Made to Break: Technology and Obsolescence in America

Book Description

If you've replaced a computer lately--or a cell phone, a camera, a television--chances are, the old one still worked. And chances are even greater that the latest model won't last as long as the one it replaced. Welcome to the world of planned obsolescence--a business model, a way of life, and a uniquely American invention that this eye-opening book explores from its beginnings to its perilous implications for the very near future.

Made to Break is a history of twentieth-century technology as seen through the prism of obsolescence. America invented everything that is now disposable, Giles Slade tells us, and he explains how disposability was in fact a necessary condition for America's rejection of tradition and our acceptance of change and impermanence. His book shows us the ideas behind obsolescence at work in such American milestones as the inventions of branding, packaging, and advertising; the contest for market dominance between GM and Ford; the struggle for a national communications network, the development of electronic technologies--and with it the avalanche of electronic consumer waste that will overwhelm America's landfills and poison its water within the coming decade.

History reserves a privileged place for those societies that built things to last--forever, if possible. What place will it hold for a society addicted to consumption--a whole culture made to break? This book gives us a detailed and harrowing picture of how, by choosing to support ever-shorter product lives we may well be shortening the future of our way of life as well.

Customer Reviews:

Part of a Larger Story.......2007-02-05

This is the best of the "toxic tech" books in current view, by no means completely original, and certainly not the whole story. It gets five stars for its niche. In relation to other books, for example, "Natural Capitalsm," "Ecology of Commerce," "The Omnivore's Dilemma," "Pandora's Poison," any of the books on Peak Oil, and the original book on the down side of industrialization, "The Manufacture of Evil," it falls to a lower level.

What is most important is the emerging literature on "Cradle to Cradle." We should be LEASING tools and appliances with short lives. The manufacturer should--as that literature recommends--be required to take back the discarded item, and plan for upgrades that do not require the discarding of the entire unit.

An interesting look at obsolescence.......2006-10-27

Giles Slade opens this monograph with a flurry of astounding facts: in 2004, 315 million working PCs were thrown out in North America alone, and in the following year over 100 million cell phones joined them on the trashheap. That's tons of electronic equipment-larded with non-biogradable components and toxic waste-filling up garbage dumps around the world.

What drives this rush to trash? According to Slade, it obsolescence, rather than failure. Your last computer likely didn't wear out-you junked it because a faster, lighter, and spiffier one came out.

Since the Great Depression, it's been clear that consumption, rather than production, drives the economy. With America getting more efficient at producing goods, it follows that, to precent another economic downturn, someone has to convince people to buy more goods.

Slade traces the roots of "repetitive consumption back to the beginnings of branding and packaging in the middle of the 19th century. Over time, the American ethic of thrift collapsed before social pressures to buy new, rather than save the old. The first several chapters nicely sketch the cultural changes-and their underlying economic drivers-that created the annual model change. Similarly, producers began obliquely discussing "planned obsolescene." This could mean, in the case of automobiles, that the customer would decide on his own to buy a more up-to-date car in the latest model, or, in some cases, that internal components unable to be replaced would fail after a set lifespan. "Death dating" products was a controversial practice, but many in various industries (particularly consumer electronics) supported it.

The author is at his best when he is talking about the pivotal players-such as GM's Alfred Sloan and RCA's David Sarnoff-and the modern development of planned obsolescence. He also deftly handles the transition from mechanical obsolescence to psychological obsolescence-the thing that makes some people buy a new car every two years, despite the fact that their old one still works fine. Advertising and marketing efforts convinced the public that, in almost every case, newer was better. Slade uncovers just how our disposable goods, from razors to Razrs, came to be.

The book veers slightly in a chapter on "Weaponizing Obsolescence," which details a compex scheme under which American counter-espionage agents allowed the Soviets to "steal" plans for technology that was designed to fail. While it's a compelling story-you can easily see that this is a screenplay in the making-it takes the book a little off course, and might have been better as a standlone article or book in its own right. Also, there might have been more discussion of another force driving disposable electronics: rising wages and lower costs of finished goods. The parts needed to repair your broken DVD player are probably not expensive, but buying an hour of a trained mechanic's time to repair it is likely more than the original cost. Therefore, it makes more sense to throw it out and buy anew than to get it fixed. Surely, that's got just as much to do with the rise of disposabiltiy as clever marketing.

All in all, this is a good book that raises many troubling questions, particuarly this one: what are we going to do with all of our "obsolete" trash? I recommend it for anyone who's interested in the history of technology, the economy, or consumer electronics.

Smart, engaging history.......2006-10-14

This book ain't perfect. Slade neglects to carefully distinguish planned obsolescence from other sorts. And the Cold War chapter really doesn't belong in the book. But there are no conspiracy theories here; the only conspiracy in Slade's argument is the profit motive. That is, to the extent that selling products with a short lifespan is more profitable than the alternative, companies will seek to do it. Far from being a lunatic "theory," this is marketing 101. And Slade -- as Vance Packard did before him -- documents it with the words of marketers themselves.

Libertarians who believe that the market delivers only teddy bears and chocolates aren't going to like this book. But for the rest of us, it's an engaging, critical look at how we got to a place where $400 music players and fancy cell phones have become throwaway items.

Made to Mislead.......2006-07-04

The title "Made to Break" evokes the impression that in some grand conspiracy of sorts the vast majority of products are purposely manufactured to fail, a notion that borders on an urban legend. Giles Slade, billed as an "independent scholar", seems to have started with this premise and then gone in search of support for it. He finds possible clues for variants of this premise in 1920's and 30's business writing but little evidence for any organized, widespread and purposeful manufacturing of modern products so they will break in a short period of time (page 79). Upon failing to find a strong case of what he is looking for, he dismisses arguments to the contrary and assumes it happens anyway (page 81). Failing to show planned physical obsolescence by programmed product failure, he next appeals to the concept of "planned psychological obsolescence". He then blames advertising for whipping consumers into a habitual buying frenzy, a case that has been made by many previous critics of our consumer culture. Of course, there's nothing at all new or particularly revealing in his accusation.

Only the very last 20 pages of the book (261-281) are devoted to e-waste despite the cover graphic's come on. This isn't even enough coverage to make for a good magazine article. A little planned false advertising maybe? Also interesting to note is that the cover photo shows a shipping container of computer monitors that appear ready for landfill disposal where they will proceed to poison all our water, according to Slade's book at least. Until, that is, you accidentally read the photo credit and caption (in very small print by the way) on the inside back of the jacket cover: "The monitors are bound for China where they will be recycled into televisions".

Not surprisingly, Slade is somewhat disposed toward conspiracy theories. He devotes 33 pages to interesting but largely irrelevant spy stories (pages 227-260), sixty-five percent more pages than to the e-waste issue. Of course like any good "C" theorist, he had already talked about the Masons (page 72).

So at a minimum, the title "Made to Break" is somewhat misleading, perhaps purposely so in order to increase sales of the book. But more unsettling to me is that I believe the book is less than totally honest, a pretty harsh criticism that I make only after considerable thought. Let me give only a few of many examples.

Slade makes no mention of the many authors before him, Tenner's "Why Technology Bites Back" and Doner's "The Logic of Failure" for example, who have discussed how product failure stimulates progress and invention and that the complexity of modern products makes some failures virtually inevitable. Even with the best of intentions, we simply cannot make a perfect design the first time out or even the third time out for that matter. And there is no mention whatsoever of Rathje and Murphy's well researched book "Rubbish". "Rubbish" is a wonderful account of the science of garbage, especially the landfill issues Slade so exaggerates.

Citing no evidence at all, Slade on page 37 says that the model T's reliability was greater than any non-luxury car before or since! Hmmm? Hard to believe he's not aware of the 200,000 mile Datsun pickups, Hondas, Volkswagens and Subarus, one of which I owned? He also mentions on page 67 that a 1932 article in "Fortune" magazine "marked the first time that obsolescence was used to describe the social reality that human workers could be replaced by machines". Amazingly, Slade fails to make any mention whatsoever of the English Luddites of 1811 who often destroyed textile machinery in their revolt against being displaced by these same machines. And in America, the folk song John Henry is about the contest between man and machine, among other things of course. Such misstatement of historical fact is not easy to overlook.

According to Slade, ancient Egyptians made monuments to last for generation whereas North Americans make just about everything to break. Forget that the pyramids were built by slaves for a monarchy of indescribable wealth and that their graves were filled with tons of gold artifacts (disposable?). And what about Buddhist temples that are purposely made of wood and meant to be replaced as a symbol of our impermanence? If Slade is going to invoke cross-cultural comparisons to bolster his argument he should at least be accurate and not so selective in his use of historical factoids.

And Slade has a hard time distinguishing between innovation, invention, creativity and "psychological obsolescence". On pages 54 and 55 he opines that new music makes older music psychologically obsolete, new books make older stories obsolete, new movies make older movies obsolete, etc. And, get this, the makers of movies, books and music actually plan to do this. Planned psychological obsolescence exposed! I get the impression that if Slade had his way we would all be watching 1939's "Gone with the Wind" over and over and over and over. No "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest", no "Brazil", no "Finding Nemo" since it was clearly planned obsolescence that spawned these wasteful products. And "War and Peace" would be the last novel we ever needed. Think of all the paper we could have saved. You get the picture. I cringe to think of the world Slade would have us live in. The word troglodyte comes to mind.

But in the end does Slade eventually redeem himself with the insightfulness of his conclusion? Well, on the very last page of the book here's his thundering conclusion regarding our plight of possibly being buried in e-waste? The solution to the e-waste dilemma "must be the joint effort of informed consumers and responsive manufacturers" (page 281). Hold it, hold it! Where's my quill and parchment? I need to write that down.

The sad part is that there appears to be some interesting material in "Made to Break". Unfortunately, its veracity is not easily checked and is called into question because so many other parts of the book are factually inaccurate or misleading. It's too bad that Slade didn't use this material and his time to put together an articulate discussion of e-waste rather than producing a redundant, muddled polemic about wasteful North American consumers and sleazy, greedy manufacturers.

Slade's book is actually a disservice. A disservice because it gives the impression that our disposable culture is basically the product of bad people who "seemingly worship convenience and greed" as opposed to ancient Egyptians for whom "history reserves a privileged place because of their rich conception of the afterlife" (back cover flap). Slade's assertions and very puzzling comparison with ancient Egyptians distracts us from understanding failures as a result of system complexities and dealing with the perverse incentives in our current economic system and how we might modify them to decrease e-waste. There are much better books on this subject, McDonough and Braungart's "Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things" for example.

I bought a used copy of "Made to Break". Perhaps you should to. That way, lots of paper will be saved by preventing a second printing.

Must read Book About the Environment.......2006-05-05

Giles Slade makes clear in his new book, Made to Break: Technology and Obsolescence in America, that while American history is often portrayed as the history of innovation, it is also the history of waste. The book covers the development of our "throw-away ethic."

This book examines the issue of "planned obsolescence" and its role in causing Americans to buy more products than what they could have done if companies were more committed to quality. Planned obsolescence leads to a product having a "death date." Slade's book also looks at how such developments as annual models of cars led to consumers getting rid of good vehicles for more trendy replacements. Psychological obsolence leads to obsessive purchasing every bit as much as technological obsolescence. Both company advertising and consumer's love of the new have helped lead to an explosion in both sales of new products and also the amount of garbage that is disposed of every year.

Slade also points out how the huge increase in the number of electronic gadgets only leads to more and more potentially damaging waste products being disposed of. That is because electronic trash contains Permanent Biological Toxins (PBT's).

Slade's book contains a number of eye popping stories about the machinations of entrepreneurs and businessmen alike. This is a must read book.

To the Break of Dawn: A Freestyle on the Hip-Hop Aesthetic

Average customer rating:

Much Needed Viewpoint!
Brilliant!
Not great
So many have tried...
Blues People For A New Generation!

To the Break of Dawn: A Freestyle on the Hip-Hop Aesthetic
William Cobb
Manufacturer: NYU Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Music | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

History & Criticism | Music | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 0814716709
Release Date: 2007-02-01

Book Description

View the Table of Contents. Read the Introduction.

SEE ALSO: Pimps Up, Ho's Down: Hip Hop's Hold on Young Black Women by T. Denean Sharpley-Whiting.

Upon finishing To The Break of Dawn any objective fan will acknowledge that Cobb has done a commendable job in chronicling rap's evolution and explaining its multiple influences and impact.”
—City Paper <

“ To the Break of Dawn dissects the evolution of hip hop lyricism from its most primitive beginnings to its current manifestation as a global phenomenon. Author Jelani Cobb examines issues of race, geography, genre and bravado in this overview of hip hop's lyrical art. Covering words from B.I.G., Cube, Obie Trice and Pimp C, Cobb offers an intellectual and up-to-date report on hip hop's most powerful element.”
—The Source Magazine

“What makes William Jelani Cobb's To the Break of Dawn so refreshing is that it centers on what hip-hop is, rather than on what it does. Eschewing the common practice of treating rap lyrics as just another way to talk about race, politics or the self, Cobb treats them as art. His aim is ambitious: to articulate hip-hop's aesthetic principles while tracing its roots back to the `ancestral poetic and musical traditions' of black oral culture, from Sunday sermons to gut-bucket blues. To the Break of Dawn celebrates lyrical invention, the artists and even the particular rhymes that make hip-hop great. For the uninitiated, it is Hip-Hop 101, offering a rich overview of rap's verbal artistry. For the aficionado, it alternately affirms and challenges deeply held beliefs of what is valuable in hip-hop.”
—Washington Post Book World

”On literally every page [Cobb] displays a tremendous command of language and history as he `examines the aesthetic, stylistic, and thematic evolution of hip hop from its inception in the South Bronx to the present era.' But make no mistake: this groundbreaking work is an artfully constructed and vividly written look at `the artistic evolution of rap music and its relationship to earlier forms of black expression.' Much of the book's pleasure also comes from Cobb's ability to `freestyle' serious and humorous insights-from how artists such as Tupac and Nas sometimes `stepped outside the conventions of hip-hop to pen sympathetic narratives about the sexual exploitation of young women,' to how LL Cool J's pioneering `I Need a Beat' sounded `like he'd raided every entry in an SAT book.' “
—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“Vital stuff for hip hop fans eager to know more about their favorite cultural idiom's development and underpinnings.”
—Booklist

“At a time when academics are just beginning to recognize hip hop as a legitimate form, William Jelani Cobb, a child of rap himself, brings an unparalleled level of understanding to the music. His historically informed yet hip-to-the-tip viewpoint roots readers in the art form rather than the hype.”
—Chuck D

"With poetic passion and surgical precision, William Jelani Cobb's engaging exploration of the hip hop aesthetic lovingly demonstrates that, when it comes to beats and rhymes, the beauty of the (bass) god resides in the details."
—Joan Morgan, author of When Chickenheads Come Home to Roost

“Finally, a hip hop study that captures the verve and swagger that marked the work of our critical forebears Albert Murray and Amiri Baraka. In his brilliant new tome, William Jelani Cobb bridges the gap between the majesty of the blues and the gully regality of hip hop.”
—Mark Anthony Neal, author of New Black Man

"Wow! To the Break of Dawn is a crucial contribution to hip hop history. I'm thrilled that William Jelani Cobb has documented hip hop's relationship to the blues. If you want to truly understand how hip hop was born, read this book."
—MC Lyte

"To the Break of Dawn tells the serious story of hip hop's artistic roots, and in the process revels in the great MCs who stand at the crossroads of music and literature. In a crowded field of hip hop scholars, pundits, and journalists, To the Break of Dawn puts William Jelani Cobb way out in front."
—Ta-Nehisi Coates

”Upon finishing To the Break of Dawn, any objective fan will acknowledge that Cobb has done a commendable job in chronicling rap's evolution and explaining its multiple influences and impact. Here's a fresh look at a music that continues to electrify, confound, alienate, and fascinate.”
—Nashville City Paper

He'll idle with some prelim scratches to let the crowd know what's coming next. And if his boy got skills enough, if the verbal game is tight enough, that right there will be the kinetic moment, that blessed split-second when beat meets rhyme.

With roots that stretch from West Africa through the black pulpit, hip-hop emerged in the streets of the South Bronx in the 1970s and has spread to the farthest corners of the earth. To the Break of Dawn uniquely examines this freestyle verbal artistry on its own terms. A kid from Queens who spent his youth at the epicenter of this new art form, music critic William Jelani Cobb takes readers inside the beats, the lyrics, and the flow of hip-hop, separating mere corporate rappers from the creative MCs that forged the art in the crucible of the street jam.

The four pillars of hip hop—break dancing, graffiti art, deejaying, and rapping—find their origins in traditions as diverse as the Afro-Brazilian martial art Capoeira and Caribbean immigrants' turnstile artistry. Tracing hip-hop's relationship to ancestral forms of expression, Cobb explores the cultural and literary elements that are at its core. From KRS-One and Notorious B.I.G. to Tupac Shakur and Lauryn Hill, he profiles MCs who were pivotal to the rise of the genre, verbal artists whose lineage runs back to the black preacher and the bluesman.

Unlike books that focus on hip-hop as a social movement or a commercial phenomenon, To the Break of Dawn tracks the music's aesthetic, stylistic, and thematic evolution from its inception to today's distinctly regional sub-divisions and styles. Written with an insider's ear, the book illuminates hip-hop's innovations in a freestyle form that speaks to both aficionados and newcomers to the art.

Customer Reviews:

Much Needed Viewpoint!.......2007-06-27

In my opinion, the :Hip Hop experience is the most recent expression of the "African-American musical idiom" which was injected into the veins of American music when the frist African arrived on the North American shores. This author is correct in suggesting that "hip hop(has been dropped) into the vast well of commercial mediocrity (where it has been" diluted and altered in way to apeal to a wider public...'Eileen Southern) and that new and more facinating "musical innovations...are sure to come." When will the pilfering end???????

Brilliant!.......2007-03-22

I'm tired. I just watched SAVING PRIVATE RYAN for the first time ever. It's April 1, 2007 and unfortunately, this is NOT an April fools joke. The movie was ok, I guess. Too much on the valour and sacrfice of our great American fathers. "Freedom". yeah. "Freeing the world from Tyranny". Yeah, ok. Thankfully, V FOR VENDETTA comes on in about an hour and I get to watch a REAL cartoon hero. Enough on WWII. America didn't want Blacks to fight because they didn't want Blacks to get a taste of what it would feel like to kill white men. My brothers: don't ya'll still wish THAT was in effect? We wouldn't have lost so many in Vietnam and we wouldn't be losing so many in Bagdad. We could all pull Stepin Fetchits and shake our heads in grim remorse as our white countrymen came home in bodybags and limbless. But no, we hafta prove our "full equality" which is absurd-- the whole thing, really. Fighting for a country that enslaved you (that under the guise of freedom too, I might add) and scamper for the back of the bus... where in the world am i going with this? I have no idea. Like I said/wrote, I'm tired. This is now my third attempt to rate and review this book and the other two attempts were about the book so I've given up on that. Thought I'd just write a rant. If this don't make it, I won't be so upset. At least it's a non-sequitur. It has an exuse for not making it. The other two were just poorly written. And when is anybody ever penalized for that? Buy this book ya'll. It's great. Oops. Maybe I just pushed my luck...

Not great.......2007-03-04

On page 10, Jelani Cobb lists several other works on hip hop, including Chang's _Can't Stop, Won't Stop_, Neal and Foreman's _That's the Joint_, and Rose's hugely influential _Black Noise_. In doing so, Jelani Cobb seems to hope that _To the Break of Dawn_ will build upon the important work these other authors have contributed to rap and hip hop scholarship. It doesn't come close.

Unfortunately, _To the Break of Dawn_ lacks the originality and sophistication of these other works. The connections Jelani Cobb draws between the rapper and the bluesman, for example, are not at all new, nor are his attempts to identify other important antecedents of rap music. (David Toop's _Rap Attack_ still sets the standard for teasing out the multifaceted and complex lineage of rap.) And while Jelani Cobb's chronology of the changes in rap music is admittedly on-point and helpful, he never offers any insightful analysis to back it up. For example, during his discussion of the importance of comparison in rap lyrics, he cites the following Big Pun rhyme: "The prerogative to chase girls who look provocative / Terror Squad rock ice whiter than Yugoslavians." Then he follows up with this devastating piece of analysis: "In doing so he [Big Pun] deliberately compared the clarity of his diamonds with the fair skin of Eastern Europeans." Unfortunately, this is about as good as it gets. What Jelani Cobb fails to realize is that in 2007, most people---certainly those who would buy his book---don't need this kind of simple translation anymore. It's surprising that an academic wouldn't (or couldn't) take things to a higher level.

That said, this book might be a useful primer for a middle school student who likes rap but doesn't know much about it or for a curious parent who wants to know more about what his or her child is listening to. But for rap fans who have a basic understanding of the genre and its history, this isn't going to add anything new.

As a final point, the book wasn't edited particularly well. The index is misnumbered in places, and I circled at least a few typos during my first read-through. This is hardly Jelani Cobb's fault, but these problems made an already disappointing experience a little more so.

So many have tried..........2007-02-21

William Jelani Cobb actually succeeds in breaking down true hip hop for a few simple reasons:

1) He's one of the best cultural writers we have out there (see his Essence contributions as an example)
2) He's not afraid to speak truth (and not feestyle with multi-syllable words in order to create an uppity hip hop theory that excludes the very members of its group)
3) He is a child of hip hop, like Chuck D. said.

If you're tired of people trying to grind hip hop's meaning down to a minutae of a granule of a spray paint residue with their overly academic hypothesis and their inability to actually pick up a De La Soul CD and listen to the music, then you need this book.

Down with the posers.

Blues People For A New Generation!.......2007-02-20

What William Jelani Cobb does with "To The Break of Dawn" is very similar to what the great writer/author and music critic Amiri Baraka did in 1963 with his earth shattering book, Blues People. Cobb's focus on the aesthetics in hip hop, as seen primarily through its lyrics, and its connection to the African American musical continuum arrives not a moment too soon. As every other car commercial and sports endeavor welcomes hip hop as its soundtrack of commerce, Cobb reminds us that this music emerges from people who were once commodities themselves. The experience of dehumanization created the unique aesthetic of Black music in America and despite the diamond grillz and the posh Atlanta estates "To The Break of Dawn" asserts and proves that rap music still pays homage to field shouts and work songs.

Cobb's credentials as historian and social critic serve the reader well as he connects the dots between American history and hip hop aesthetics, but the reader is best served by Cobb's clear love of hip hop, his personal knowledge of the music as kid from Queens, and his adroit and clear writing style. One need not be a member of a historical society to enjoy "To The Break of Dawn." Cobb's clear, funny and incisive prose makes this a book that everybody, from dad in the den listening to old school Bobby Womack to the kid in the basement listening to the best of the dirty south, can understand and more importantly enjoy.

Where the Sea Breaks Its Back: The Epic Story of Early Naturalist Georg Steller and the Russian Exploration of Alaska

Average customer rating:

Dynamic as the Bering Sea
Ford scores a home run.
A great account of the first explorers to discover Alaska.
Great adventure book

Where the Sea Breaks Its Back: The Epic Story of Early Naturalist Georg Steller and the Russian Exploration of Alaska
Corey Ford
Manufacturer: Alaska Northwest Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

Japan | Asia | History | Subjects | Books

Russia | History | Subjects | Books

General | World | History | Subjects | Books

Travel | Writing | Reference | Subjects | Books

Natural History | Nature & Ecology | Science | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 088240394X

Book Description

Author Corey Ford documents the moving story of naturalist Georg Steller, who served on the 1741-42 Russian Alaska expedition with explorer Vitus Bering.

Customer Reviews:

Dynamic as the Bering Sea.......2007-10-01

Great historical read of the Russian Bering/Stellar voyage to Alaska. Corey Ford's writing is vivid, flowing, has first hand knowledge of the Bering Sea islands, gifted nature writer. I've given this book as a must read to several friends.

Ford scores a home run........2001-08-29

This was a terrific story about the quest to find what is now Alaska. It gives insight into just how courageous these early exployers were. I can't comprehend of enduring those sort of hardships. Ford is also a good biologist and gives interesting commentary on the animal life. He also describes what may have been the first observation of a diving reflex in a marine mammal, the now extinct Northern sea cow. If you read this, it would be hard to complain about our current quality of life.

A great account of the first explorers to discover Alaska........1998-11-06

A true account of Vitus Bering's voyage from Russia to discover what is now Alaska. Anyone interested in the history of Alaska should start by reading this book, or someone looking for an actual true life adventure story that makes one appreciate the dangers encounted in the 1700's by these amazing explorers. This book is written from the journals of Georg Stellar, the naturalist on-board the boat that discovered Alaska. The first written account and identification of many species that Stellar discovered and writes about in his journals. One of which is extinct today and his writings are the only account of the massive Stellar Sea Cow. A fabulous account of these adventurors and their interaction with the beautiful, but deadly, Alaska coast and it's native people.

Great adventure book.......1998-08-17

Excellent story of the discovery of Alaska by the famous explorer,Vitus Bering and naturalist, Georg Steller. Combines text from Steller's extensive notes and observations of the author.

"When Race Breaks Out:" Conversations about Race and Racism in College Classrooms

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"When Race Breaks Out:" Conversations about Race and Racism in College Classrooms
Helen Fox
Manufacturer: Peter Lang Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Education | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

General | Education | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 0820449482

Book Description

"When Race Breaks Out" is a guide for instructors who want to promote more honest and informed conversations about race and racism. Based on the author's personal practice and interviews with students and faculty from a variety of disciplines, this book combines personal memoirs, advice, teaching ideas, and lively stories from college classrooms. A unique "insider's guide" to the main ideas, definitions, and opinions about race helps instructors answer students' questions and anticipate their reactions, both to the material and to each other. An annotated bibliography of over 150 articles, books, and videos with recommendations for classroom use is also included.

The Character of Nations: How Politics Makes and Breaks Prosperity, Family, and Civility

Average customer rating:

Excellent for understanding core values.
This book should be read by every American citizen.

The Character of Nations: How Politics Makes and Breaks Prosperity, Family, and Civility
Angelo M. Codevilla
Manufacturer: Basic Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

History & Theory | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Reference | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 0465082203

Customer Reviews:

Excellent for understanding core values........2005-01-15

Published in 1997, Dr. Codevilla's The Character of Nations is a prescient work that outlines the core values of a civil society. In the post 9-11 world it is necessary to stress the importance of understanding the distinct changes in the threat to U.S. security, and debunk the myths created and circulated by the ignorant and uninformed. Historically, we have viewed the threat to our national security as being associated with a government, linear in development, in accordance with well-understood rules of engagement, and an enemy whose tactics, weapons, and assets were relatively easy to detect and recognize.

Now we must consider the degree of threat from subversive domestic insurgencies disguised as special interests groups demanding `protection' via legal mandate. Striking at the very heart of morality and legality, domestic insurgent acts of self-interest such as those, which result in reverse discrimination, inequitable distribution of property, and sundry other self-serving interests are subversive to the very notion of the rule of law. "The hallmark of the politics and economics of tyranny is cronyism...Arguing about what interest group gets what is conducive neither to prosperity nor to civility...Nothing so affects economic life, civic life, or, for that matter, family and spiritual life as whether the rulers are bound by law or rule by discretion" Pp. 8-11. The Constitution provides for equitable and impartial treatment. Nowhere does it forecast a need for special protections of specific groups looking for social advancement and financial gain.

The good news is that there are a growing number of informed individuals, Dr. Codevilla included, that are willing to step forward and profess their understanding of the reality of our leniency towards sensitive issues that affect our national security for the sake of political expediency. The combined effect of "...who gets what, where, and how, and at whose expense, as well as questions about which classes of people are to be somehow `protected,' subsidized, or entitled, also naturally lead to combat" cannot be overlooked for their seriously damaging long-term ramifications for global political and economic stability and ultimately US security.

This is the best book for those ready to step-up-to-the-plate, and campaign for change that really matters in the fight for freedom.

This book should be read by every American citizen........1998-07-05

Angelo Codevilla's The Character of Nations is at once a well-written, closely argued and thoroughly documented look at how today's United States of America has made almost a 180-degree turn from the USA of de Tocqueville's time. Codevilla is at his best when he shows the contrasts between what government frowned upon a generation ago, and that is now promoted by various government programs and agencies: "The contemporary American elites ... now enjoin actions once prohibited and prohibit actions once enjoined." Things that were considered too shameful even to discuss a generation ago are now held out as worthy of tolerance and often are deemed superior to more traditional aspects of Western culture.

This volume should be read alongside Thomas Sowell's excellent book, The Vision of the Anointed. Both books show how the failed palliatives proffered by Big Government have actually tended to exacerbate the problems they were designed to solve. I was especially troubled by the account of the Los Angeles riots, where "the police absented themselves for about twenty-four hours and left store owners to defend lives and property as best they could with their own weapons." Codevilla reports that the police then handcuffed and took away hapless store owners (many of them immigrants and minorities) who they found trying to protect their property. Increasingly, law-abiding citizens are being blamed for the increase of violence we are experiencing, and judges bend over backward to release convicted criminals back into the communities which had been their prey (but not, Codevilla notes, into the communities "where judges and court officials live").

The rise in convictions for "white collar crimes," along with seared consciences over the high rate of incarceration among Black males, has led to such anomalies as persons (and their employers) being tried and convicted of "sexual harassment" for doing little more than telling an off-color joke, while convicted rapis! ts are set free because the prisons are too crowded. Persons who try to ignore race in making decisions are called "racist" by others who want everything to be judged on the basis of a person's race, gender or class. Increasingly, ordinary citizens are intimidated by an atmosphere in which those who are "successful" in life are put down while those who are "oppressed" receive large doses of government support.

Although Codevilla's book is well-reasoned and documented, I doubt sincerely that it will change very many minds. The Republicans in Washington have been unable to stand up to thrashings administered by Senator Ted Kennedy when the Republicans do not support this or that expansion of the federal government's "village." Kennedy and other sycophants of the federal leviathan call their opponents "haters" and "enemies of women and children" when they oppose further extension of government powers.

In the meantime, Samuel Frances has noted that a government that is strong enough to defend every form of human depravity is also strong enough to punish those who work for a living and are motivated by a sincere belief in God and Country. If we were ever to have to fight a war like World War II, I doubt very much that we could survive. Who would be willing to risk life and limb to defend a country where their ways are vilified and "alternative lifestyles" are subsidized and promoted in our schools?

My guess is, not enough to field a sufficient fighting force. Codevilla quotes Mario Cuomo, who decried the gun-toting "hunters who drink beer, don't vote and lie to their wives about where they were all weekend." Remember, these are not criminals he is describing, but rather folks who work hard to make an honest living so they can support their families, while being required to shoulder an ever-increasing portion of the tax burden so that others who do not work can receive an after-tax income in excess of their own.

Codevilla h! as done a great service by showing how, historically, declines in civility and centralization of government power have destroyed once-great civilizations. Americans believe they are invincible. Some would argue that America is a "plum ripe for the picking."

Customer Reviews:

What an eye opener!.......2005-11-30

One of the things I like about this book is that instead of diminishing the role of men it points out their importance. It also shows government policies can make a big difference in the lives of children. It is full of shocking statistics. Did you know that 27% of kids don't graduate high school? That Medicare will pay for an 80 year old man to have bypass surgery while a poor woman cannot get free prenatal care? That if a pregnant women seeks treatment for drug addiction it is not easily available? However, once children are born prematurely or drug-addicted, society picks up a huge tab for that. Read this book and find out why and what changes the author recommends. Truly a remarkable contribution.

Great book, though a little dated.......2005-07-10

Sylvia Ann Hewlett is one of the few economists concerned with this topic. This, along with her book "The War on Families", frame the issues quite well. Read both books for the entire perspective, since this book is older... But the problems remain...

Her idea that American families suffer from both a Time Deficit and a Resource Defict is one I still use in explaining these issues. Those twin deficits are still around today, and no one seems to address them. The increasing working hours and declining social services are not current political issues... We can add to that the increasing dependence on duel incomes: where both parents HAVE to work to make what they could in previous generations.

I suggest reading these books along with Neal Postman's "The Disapperance of Childhood". That book goes into the origins of childhood and how the creation of the mass media and institutionalization threatens it.

Jackie Robinson Breaks the Color Line (Cornerstones of Freedom)

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Jackie Robinson Breaks the Color Line (Cornerstones of Freedom)
Andrew Santella
Manufacturer: Children's Press (CT)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

General | Biographies & Memoirs | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books

All 4-for-3 Deals | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books
ASIN: 0516260316

Break Dancing: Step-By-Step Instructions

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Excellent

Break Dancing: Step-By-Step Instructions
Rh Value Publishing
Manufacturer: Crescent
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Performing Arts | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 051745825X
Release Date: 1984-09-05

Customer Reviews:

Excellent.......1999-08-25

This book is a must for any break dance enthusiast or beginne

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Break Point
Michael Shea
Manufacturer: Severn House Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Action & Adventure | Genre Fiction | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

General | Thrillers | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0727857851

Book Description

Britain is on the brink of collapse: law and order has broken down; extremist vigilante gangs loyal to the Commander and the Brother roam the streets; food is scarce; the Government is helpless; no one is safe. Into this bleak and violent world comes Max Gregory, the head of a renowned US think tank, with a brief to analyse Britain's problems and to find solutions. Fired by the death of his brother (kicked to death by thugs before his eyes) and his concern for a country in which he grew up, Gregory takes up the challenge. But as he unravels the nature of Britain's unrest and the extent of American involvement in it, he becomes a prime target and, it seems, an inevitable victim.

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Cultural Breaks
Brian Aldiss
Manufacturer: Tachyon Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Anthologies | Science Fiction | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books

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Short Stories | Science Fiction | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 1892391260

Book Description

This special collection of short stories from Grand Master Brian Aldiss is being issued to coincide with his 80th birthday. Set to include such notable works as "Aboard the Beatitude," "A Man with His Mule," and "Head," the anthology will also feature commentaries from a group of his peers sharing their perspectives on this amazingly talented individual. Often compared to J. G. Ballard, Thomas Disch, and Michael Moorcock, Brian Aldiss has been referred to as "[arguably] the most significant English writer of science fiction since H. G. Wells" by the St. James Guide to Science Fiction. A prolific author, he continues to enthrall his vast fan base and attract first-time readers. Known for pushing the envelope and refusing to be confined to a particular style of writing or to specific subjects, his works encompass space exploration, time travel, historical fantasy, and even parodies of Kafka.

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