Customer Reviews:
Thought provoking book.......2006-08-29
A book to make you reflect and think about what went wrong in America and how to fix it. This book is great food for enlightened conversation.
Lasch and Ortega y Gasset.......2006-08-01
Having read both _The Revolt of the Elites_ recently and _The Revolt of the Masses_ several times, I am struck by previous reviewers contrasts and apparent misreadings. Ortega y Gasset argues a larger, archetypal predicament, that the supposed elites are plagued with the same lowest common denominator, mass or canned thought as everyone else is. Ortega y Gasset is writing with a slightly larger scope than Lasch and I would propose that Lasch misreads Ortega y Gasset himself and fails in his analysis. Purported 'Elites' are not an agreed upon monolith, and ostensibly those advancing the thought of Leo Strauss or, antipodally, Louis Althusser can be construed as elites. Therefore, one must respond with the criticism to Lasch of which elites are railroading democracy. I find this a simplistic indictment and far less invigorating than his excellent "The Culture of Narcissism".
The failure of ideology.......2006-07-06
In this his last book, Christopher Lasch, as so many conservative readers observe in these reviews, identifies a cultural "elite" whose scorn for all things middle American is the cause of a great rift in American society which, if left unchecked, will undo American democracy. Writing against what he perceived to be the excesses of American liberalism, Lasch manages to thoroughly and skillfully map the cultural elitism of the urban managerial caste but, it seems, his own ideological commitments become an obstacle to seeing the role of corporatist neo-Liberalism in manufacturing and exploiting the middle American "concensus" and "values" for which the coastal elites have so little regard.
Lasch did not live to see the rise of the current political regime with its numb lip-service to family values, the work ethic, religious fundamental truths and Freedom, all seemingly "natural" elements of middle American culture. But these values, like those of the cultural elites that Lasch decries, are manufactured, orchestrated by powerful forces in the media and economy that benefit from their dissemination and survival. Surely a man of Lasch's intellect could not have missed the steady shift of the government towards "values" at precisely the moment when the Neo-Liberal agenda was so thoroughly gutting the foundational underpinnings of what we then knew as American society with a purely economic, "bottom-line" rationale for its policies. His fails to see that the true ruling "elites" (those that actually rule) could painlessly embrace a stock catalogue of "social conservative" views while maintaining a status quo of massive wealth redistribution upward which ultimately is more destabilizing to our democratic project than all of the social liberalism of the coasts. Furthermore, as anyone who pays attention well knows, the cultural elite project is simultaneously repudiated and massively consumed by the middle in the form of popular entertainment and the circus of bar room-brawl politics around so-called hot button issues like abortion.
In the end, it is not the latte-drinking intellectual and social elites who will divide and destroy America, it is the greedy corporatists who, using the government they so thoroughly control, shamelessly amass corporate and personal profit while unraveling the societal network that has provided a safety net to the "average American" since the Great Depression. These new elites are a much more dangerous lot, since they operate a government that conspicuously sounds the warning bells of the decline of American society to deflect attention from their organized theft of our national patrimony and personal, economic and social security.
In other words, why should a Christian from Idaho care if her kids don't have good schools, her corporate-controled healthcare consumes an ever larger portion of her shrinking (in real dollars)income, her future employment is uncertain, she has massive and increasing debt, and even the most rudimentary public services are being privatized for corporate profit? Look the other way! Gay guys are getting married in Cambridge!
Because he fails to address corporatism's unrelenting attack on the social fabric, Lasch's work largely serves as part of the smoke screen behind which this criminal transfer of wealth takes place.
The Revolt of the Elites........2006-03-07
_The Revolt of the Elites and the Betrayal of Democracy_ by historian and sociologist Christopher Lasch is an interesting account of the situation we find ourselves in today. According to Lasch, contrary to the thesis advanced by Ortega y Gasset in _The Revolt of the Masses_, the revolt of the masses is over ending in the defeat of communism and is to be followed by a revolt of the cultural elite. Lasch advances arguments showing how we have reached a new stage of political development in America where the elite have become increasingly detached from the concerns of the common man. Unlike the elite of past ages, the former aristocracy of wealth and status, the new elite constitutes an aristocracy of merit. However, unlike in past ages, the new elite have increasingly alienated themselves from the common man. Lasch demonstrates how an increasing division between rich and poor, in which the working class has become alienated from the intellectual class of "symbolic analysts", has led to an utter sense of apathy among the American people. In addition, the values of the new intellectual class are utterly different from the values of the man in the street. While the working class is fundamentally culturally conservative (a fact which Lasch has certainly latched onto) demanding moral certainties on such issues as homosexual rights, abortion, feminism, patriotism, and religion, the intellectual class demands political correctness advocating affirmative action, feminism, homosexual liberation, and promoting a radical (or rather, pseudo-radical) agenda. Lasch seems to sympathize with the populists of old, who sought a sort of third way between the horrors of monopoly capitalism and the welfare state. Populists promoted the values of the common man, thus maintaining a cultural conservativism, while at the same time demonstrating an innate fear of bigness and far off bureaucracy. In addition, Lasch sees in communitarianism which seeks to emphasize the role of community, neighborhoods, and organic connectedness (contrary to libertarianism which emphasizes the individual at the whim of market forces and cultural pluralism) a new hope for the working class and cultural conservativism. Those who are opposed to communitarianism argue that based on previous experiments with small close knit communities (particularly emphasizing cases such as Calvin's Geneva and the New England Puritans but also small towns and neighborhoods) that these are oppressive. Obviously a balance needs to be struck; nevertheless, a re-emphasis on community and traditional values is obviously an important way to achieve improvement in human conditions. Unlike many right wing libertarians who may give lip service to "family values" but who then place the family at the whim of unfettered markets and corporate interests, Lasch argues for a restraint in order to facilitate family and community growth. Lasch shows how class remains an important division with equality of opportunity being merely a further means to oppress the working class. In addition, Lasch shows how the left uses the issue of race (extended arbitrarily to include all minorities and underprivileged - as defined by them, particularly so as to include whites) to create further difficulties for the common man, who is utterly alienated by political correctness. Lasch also argues that feminism remains an important force for the new class, because by allowing more women to enter the workforce they have achieved a situation whereby they perpetuate themselves. Lasch also turns his attention to education, showing how the modern system of compulsory education has failed, emphasizing the failures of such individuals as Horace Mann, who sought to eliminate politics from education. In addition, Lasch turns his attention to the university system, a hotbed of political correctness, multiculturalism, and postmodernist philosophies. Lasch shows how these philosophies have totally alienated any contact that universities may have with ordinary citizens, becoming more and more jargon-laden and specialized while at the same time promoting values completely contrary to those of the common man. Lasch refers to this as "academic pseudo-radicalism" to show how it differs distinctly from true radicalism, how it is fundamentally elitist, and how it further denies opportunities to the very minorities that it claims to so valiantly protect. However, unlike many of the other right wing critics of the university system, Lasch argues that corporations have continued to play a large role in the development of departments leading to a weakening of humanities programs. I found Lasch's criticisms of political correctness in the university system to be particularly cogent. While economically Lasch is opposed to unfettered capitalism, nevertheless he finds room to criticize the welfare state and government bureaucracy which promotes dependency and a culture of victimization. Lasch also shows how respect and shame have been misunderstood by the modern age. In addition, Lasch shows how a culture of narcissism has developed in this country, in which individuals have become excessively self interested and rely heavily on psychotherapies which promote self esteem and "happiness" as the highest good. Lasch also argues for a return to traditional religious values as a means for achieving hope and providing an inoculation against otherwise difficult times.
As a cultural conservative, I found Lasch's brand of populism/communitarianism to be particularly interesting. Lasch's analysis of the elites seems to make sense in light of their lack of contact with everyday reality, their lack of respect for common sense and the average person, and their lack of ties to nation and place. Our country is increasingly controlled by political elites in both parties who serve merely as tourists with little interest in America beyond what makes them money. In this respect, I believe Lasch's arguments to be particularly well thought out.
A Modern Reply to Ortega y Gasset.......2004-10-02
Christopher Lasch (1932-1994) was a historian and penetrating social critic. In his articles, essays and books, he challenged everyone - modern liberals and conservatives as well as the leftist and academic elite. While one did not have to agree with his conclusions, he was a man who always asked questions that needed to be answered, and raised issues that needed to be confronted. Politically, Lasch could probably be best described as a New Deal liberal, for he was very suspicious of both unfettered consumer capitalism and the rise of the New Left, whose goals and views he felt were in direct opposition to American values. He could also be described as a "thoughtful declinist" but one who always held out hope for the future.
In this book, Lasch's the last one published during the author's lifetime, he argued that America was not in danger from the "Revolt of the Masses" which was the title of Jose Ortega y Gasset's landmark book which was written in 1932, in the wake of the Bolshevik Revolution and the rise of Fascism, but that we are threatened by a "Revolt of the Elites." In 1994, Lasch had come to believe that the economic and cultural elite of the United States, who historically has insured the continuity of a culture, had lost faith in the traditional values that had animated and organized our culture since its inception. He saw a threat to the continuation of western civilization was not a mass revolt as envisioned by the pro-communist New Left of the 1960's, but a rejection of its liberal and pluralistic values by the educated elite that run its institutions and educate its children. Lasch's last question was an important one: can a society survive when a significant portion of its elite have forsaken its founding principles?
Book Description
This digital document is an article from Dollars & Sense, published by Economic Affairs Bureau on May 1, 1995. The length of the article is 776 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
Citation Details
Title: The Revolt of the Elites and the Betrayal of Democracy. (book reviews)
Author: Bryan Snyder
Publication:
Dollars & Sense (Newsletter)
Date: May 1, 1995
Publisher: Economic Affairs Bureau
Issue: n199
Page: p36(1)
Article Type: Book Review
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The Revolt of the Elites and the Betrayal of Democracy.: An article from: Presidential Studies Quarterly
William T. Walker
Manufacturer: Center for the Study of the Presidency
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This digital document is an article from Presidential Studies Quarterly, published by Center for the Study of the Presidency on June 22, 1997. The length of the article is 901 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
Citation Details
Title: The Revolt of the Elites and the Betrayal of Democracy.
Author: William T. Walker
Publication:
Presidential Studies Quarterly (Refereed)
Date: June 22, 1997
Publisher: Center for the Study of the Presidency
Volume: v27
Issue: n3
Page: p604(3)
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- GOOD COLLECTION OF SCHOLARLY ARTICLES ON DEFORESTATION IN THE AMAZON
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Deforestation and Land Use in the Amazon
Manufacturer: University Press of Florida
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ASIN: 081302465X |
Book Description
The Amazonian territories of Brazil, Bolivia, and Ecuador encompass nearly half of the world's remaining tropical rainforest and contain a wealth of biodiversity whose value we have only begun to appreciate. Deforestation and Land Use in the Amazon is an authoritative analysis of the socioeconomic and biophysical factors operating at local, national, and global levels that serve to promote deforestation in this delicate region.
The leading scholars and specialists in this volume, from both Latin America and the United States, present a uniquely interdisciplinary study of the historical, economic, and political causes accounting for the pace and pattern of the area's deforestation. Their collected research provides a highly instructive sampler of the best and most useful approaches to land use and deforestation across the broad range of disciplines, agencies, and orientations involved, from the long-term impact of road construction projects, colonization schemes, and commodity prices to immediate concerns over quality of life, water availability, and climate variation.
Heavily illustrated with numerous maps, tables, and charts, the book is an unmatched resource for planners, preservationists, regulatory agencies, demographers, and anyone interested in this environmentally strategic part of the world.
Customer Reviews:
GOOD COLLECTION OF SCHOLARLY ARTICLES ON DEFORESTATION IN THE AMAZON.......2006-07-24
The authors have put together a good collection of articles on deforestation and land use in the Amazon. Having come to the subject with only limited knowledge, after reading most of the articles a reader is able to speak knowledgeably on the subject.
Articles focus on very distinct topics such as:
1) Migration patterns and the way they have affected land use and deforestation
2) The choice of migrants to go to cities or urban areas
3) The pattern of deforestation along major roads
4) The demographic profiles of colonists and the effect they have on land use choice
An interesting characteristic is that land use choices were very different among settlers, even in similar areas. Oftertimes these were based on demographics (age and composition of families), wealth levels, and knowledge base. Also interesting were the description of efforts of participative land use planning and the potential benefits of bringing stakeholders in making good and lasting land use decisions.
The articles in this book were compiled from academic publications, so were not geared towards the general public. Of the 14 articles assembled, perhaps 3 or 4 are difficult to read. All are academic, bringing in many references to previous work. If one is willing to tear through academic articles on the subject, there is much very interesting knowledge to be gained.
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Alternatives to Deforestation: Steps Toward Sustainable Use of the Amazon Rain Forest
Manufacturer: Columbia Univ Pr
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ASIN: 0231068921 |
Book Description
Alternatives to Deforestation explores some of the possible sustainable uses of the world's largest rain forest, the Amazon. The collection by scientists, policymakers, and foundations presents innovative approaches and technologies that will permit simultaneous use and conservation of the rain forest, and will benefit the population of Amazonia as a whole, rather than just a small rural minority. By presenting sustainable land-use alternatives that are both economically viable and ecologically sound, this book represents a valuable contribution in the effort to end the tragic consequences of tropical deforestation.
Customer Reviews:
From the inner place.......2000-04-15
The best review of the aspects nd consequences of tropical deforestation!
Book Description
This digital document is a journal article from Land Use Policy, published by Elsevier in 2006. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Media Library immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
Description:
This paper analyzes the influence that both policies and markets have on driving forest conversion to agricultural land use focusing on the Bolivian case. It assesses the effects that two models of economic development have had on prompting agricultural expansion, and hence deforestation in lowland Bolivia. The first model, of economic diversification and import substitution, initiated in the early 1950s, stimulated the occupation of forestlands for agricultural expansion through colonization, and incentives to developing a medium and large-scale agriculture. The second model of development, initiated in the mid-1980s, prompted by structural adjustment policies, led to an intense process of agrarian change in the lowlands, mainly by connecting the agricultural frontier to the international market of commodities, particularly soybeans. The move from an import substitution industrialization model to another based on economic liberalization, even though it had positive implications on stimulating agricultural growth, has led to accelerate the pace of deforestation in lowland Bolivia, which has a larger contribution of medium and large-scale agriculture. This paper moves forward the debate about deforestation in Bolivia by making explicit connections between some analytical assessments on land-use/cover change and empirical evidences about forest removal in a five-decades period.
Book Description
This digital document is a journal article from Ecological Economics, published by Elsevier in 2004. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Media Library immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
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Book Description
This digital document is a journal article from Forest Ecology and Management, published by Elsevier in 2005. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Media Library immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
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Central Rondonia is one of the most deforested regions in the Brazilian Amazon and contains areas at different stages of degradation forming a gradient from mature forest to highly urbanized and built-up areas. Regional data from satellite imagery are available from the 1980s, but apart from studies that quantify deforestation, the broad-scale landscape dynamics of Rondonia have not been examined well. This paper assesses the landscape changes between 1984 and 2002 in a watershed located in the central region of the state of Rondonia, Brazil, which has undergone systematic and rapid deforestation due to introduction of pasture that began in the 1970s. Bi-annual Landsat TM/ETM+ images from 1984 to 2002 were classified into three broad land cover types: mature forest, secondary forest, and pasture, resulting in a time series of land-use/land-cover maps. Landscape changes were evaluated by computing a cross tabulation between years, transition rates, and landscape metrics related to size, density, connectivity, configuration, and deforested patches distribution related to patch size and spatial proximity to roads and old pastures. Transition probability functions were fitted to the temporal series to predict land-use changes for the next 10 years, for three different scenarios: (1) continued land-use change; (2) eliminating clear-cutting and selective logging; and (3) eliminating clear-cutting, selective logging, and secondary vegetation clearing. Current land-use transitions cannot be sustained beyond the next 10-15 years. A more sustainable scenario for the region requires a major reduction of deforestation activities, implementing the ''permanent preservation area'' policy along riversides, and controlling land-use transitions at balanced levels. We recommend that forest managers in regions facing similar deforestation pressures should strive to maintain at least 35% mature or primary forest, because landscape fragmentation proceeds rapidly below this critical threshold.
Book Description
This digital document is a journal article from Science of the Total Environment, The, published by Elsevier in 2006. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Media Library immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
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The Brazilian Amazon has experienced considerable colonization in the last few decades. Family agriculture based on slash-and-burn enables millions of people to live in that region. However, the poor nutrient content of most Amazonian soils requires cation-rich ashes from the burning of the vegetation biomass for cultivation to be successful, which leads to forest ecosystem degradation, soil erosion and mercury contamination. While recent studies have suggested that mercury present in soils was transferred towards rivers upon deforestation, little is known about the dynamics between agricultural land-use and mercury leaching. In this context, the present study proposes an explanation that illustrates how agricultural land-use triggers mercury loss from soils. This explanation lies in the competition between base cations and mercury in soils which are characterized by a low adsorption capacity. Since these soils are naturally very poor in base cations, the burning of the forest biomass suddenly brings high quantities of base cations to soils, destabilizing the previous equilibrium amongst cations. Base cation enrichment triggers mobility in soil cations, rapidly dislocating mercury atoms. This conclusion comes from principal component analyses illustrating that agricultural land-use was associated with base cation enrichment and mercury depletion. The overall conclusions highlight a pernicious cycle: while soil nutrient enrichment actually occurs through biomass burning, although on a temporary basis, there is a loss in Hg content, which is leached to rivers, entering the aquatic chain, and posing a potential health threat to local populations. Data presented here reflects three decades of deforestation activities, but little is known about the long-term impact of such a disequilibrium. These findings may have repercussions on our understanding of the complex dynamics of deforestation and agriculture worldwide.
Book Description
This digital document is a journal article from Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment, published by Elsevier in 2007. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Media Library immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
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In the Brazilian Amazon, colonization is modifying the landscape at an exceedingly fast pace. Recently established households practice slash-and-burn agriculture and participate in the overall deforestation of the Amazon. Near the Transamazon highway, these family agricultural practices are the main cause of deforestation. The study presented here is oriented toward a better understanding of the impacts of farming practices on soil chemical composition. This study used a sampling design based on soil samples taken on farm plots, which had been submitted to a wide range of spatial and temporal sequential land-uses, including soils that were only recently denuded. The data shows that soil responses (organic matter (OM) content, fertility and mercury (Hg) retention) to these varied land-uses were relatively similar, suggesting that the most important event determining the responses was deforestation itself. This is well illustrated by the Hg content of soils, which changed immediately after deforestation and then only slightly thereafter. This phenomenon could also be seen in the base cation (calcium (Ca), potassium (K) and magnesium (Mg)) content which rose drastically after deforestation and tended to stay high for a period up to 10 years of cropping and pasture. This lasting cation rise is reflected by ammonium (NH"4) displacement from surface soils. Indeed, inorganic nitrogen (N) is the most important nutrient loss upon deforestation. Nonetheless, when time spent in fallow was greater than 15 years, base cations (Ca, Mg, K), available N and phosphorus (P) contents tended to go back to initial forest soil values and in some cases to exceed them. Soil type was seen to mediate responses to land-use. Clay-sandy soils showed a lower content of available N and carbon (C) than clayey soils at the soil surface, a difference that was accentuated by deforestation. Conversely, the higher initial content of Hg in clayey soils was associated with a more important Hg loss from the soil's surface. By shedding light on the consequences of family practices for OM, nutrient status and Hg depletion, this paper gives a new perspective on soil responses to agricultural practices. These conclusions need to be addressed in a strategy plan to limit family land-use impacts on soils and the surrounding ecosystems. Recommendations for more sustainable land uses are proposed based on what has been learned about soil responses to local agricultural practices.
Book Description
This digital document is a journal article from Ecological Indicators, published by Elsevier in 2006. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Media Library immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
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Ecosystem information on the Colombian Amazonia is poor in comparison with that on the Brazilian Amazon. We examined patterns of ecosystem diversity, deforestation and fragmentation and provided an estimate on their possible causes through a temporal and spatial analysis of biotic and abiotic data using remote sensing and geographical information systems in six pilot areas covering a total of 4,200,000ha. Ecological, demographic and socio-economic data were analysed to establish the local conditions. We used a landscape ecology approach to calculate indicators of ecosystem diversity, cover and forest fragmentation such as number of patches, mean patch size, mean shape index and mean nearest neighbour distance. Patterns of deforestation did not run parallel to access roads; instead the typical pattern of unplanned colonization follows the only transportation network existing in many areas in the Colombian Amazonia: rivers. In addition, we have used indicators of human influence such as demographic pressure, quality of life and economic activity indicators. Results show that the extent and rate of change varies between areas depending on population density. Annual deforestation rates were 3.73 and 0.97% in the high population density growth areas of Alto Putumayo and Macarena respectively, and 0.31, 0.23, and 0.01% in the relatively unpopulated areas of indigenous population. These changes are related to land use history as well as to environmental and historical socio-economic factors such as oil extraction, deforestation, cattle ranching or illegal cropping. The current situation in the region suggests that tropical deforestation rates in the Colombian Amazon are substantially higher than those found in previous studies in the rest of the Amazon.
Book Description
This digital document is a journal article from Ecological Economics, published by Elsevier in 2006. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Media Library immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
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The use of sustainable harvest practices in the tropics is often proposed as a way to maintain the environment and address the poverty issues that dominate many tropical regions of the world. In theory, the adoption of these methods can provide win-win solutions to tropical deforestation because they address the environmental consequences of deforestation while increasing the welfare of forest inhabitants. However, there is little reliable data that can be used to test this hypothesis since many of the goods produced in sustainable systems do not have well-defined markets and are most often consumed at home. This paper examines the benefits of collecting and harvesting non-timber forest products in the tropics through various methods using household panel data collected in 1996 and 2000 in the Ouro Preto do Oeste region of Rondonia, Brazil. We estimate the use-value of land under forest, agriculture, and pasture and complement these estimations with census data and regression analysis. Our estimations reveal that households utilizing sustainable practices in the forms of agroforestry and the collection of non-timber forest products have significantly higher levels of diversification. We conclude that directing policy towards ''win-win'' strategies may not be desirable for reducing both poverty and deforestation in this region since we find no clear evidence that these can successfully be addressed simultaneously. Sustainable development policy should focus on increasing the value of the forest, or reducing the opportunity cost of leaving standing forest on the household lot, if sustainable production strategies are to be more attractive to households in the future.
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![Deforestation and land use in the Amazon [A book review from: Ecological Economics]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/2138769009L.jpg)
![Landscape dynamics of Amazonian deforestation between 1984 and 2002 in central Rondonia, Brazil: assessment and future scenarios [An article from: Forest Ecology and Management]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/21NEN6B0DAL.jpg)
![Mercury release from deforested soils triggered by base cation enrichment [An article from: Science of the Total Environment, The]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/21WAVFR1MML.jpg)
![Nutrient and mercury variations in soils from family farms of the Tapajos region (Brazilian Amazon): Recommendations for better farming [An article from: Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/21PEA4S0N2L.jpg)