to write about irreducible human experience or observations (or just plain emotion, the value and importance of which has been vastly underestimated, completely discarded in fact, thanks to the worship of science and supposed rationality -- much the same as the power of free will has been vastly overstated, so that the captive masses can entertain the illusion of freedom). To the degree that I do contrive toward persuasion, I do so by using disarmingly plain language. But I don't try to sway readers. I really don't. I am simply an irrepressible loudmouth. The power of persuasion is what has gotten us into this mess, and besides, there are just too many screaming voices in this workhouse nation already."

http://www.joebageant.com/joe/2009/07/ideology-discussions-have-been-demonized.html

Amazon.com: Deer Hunting with Jesus: Dispatches from America's Class War (9780307339379): Joe Bageant: Books

http://ten.com.au/videos.htm?channel=9AM+WITH+DAVID+AND+KIM&clipId=1427_9am_432lg1_061107

"This book is written from a changing town in Virginia, but this class of mine, these people--the ones who smell like an ashtray in the checkout line, devour a carton of Little Debbies at a sitting, and praise Jesus for a truck with no spare tire--exist in every state in our nation. Maybe the next time we on the left encounter such seemingly self-screwing, stubborn, God-obsessed folks, we can be open to their trials, understand the complexity of their situation, even have enough solidarity to pop for a cheap retread tire out of our own pockets, simply because that would be the kind thing to do and surely would make the ghosts of Joe Hill, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Mohandas Gandhi smile." Joe Bageant

Another review, I think when I win my certificate, I will buy this book!

Ooops, try again!
*Starred Review* Bageant mixes a reporter's keen analysis, a storyteller's color, and a native son's love of his roots in this absorbing dissection of America's working poor. Returning to his hometown of Winchester, Virginia, after 30 years of life among the elite journalistic class, Bageant sought to answer the question of why the working poor vote for Republicans in apparent opposition to their own interests. On a broader level, he examines issues of economic class distinctions as he drills below the middle-class claims of his hometown. The reality is that two of five residents do not have high-school diplomas and virtually everyone over 50 has serious health problems in a town—and nation—with poor and failing schools and health systems. Still clinging to illusions of personal responsibility and the vain hope of someday achieving wealth, Winchester's residents fall deeper into debt, farther behind in ambitions beyond working in the local factory—if they're lucky—and, along with their children, subject to the de facto draft of economic conscription. Through the lives of his friends and family, Bageant explores the importance of hunting, religion, and redneck pride in what he describes as the "American hologram." A wise, tender, and acerbic look at life among America's working poor. Bush, Vanessa
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.