From Monthly Review, Who said Marx wasn't green? No amount of "tinkering" with the system will solve things, and, in fact, "tinkering" will increase the speed of the slide toward ecological catastrophe. Personal Choices Won't Save the Planet: All our individual efforts to limit our eco-footprints won't amount to squat if they aren't accompanied by major political action. A review of Break Through: From the Death of Environmentalism to the Politics of Possibility by Ted Nordhaus and Michael Shellenberger. Tim Flannery reviews Cool It: The Skeptical Environmentalist's Guide to Global Warming by Bjorn Lomborg. Geoengineering is the Future: The deliberate modification of the Earth's environment will receive ever more attention as the steep and unavoidable costs of mitigating carbon emissions become more obvious. Here's why.
From NYRB, They're Micromanaging Your Every Move: A review of The Social Life of Information by John Seely Brown and Paul Duguid; Bait and Switch: The (Futile) Pursuit of the American Dream by Barbara Ehrenreich; and The Culture of the New Capitalism by Richard Sennett. Don't blame Wal-Mart, we're getting what we ask for: A review of Supercapitalism The Transformation of Business, Democracy and Everyday Life by Robert Reich (and more and two interviews). The stock market is just a single indicator that often has little do with the health of a very large economy. Wall Street is not Main Street. Wherever there are problems, people look for villains. The subprime mortgage crisis is a case in point. Supply Side Bait and Switch: Politicians promoting the sham of supply-side economics are foolish, but their economic advisors should know better. Globalism and Barbie's behind: The posterior of America's favorite doll can teach your kids a lot about economics.
From ZNet, an article on The New Atheism. From Christianity Today, an article on The Future of Atheism: Damned if you don't, damned if you don't. A new issue of New English Review is out, including Theodore Dalrymple on How To Hate The Non-Existent. Daydream believers: As the numbers of artificial belief systems boom and clamour for recognition, are they close to collapsing beneath the weight of their own foolishness? Getting Religion: A review of Divided by God: America’s Church-State Problem—and What We Should Do About It, by Noah Feldman. Prisons Purging Books on Faith From Libraries: Chaplains in federal prisons have been quietly carrying out a systematic purge of religious books and materials. Legal groups putting God on the docket: Christian advocacy is flourishing as new law field for faithful. Ousted Alabama "Commandments Judge" Roy Moore is waging war on Church-State separation - - and you won't believe the far-out folks who are helping him.
