It
was in 2000 or thereabouts that I first started to feel that the world had
taken a wrong turning – a short paper called Guide
for the Perplexed captured these thoughts….
The
global economic crisis of 2008 just confirmed those initial feelings. It was at
this stage I started the blog – using it to record notes on my readings.
Then
one day, I had the bright idea to gather the posts in one file – just to see if
there was an underlying pattern which might be of wider interest…In 2015, this
was a 115 page file called Ways
of Seeing…the global crisis – which consisted mainly of a critique of our
political and intellectual elites. But it was a couple of years later before I realised
how
badly served we were by most books on the crisis and when I started to
develop my own annotated list of the key books – which suggested that the “crisis”
actually began in the 1970s…That’s a list with almost 100 books – which you
will find in Part II of Dispatches to the next
generation – the short version.
As
the book has developed more or less of its own accord, it is about time for it
to be given some aims – against which it might better be edited. And I have not
forgotten the advice I have given to authors (and publishers) about
needing powerful arguments to convince us that yet another book should be
inflicted upon them
So,
rather belatedly, here are the reasons why I offer the book
- It puts the
crisis in its proper context – social, historical and moral
- It is clearly written
- Its guided hyperlinks allow you to select the
further reading which seems appropriate eg this
unique list of books worth reading
- It's written by someone who understands your uncertainties
and confusions
- you can use the book lists to make you appear more knowledgeable!
Let
me try to persuade you it’s worth dipping into -
PART I
I
love what I imagine was the Victorian habit of giving sub-titles to their book
chapters which offered explanations of what the reader might reasonably expect
to find in them. And I’ve discovered that they are a good discipline for anyone
trying to edit his own text……… In this next section therefore –
-
An indictment is read
-
Different ways of looking at the world are sketched out
-
Some explanations are offered for our discord
-
The scale of moral collapse and greed is exposed
-
A staircase tale about the devil is recounted
-
It is suggested that Management and Economics have become the new religion
-
A letter to the Younger Generation is discovered
-
History is revenged
Title
|
Tags
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Bottom line?
|
|
Seeking
the common ground
|
How
I saw the world in 2014
|
|
Frame
analysis, tropes, memes,
|
Different
ways we try to make sense of the world
|
|
Wicked
problems
|
Pity
no one has yet applied frame analysis to the global economic crisis
|
Corporations,
politicians, greed, lying, growth, spying, inequality
|
Has
human nature changed?
|
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Corruption,
accountability
|
A
famous Bulgarian parable
|
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The
new religion
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Management,
economics, faith
|
the high priests of
the latest religion
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Egocentricity, universities
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How ethics has been marginalised
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Hope,
mutual support, organisation
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Sound
dying words
|
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Spengler,
Toynbee
|
Explain
the significance of the table used as a frontispiece
|
In
a following post, I’ll give you a taster
for the second part of the little book – which is by way of being what the
academics call a “literature review” ie not just a list of books but brief
comments which give a sense of what sort of value it adds to the discussion..
As
I cast my critical eye over the book as a whole, I realise that although part 1
is strong on judgements, part II is probably too descriptive and insufficiently
opinionated!
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