Author: Ferd Wagner
Publisher: AuthorHouse
ISBN: 1665559098
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 228
Book Description
On what basis should we accept or reject political or social philosophies that insist human nature, human wisdom and human cooperation have the potential to resolve our issues and problems if we buy into the morality espoused by liberal politics and liberal resolutions? Should we side with progressives who see most people as good, free to self-determine their own standards and will do the right thing if given the opportunity? Or with the right political and social contracts proposed by the “correct” party who see the morality of the liberal government as our correct way of achieving peace and prosperity? Should Christians have a place at the table? The challenge here and in all such debates is what constitutes acceptable moral standards and practices that accurately represent the will of the majority without denying the legal, social and moral rights of the minority? Then the question becomes how to correctly implement those standards. Here, each side should be challenged to present evidence and facts that either refute or prove the posited solutions or reforms can be validated by an acceptable objective authority or unbiased source. At this point, the debate demands proof or corroboration that the authorities being identified are trustworthy and beyond reproof. Is the authority a person, institution, document or charismatic leader and speaker? What evidence or past experiences corroborate their integrity and wisdom in dealing with the issue at hand? If you combine or spread the authority from the four different entities listed above, are you more likely to get subjective solutions based on human nature and human experience or divine solutions based on Christian theology and practice? One standard will insist that merit, integrity, honor and personal accountability is the better way to create more ethical and harmonious relationships while the other looks more towards fairness, inclusion and equality as the keys to harmony and prosperity. Here is where the rubber hits the road. Can any human, political party or institution claim superiority over all other authorities? If so, which one? In our system of government, a president and in most situations, his political party rules the roost for four years. Often, they dramatically change the moral and ethical atmosphere, refuting the direction of the preceding administration. Our checks and balances are primarily politically manipulated by the party in power and frequently are more rigged than balanced. Should our system be predicated on scriptural truth whose default is ethical accountability across the board or continue down the path where what is politically pragmatic and pluralistic enough to maintain control and power is the default? Political correctness cannot please all the people all the time. Nothing can. Which groups then should get priority; the ethical, accountable, sacrificial individuals and organizations, or the self-serving, you owe me, I deserve it groups who feel entitled to special privileges or rights? Meritocracy or hypocrisy? God’s ethics or man’s identity politics’ morality?
Politically Correct Moral Autonomy: Christianity Besieged! Stirring the Melting Pot to a Boil
Author: Ferd Wagner
Publisher: AuthorHouse
ISBN: 1665559098
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 228
Book Description
On what basis should we accept or reject political or social philosophies that insist human nature, human wisdom and human cooperation have the potential to resolve our issues and problems if we buy into the morality espoused by liberal politics and liberal resolutions? Should we side with progressives who see most people as good, free to self-determine their own standards and will do the right thing if given the opportunity? Or with the right political and social contracts proposed by the “correct” party who see the morality of the liberal government as our correct way of achieving peace and prosperity? Should Christians have a place at the table? The challenge here and in all such debates is what constitutes acceptable moral standards and practices that accurately represent the will of the majority without denying the legal, social and moral rights of the minority? Then the question becomes how to correctly implement those standards. Here, each side should be challenged to present evidence and facts that either refute or prove the posited solutions or reforms can be validated by an acceptable objective authority or unbiased source. At this point, the debate demands proof or corroboration that the authorities being identified are trustworthy and beyond reproof. Is the authority a person, institution, document or charismatic leader and speaker? What evidence or past experiences corroborate their integrity and wisdom in dealing with the issue at hand? If you combine or spread the authority from the four different entities listed above, are you more likely to get subjective solutions based on human nature and human experience or divine solutions based on Christian theology and practice? One standard will insist that merit, integrity, honor and personal accountability is the better way to create more ethical and harmonious relationships while the other looks more towards fairness, inclusion and equality as the keys to harmony and prosperity. Here is where the rubber hits the road. Can any human, political party or institution claim superiority over all other authorities? If so, which one? In our system of government, a president and in most situations, his political party rules the roost for four years. Often, they dramatically change the moral and ethical atmosphere, refuting the direction of the preceding administration. Our checks and balances are primarily politically manipulated by the party in power and frequently are more rigged than balanced. Should our system be predicated on scriptural truth whose default is ethical accountability across the board or continue down the path where what is politically pragmatic and pluralistic enough to maintain control and power is the default? Political correctness cannot please all the people all the time. Nothing can. Which groups then should get priority; the ethical, accountable, sacrificial individuals and organizations, or the self-serving, you owe me, I deserve it groups who feel entitled to special privileges or rights? Meritocracy or hypocrisy? God’s ethics or man’s identity politics’ morality?
Publisher: AuthorHouse
ISBN: 1665559098
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 228
Book Description
On what basis should we accept or reject political or social philosophies that insist human nature, human wisdom and human cooperation have the potential to resolve our issues and problems if we buy into the morality espoused by liberal politics and liberal resolutions? Should we side with progressives who see most people as good, free to self-determine their own standards and will do the right thing if given the opportunity? Or with the right political and social contracts proposed by the “correct” party who see the morality of the liberal government as our correct way of achieving peace and prosperity? Should Christians have a place at the table? The challenge here and in all such debates is what constitutes acceptable moral standards and practices that accurately represent the will of the majority without denying the legal, social and moral rights of the minority? Then the question becomes how to correctly implement those standards. Here, each side should be challenged to present evidence and facts that either refute or prove the posited solutions or reforms can be validated by an acceptable objective authority or unbiased source. At this point, the debate demands proof or corroboration that the authorities being identified are trustworthy and beyond reproof. Is the authority a person, institution, document or charismatic leader and speaker? What evidence or past experiences corroborate their integrity and wisdom in dealing with the issue at hand? If you combine or spread the authority from the four different entities listed above, are you more likely to get subjective solutions based on human nature and human experience or divine solutions based on Christian theology and practice? One standard will insist that merit, integrity, honor and personal accountability is the better way to create more ethical and harmonious relationships while the other looks more towards fairness, inclusion and equality as the keys to harmony and prosperity. Here is where the rubber hits the road. Can any human, political party or institution claim superiority over all other authorities? If so, which one? In our system of government, a president and in most situations, his political party rules the roost for four years. Often, they dramatically change the moral and ethical atmosphere, refuting the direction of the preceding administration. Our checks and balances are primarily politically manipulated by the party in power and frequently are more rigged than balanced. Should our system be predicated on scriptural truth whose default is ethical accountability across the board or continue down the path where what is politically pragmatic and pluralistic enough to maintain control and power is the default? Political correctness cannot please all the people all the time. Nothing can. Which groups then should get priority; the ethical, accountable, sacrificial individuals and organizations, or the self-serving, you owe me, I deserve it groups who feel entitled to special privileges or rights? Meritocracy or hypocrisy? God’s ethics or man’s identity politics’ morality?
The Melting-pot
Author: Israel Zangwill
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : United States
Languages : en
Pages : 238
Book Description
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : United States
Languages : en
Pages : 238
Book Description
A Patriot's History of the United States
Author: Larry Schweikart
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 1101217782
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 1373
Book Description
For the past three decades, many history professors have allowed their biases to distort the way America’s past is taught. These intellectuals have searched for instances of racism, sexism, and bigotry in our history while downplaying the greatness of America’s patriots and the achievements of “dead white men.” As a result, more emphasis is placed on Harriet Tubman than on George Washington; more about the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II than about D-Day or Iwo Jima; more on the dangers we faced from Joseph McCarthy than those we faced from Josef Stalin. A Patriot’s History of the United States corrects those doctrinaire biases. In this groundbreaking book, America’s discovery, founding, and development are reexamined with an appreciation for the elements of public virtue, personal liberty, and private property that make this nation uniquely successful. This book offers a long-overdue acknowledgment of America’s true and proud history.
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 1101217782
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 1373
Book Description
For the past three decades, many history professors have allowed their biases to distort the way America’s past is taught. These intellectuals have searched for instances of racism, sexism, and bigotry in our history while downplaying the greatness of America’s patriots and the achievements of “dead white men.” As a result, more emphasis is placed on Harriet Tubman than on George Washington; more about the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II than about D-Day or Iwo Jima; more on the dangers we faced from Joseph McCarthy than those we faced from Josef Stalin. A Patriot’s History of the United States corrects those doctrinaire biases. In this groundbreaking book, America’s discovery, founding, and development are reexamined with an appreciation for the elements of public virtue, personal liberty, and private property that make this nation uniquely successful. This book offers a long-overdue acknowledgment of America’s true and proud history.
Luxury Arts of the Renaissance
Author: Marina Belozerskaya
Publisher: Getty Publications
ISBN: 0892367857
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 292
Book Description
Today we associate the Renaissance with painting, sculpture, and architecture—the “major” arts. Yet contemporaries often held the “minor” arts—gem-studded goldwork, richly embellished armor, splendid tapestries and embroideries, music, and ephemeral multi-media spectacles—in much higher esteem. Isabella d’Este, Marchesa of Mantua, was typical of the Italian nobility: she bequeathed to her children precious stone vases mounted in gold, engraved gems, ivories, and antique bronzes and marbles; her favorite ladies-in-waiting, by contrast, received mere paintings. Renaissance patrons and observers extolled finely wrought luxury artifacts for their exquisite craftsmanship and the symbolic capital of their components; paintings and sculptures in modest materials, although discussed by some literati, were of lesser consequence. This book endeavors to return to the mainstream material long marginalized as a result of historical and ideological biases of the intervening centuries. The author analyzes how luxury arts went from being lofty markers of ascendancy and discernment in the Renaissance to being dismissed as “decorative” or “minor” arts—extravagant trinkets of the rich unworthy of the status of Art. Then, by re-examining the objects themselves and their uses in their day, she shows how sumptuous creations constructed the world and taste of Renaissance women and men.
Publisher: Getty Publications
ISBN: 0892367857
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 292
Book Description
Today we associate the Renaissance with painting, sculpture, and architecture—the “major” arts. Yet contemporaries often held the “minor” arts—gem-studded goldwork, richly embellished armor, splendid tapestries and embroideries, music, and ephemeral multi-media spectacles—in much higher esteem. Isabella d’Este, Marchesa of Mantua, was typical of the Italian nobility: she bequeathed to her children precious stone vases mounted in gold, engraved gems, ivories, and antique bronzes and marbles; her favorite ladies-in-waiting, by contrast, received mere paintings. Renaissance patrons and observers extolled finely wrought luxury artifacts for their exquisite craftsmanship and the symbolic capital of their components; paintings and sculptures in modest materials, although discussed by some literati, were of lesser consequence. This book endeavors to return to the mainstream material long marginalized as a result of historical and ideological biases of the intervening centuries. The author analyzes how luxury arts went from being lofty markers of ascendancy and discernment in the Renaissance to being dismissed as “decorative” or “minor” arts—extravagant trinkets of the rich unworthy of the status of Art. Then, by re-examining the objects themselves and their uses in their day, she shows how sumptuous creations constructed the world and taste of Renaissance women and men.
Capital as Power
Author: Jonathan Nitzan
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1134022298
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 853
Book Description
Conventional theories of capitalism are mired in a deep crisis: after centuries of debate, they are still unable to tell us what capital is. Liberals and Marxists both think of capital as an ‘economic’ entity that they count in universal units of ‘utils’ or ‘abstract labour’, respectively. But these units are totally fictitious. Nobody has ever been able to observe or measure them, and for a good reason: they don’t exist. Since liberalism and Marxism depend on these non-existing units, their theories hang in suspension. They cannot explain the process that matters most – the accumulation of capital. This book offers a radical alternative. According to the authors, capital is not a narrow economic entity, but a symbolic quantification of power. It has little to do with utility or abstract labour, and it extends far beyond machines and production lines. Capital, the authors claim, represents the organized power of dominant capital groups to reshape – or creorder – their society. Written in simple language, accessible to lay readers and experts alike, the book develops a novel political economy. It takes the reader through the history, assumptions and limitations of mainstream economics and its associated theories of politics. It examines the evolution of Marxist thinking on accumulation and the state. And it articulates an innovative theory of ‘capital as power’ and a new history of the ‘capitalist mode of power’.
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1134022298
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 853
Book Description
Conventional theories of capitalism are mired in a deep crisis: after centuries of debate, they are still unable to tell us what capital is. Liberals and Marxists both think of capital as an ‘economic’ entity that they count in universal units of ‘utils’ or ‘abstract labour’, respectively. But these units are totally fictitious. Nobody has ever been able to observe or measure them, and for a good reason: they don’t exist. Since liberalism and Marxism depend on these non-existing units, their theories hang in suspension. They cannot explain the process that matters most – the accumulation of capital. This book offers a radical alternative. According to the authors, capital is not a narrow economic entity, but a symbolic quantification of power. It has little to do with utility or abstract labour, and it extends far beyond machines and production lines. Capital, the authors claim, represents the organized power of dominant capital groups to reshape – or creorder – their society. Written in simple language, accessible to lay readers and experts alike, the book develops a novel political economy. It takes the reader through the history, assumptions and limitations of mainstream economics and its associated theories of politics. It examines the evolution of Marxist thinking on accumulation and the state. And it articulates an innovative theory of ‘capital as power’ and a new history of the ‘capitalist mode of power’.
History of the Persian Empire
Author: A. T. Olmstead
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 0226826333
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 671
Book Description
Out of a lifetime of study of the ancient Near East, Professor Olmstead has gathered previously unknown material into the story of the life, times, and thought of the Persians, told for the first time from the Persian rather than the traditional Greek point of view. "The fullest and most reliable presentation of the history of the Persian Empire in existence."—M. Rostovtzeff
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 0226826333
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 671
Book Description
Out of a lifetime of study of the ancient Near East, Professor Olmstead has gathered previously unknown material into the story of the life, times, and thought of the Persians, told for the first time from the Persian rather than the traditional Greek point of view. "The fullest and most reliable presentation of the history of the Persian Empire in existence."—M. Rostovtzeff
The Emperor Constantine
Author: Michael Grant
Publisher: Hachette UK
ISBN: 1780222807
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 218
Book Description
A study of one of the ancient world's most fascinating figures. Fascinating and readable biography by a great populariser of classical civilisation. Directly responsible for momentous transformations of the Imperial scene, Constantine will always be famous as the 1st Christian Emperor of Rome, and for refounding ancient Byzantium as Constantinople - events which rank amongst the most significant in history. In art, politics, economics and particularly in religion, the life of Constantine acts as a bridge between past and present. Was he the last notable Roman Emperor, or the first medieval monarch ? Was the Great convert a saint and hero, or should we regard him as a murderer who killed his wife, his eldest son , and many of his friends to further his own ambitions? These are just some of the issues that are raised in this stimulating biography.
Publisher: Hachette UK
ISBN: 1780222807
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 218
Book Description
A study of one of the ancient world's most fascinating figures. Fascinating and readable biography by a great populariser of classical civilisation. Directly responsible for momentous transformations of the Imperial scene, Constantine will always be famous as the 1st Christian Emperor of Rome, and for refounding ancient Byzantium as Constantinople - events which rank amongst the most significant in history. In art, politics, economics and particularly in religion, the life of Constantine acts as a bridge between past and present. Was he the last notable Roman Emperor, or the first medieval monarch ? Was the Great convert a saint and hero, or should we regard him as a murderer who killed his wife, his eldest son , and many of his friends to further his own ambitions? These are just some of the issues that are raised in this stimulating biography.
Abrahamic Faiths, Ethnicity, and Ethnic Conflicts
Author: Paul Peachey
Publisher: CRVP
ISBN: 9781565181045
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 290
Book Description
"This study of religions is concerned with the tension which can be generated from these sources and the resources which religions bring to their resolution. Especially it looks to the common Abrahamic roots of the three "religions of the book": Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Throughout it looks for the complex dialects of unity in diversity, and diversity in unity."
Publisher: CRVP
ISBN: 9781565181045
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 290
Book Description
"This study of religions is concerned with the tension which can be generated from these sources and the resources which religions bring to their resolution. Especially it looks to the common Abrahamic roots of the three "religions of the book": Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Throughout it looks for the complex dialects of unity in diversity, and diversity in unity."
An American Utopia
Author: Fredric Jameson
Publisher: Verso Books
ISBN: 1784784540
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 337
Book Description
Controversial manifesto by acclaimed cultural theorist debated by leading writers Fredric Jameson’s pathbreaking essay “An American Utopia” radically questions standard leftist notions of what constitutes an emancipated society. Advocated here are—among other things—universal conscription, the full acknowledgment of envy and resentment as a fundamental challenge to any communist society, and the acceptance that the division between work and leisure cannot be overcome. To create a new world, we must first change the way we envision the world. Jameson’s text is ideally placed to trigger a debate on the alternatives to global capitalism. In addition to Jameson’s essay, the volume includes responses from philosophers and political and cultural analysts, as well as an epilogue from Jameson himself. Many will be appalled at what they will encounter in these pages—there will be blood! But perhaps one has to spill such (ideological) blood to give the Left a chance. Contributing are Kim Stanley Robinson, Jodi Dean, Saroj Giri, Agon Hamza, Kojin Karatani, Frank Ruda, Alberto Toscano, Kathi Weeks, and Slavoj Žižek.
Publisher: Verso Books
ISBN: 1784784540
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 337
Book Description
Controversial manifesto by acclaimed cultural theorist debated by leading writers Fredric Jameson’s pathbreaking essay “An American Utopia” radically questions standard leftist notions of what constitutes an emancipated society. Advocated here are—among other things—universal conscription, the full acknowledgment of envy and resentment as a fundamental challenge to any communist society, and the acceptance that the division between work and leisure cannot be overcome. To create a new world, we must first change the way we envision the world. Jameson’s text is ideally placed to trigger a debate on the alternatives to global capitalism. In addition to Jameson’s essay, the volume includes responses from philosophers and political and cultural analysts, as well as an epilogue from Jameson himself. Many will be appalled at what they will encounter in these pages—there will be blood! But perhaps one has to spill such (ideological) blood to give the Left a chance. Contributing are Kim Stanley Robinson, Jodi Dean, Saroj Giri, Agon Hamza, Kojin Karatani, Frank Ruda, Alberto Toscano, Kathi Weeks, and Slavoj Žižek.
The Age of Surveillance Capitalism
Author: Shoshana Zuboff
Publisher: PublicAffairs
ISBN: 1610395700
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 683
Book Description
The challenges to humanity posed by the digital future, the first detailed examination of the unprecedented form of power called "surveillance capitalism," and the quest by powerful corporations to predict and control our behavior. In this masterwork of original thinking and research, Shoshana Zuboff provides startling insights into the phenomenon that she has named surveillance capitalism. The stakes could not be higher: a global architecture of behavior modification threatens human nature in the twenty-first century just as industrial capitalism disfigured the natural world in the twentieth. Zuboff vividly brings to life the consequences as surveillance capitalism advances from Silicon Valley into every economic sector. Vast wealth and power are accumulated in ominous new "behavioral futures markets," where predictions about our behavior are bought and sold, and the production of goods and services is subordinated to a new "means of behavioral modification." The threat has shifted from a totalitarian Big Brother state to a ubiquitous digital architecture: a "Big Other" operating in the interests of surveillance capital. Here is the crucible of an unprecedented form of power marked by extreme concentrations of knowledge and free from democratic oversight. Zuboff's comprehensive and moving analysis lays bare the threats to twenty-first century society: a controlled "hive" of total connection that seduces with promises of total certainty for maximum profit -- at the expense of democracy, freedom, and our human future. With little resistance from law or society, surveillance capitalism is on the verge of dominating the social order and shaping the digital future -- if we let it.
Publisher: PublicAffairs
ISBN: 1610395700
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 683
Book Description
The challenges to humanity posed by the digital future, the first detailed examination of the unprecedented form of power called "surveillance capitalism," and the quest by powerful corporations to predict and control our behavior. In this masterwork of original thinking and research, Shoshana Zuboff provides startling insights into the phenomenon that she has named surveillance capitalism. The stakes could not be higher: a global architecture of behavior modification threatens human nature in the twenty-first century just as industrial capitalism disfigured the natural world in the twentieth. Zuboff vividly brings to life the consequences as surveillance capitalism advances from Silicon Valley into every economic sector. Vast wealth and power are accumulated in ominous new "behavioral futures markets," where predictions about our behavior are bought and sold, and the production of goods and services is subordinated to a new "means of behavioral modification." The threat has shifted from a totalitarian Big Brother state to a ubiquitous digital architecture: a "Big Other" operating in the interests of surveillance capital. Here is the crucible of an unprecedented form of power marked by extreme concentrations of knowledge and free from democratic oversight. Zuboff's comprehensive and moving analysis lays bare the threats to twenty-first century society: a controlled "hive" of total connection that seduces with promises of total certainty for maximum profit -- at the expense of democracy, freedom, and our human future. With little resistance from law or society, surveillance capitalism is on the verge of dominating the social order and shaping the digital future -- if we let it.