DC Progressive Book Club

Other Resources

2006-03-04T09:49:00.000-05:00

DISCUSSION COURSES

Globalization and Its Critics: http://www.nwei.org/pages/globalization2.html
Choices for Sustainable Living: http://www.nwei.org/pages/sustainable2.html
Voluntary Simplicity: http://www.simpleliving.net/seedsofsimplicity/simplicity_circles.asp
(Note: Debby Churchman happy to help you start one of these, if you’re interested. Contact me at dchurchm@yahoo.com)

Alternative Media and Other Resources
This list was compiled with the help of Northern Virginians for Peace and Justice, a network of peace advocates/activists and a clearinghouse for information about peace and justice groups and projects in Northern Virginia.
For more information please see: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/us-va-nova-peace/
News
WPFW, 89.3 FM: Democracy Now, 8 – 9 am M – F, and “Peace Watch,” 6-8 pm M - F; Democracy Now programs are archived at www.democracynow.org
BBC World News, channels 32 and 56 at 7 and 10 pm (avail. w/o cable); BBC programming is available online at news.bbc.co.uk
Common Dreams News Center at www.commondreams.org offers news, commentary, and extensive links to alternative news services and progressive publications online.
AlterNet: www.alternet.org (a project of the Independent Media Institute, a nonprofit organization dedicated to strengthening and supporting independent and alternative journalism).
Richmond IndyMedia: www.richmond.indymedia.org - the Richmond Independent Media Center is a grassroots news resource dedicated to covering progressive issues and events across Virginia.

Civil Liberties
NOVA REPEAL (NOrthern Virginians Associated to Restore Essential Protections and Erase Authoritarian Laws) at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/novarepeal/
American Civil Liberties Union at www.aclu.org. News and analysis concerning Patriot Act and suppression of dissent at www.aclu.org/SafeandFree/SafeandFreeMain.cfm
Bill of Rights Defense Committee at www.bordc.org. Tools and resources for local civil liberties resolutions.
Electronic Privacy Information Center at www.epic.org.. Thorough analysis of Patriot Act at www.epic.org/privacy/terrorism/usapatriot/
Center for Public Integrity at www.publicintegrity.org Includes materials on Patriot Act II.
Electronic Frontier Foundation: www.eff.org (defends rights to think, speak, and share our ideas, thoughts, and needs using new technologies, such as the Internet and the World Wide Web)

Focus on Iraq
Foreign Policy in Focus website, a project of the Institute for Policy Studies, at www.fpif.org. Analysis by scholars and journalists.
Education for Peace in Iraq Center at www.epic-usa.org. News, analysis, activist alerts.
Middle East Research and Information Project at www.merip.org. Publishes Middle East Report.
For activism and events, see United for Peace and Justice at www.unitedforpeace.org and Washington Peace Center at www.washingtonpeacecenter.org.

Analysis

Bill Moyers, “NOW,” PBS/WMPT, Channel 22 (and others)

FAIR: http://www.fair.org (FAIR, the national media watch group, has been offering well-documented criticism of media bias and censorship since 1986.)
Project Censored: http://www.projectcensored.org/publications/2003/index.html

Magazines
Dollars and Sense. Monthly. Online at www.dollarsandsense.org
In These Times. Weekly. Online at www.inthesetimes.com
Monthly Review. Monthly. Online at www.monthlyreview.org
The Progressive. Monthly. Online at www.progressive.org
Z Magazine. Monthly. Online at www.zmag.org/ZNET.htm
The Nation. Weekly. Online at www.thenation.com
Truth Out. Daily e-mail, www.truthout.org
This list was compiled with the help of Northern Virginians for Peace and Justice, a network of peace advocates/activists and a clearinghouse for information about peace and justice groups and projects in Northern Virginia.

For more information please see: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/us-va-nova-peace/

PROGRESSIVE BOOK CLUB LIST

2006-03-04T09:32:00.000-05:00

GENERAL (CORE) READING

Alperovitz, Gar, America Beyond Capitalism: Reclaiming Our Wealth, Our Liberty, and Our Democracy (John Wiley & Sons, 2005).

Korten, David C., When Corporations Rule the World (Berrett-Koehler, 2001)

Peery, Nelson, The Future Is Up to Us: A Revolutionary Talking Politics with the American People (Speakers for a New America, 2002),

Paul Rogat Loeb,, The Impossible Will Take a Little While: A Citizen's Guide to Hope in a Time of Fear (Basic Books, 2004)

GLOBALIZATION (NEO-LIBERALISM)

Faux, Jeff, The Global Class War: How Americaâ€™s Bipartisan Elite Lost Our Future and What It Will Take to Win It Back (Wiley, 2006). [Havenâ€™t read this. Just out. Sounds intriguing.]

Friedman, Tom, The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the 21st Century (Farrar, Strauss, & Giroux, 2003). [Haven't read this, either, but it's on everybody else's list.]

Hartmann, Thom, Unequal Protection: The Rise of Corporate Dominance and the Theft of Human Rights (2002)

Perkins, John, Confessions of an Economic Hit Man (Berrett-Koehler, 2004).

Saul, John Ralston, The Collapse of Globalism and the Reinvention of the World (Viking Canada, 2005)

Stiglitz, Joseph E., Globalization and Its Discontents (paperback, 2003)

RESOURCE WARS

Klare, Michael T., Resource Wars: The New Landscape of Global Conflict (Henry Holt & Co., 2002).

Klare, Michael T., Blood and Oil: The Dangers and Consequences of America's Growing Dependency on Imported Petroleum (Henry Holt & Co., 2005).

U.S. HISTORY

Peter Ackerman, Jack Duvall, A Force More Powerful: A Century of Nonviolent Conflict (Oct. 2001)

Counter, Stephanie, The Way We Never Were (about the American family), 1992, Basic Books

Zinn, Howard, A People's History of the United States: 1492-Present

US COMMON FOLK

Ehrenreich, Barbara, Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America (Henry Holt & Co., 2001).

Shipler, David K., The Working Poor: Invisible in America (Alfred A. Knoph, 2004).

Warren, Elizabeth and Amelia Warren Tyagi, The Two-Income Trap: Why Middle-Class Parents Are Going Broke (Basic Books, 2003).

Wolman, William and Anne Colamosca, The Great 401(k) Hoax: Why Your Familyâ€™s Financial Security Is at Risk, and What You Can Do About It (Basic Books, 2003).

RELIGION AND POLITICS

Wallis, Jim, God's Politics: Why the Right Gets It Wrong and the Left Doesn't Get It (HarperCollins, 2005)

GLOBALIZATION AND THE ENVIRONMENT

Enough : Staying Human in an Engineered Age (Paperback)
by Bill McKibben
Product Details
Paperback: 288 pages
Publisher: Owl Books (February 1, 2004)
Language: English
ISBN: 0805075194

Collapse : How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed (Paperback)
by Jared Diamond
Product Details
Paperback: 592 pages
Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics) (December 27, 2005)
Language: English
ISBN: 0143036556

Book Club Guidelines

2005-11-21T18:55:00.000-05:00

Here are some guidelines for our club from the founder of the Northern Virginia progressive book club:

Action-Oriented Political Book Club Guidelines

The methodology is purposively simple so it can easily be duplicated. The main elements are as follows:

A. Membership is open to new members and each member is encouraged to bring a guest and new clubs are encouraged.
B. Members select a book for discussion.
C. A portion of each meeting is reserved to discuss an action item for each member. For example, after reading Cornell West's Democracy Matters each member is going to have a purposeful conversation where they LISTEN to someone with an opposing viewpoint.
D. Report back at the beginning of the next meeting about their action assignment. In order to articulate our values and form bridges we need support. One goal is informed discussion within the democratic process.

The format of a meeting is as follows.

1) INTRODUCTIONS of each person attending. With a sentence or two about what would make this group worthwhile to you?

2) REPORT BACK actions/sharing of experiences – 15 min.

3) OVERVIEW of current book.

4) DISCUSSION FOLLOWING DIALOGUE QUIDELINES of Respect and Confidentiality so that all have a chance to talk safely, i.e. Time your comments to allow everyone the opportunity to speak before you make another point. The leader for each month is the person who has chosen the book for that month. They will want to choose a book they have some enthusiasm and energy about.

5) Take something from each book into the community/choose a special assignment: action examples:

BRING A NEW PERSON EACH MONTH
Start you own book club
Write a letter to your local newspaper.
Discuss issues with someone who may have a different viewpoint
Other special projects as suggested in the monthly meeting.

First Meeting of DC Progressive Book Club

2005-11-21T18:07:00.000-05:00

Our first meeting will be on Tuesday, January 24. We will meet at Cleveland Park Library at 7:00pm. We will discuss "When Corporations Rule the World" by David Korten. We will focus on Chapters 1-12, 18, and 22. The meeting is open to all.

Below is the feedback system that Korten describes as fundamental to the corporate regime. Its pernicious effects are found not only in physical environmental degradation, but more importantly in the degradation of our mental/cultural environment.

The feedback system:
1) ADVERTISING: assures us that products will make us whole, which leads to =>
2) BUYING THE PRODUCT: which requires more money, which leads to =>
3) QUEST FOR MONEY: which widens the gaps between ourselves, family, and community, which leads to =>
4) DEEPENING ALIENATION: which creates inner sense of social and spiritual emptiness, which leads to =>
5) ADVERTISING: back to 1) again where advertising assures us that products will make us whole. This starts the downward spiral over again.

Is Korten correct in his assessment of the corporate system? If so, how do we break this feeback loop? Or is Korten incorrect? If so, what can be proposed as a more accurate picture of the corporate system? These are some questions to contemplate as we read the book.