Polyarchy sources (2006)

[Polyarchy] [Polyarchy : documents]

Sources : new additions (2006)

[1887] Piotr Kropotkin, In Russian and French Prisons, Schocken Books, New York, 1971
- Contents: Introduction by Paul Avrich. Author's Preface to the Russian Edition (1906). I. My first acquaintance with Russian prisons. II. Russian prisons. III. The fortress of St. Peter and St. Paul. IV. Outcast Russia. V. The exile in Siberia. VI. The exile on Sakhalin. VII A foreigner on Russian prisons. VIII. In French prisons. IX. On the moral influence of prisons on prisoners. X. Are prisons necessary?
- Comment: A powerful exposition of how and why the prisons are 'schools of crime' and foster the degradation and annihilation of the human being.

[1961] William Lederer, A Nation of Sheep, Cassell, London
- Contents: Preface. I. Some Stories. 1. The Laos Fraud. 2. The Editor from Thailand. 3. What We Aren't Told about Formosa. 4. What We Aren't Told about Korea. 5. The Boomerang in the Foreign Student Programme. II. The Culprits. 6. Government by Misinformation. 7. Secrecy in Government. 8. Government by Publicity. 9. The Press. III. What's to Be Done. 10. Specifics at a National Level. 11. Specifics at a Personal Level. IV. A Response to Challenge. 11. A Response to Challenge. V. Conclusion. 13 Conclusion.
- Comment: A damning essay about the meddling of the USA federal state in the lives of the people of Asia with the propping up of unsavory rulers and the use of nasty practices.

[1969] William McGaffin and Erwin Knoll, Scandal in the Pentagon. A challenge to democracy, Fawcett Publications
- Contents: 1. The Armed Society. 2. ABM - America's Maginot Line. 3. Choose Your Weapons. 4. Contracts and Congressmen. 5. Where the Brass Goes. 6. The Camp-Follower Communities. 7. The Military-Academic Complex. 8. The Propaganda Factory. 9. The Rival State Department. 10. A Matter of Survival.
- Comment: The military-industrial complex presented in this small book bearing on the cover this warning: "In the name of 'security' our military establishment and a profit-hungry defense industry are setting the stage for a dictatorship that can make American democracy a thing of the past."

[1969] Dr. Laurence J. Peter and Raymond Hull, The Peter Principle, William Morrow & Co., New York
- Contents: 1. The Peter Principle. 2. The Principle in Action. 3. Apparent Exceptions. 4. Pull & Promotion. 5. Push & Promotion. 6. Followers & Leaders. 7. Hierarchiology & Politics. 8. Hints & Foreshadowings. 9. The Psychology of Hierarchiology. 10. Peter's Spiral. 11. The Pathology of Success. 12. Non-medical Indices of Find Placement. 13. Health & Happiness at Zero PQ. 14. Creative Incompetence. 15. The Darwinian Extension. Glossary.
- Comment: A humorous little book with plenty of insights about our bureaucratized societies.

[1976] Ashley Montagu, The Nature of Human Aggression, Oxford University Press, Oxford
- Contents: 1. A Controversy. 2. Man as a Killer: An Acceptable Idea. 3. Social Darwinism: A Case History and a Cautionary Note. 4. Instinct and Adaptation. 5. Cannibalism and Aggression. 6. Weapons or Leopards? 7. Cooperation. 8. The Brain and Aggression. 9. The Philosophy of Real Estate and the Biologically Just Decision. 10. War and Violence. 11. Ideological Consequences. 12. Conclusions.
- Comment: A passionate analysis to demystify the purported existence of a territorial and aggressive instinct in the human race.
See: http://www.panarchy.org/montagu/territorialism.html

[1997] David Boaz, Libertarianism. A Primer, The Free Press, New York
- Contents: 1. The Coming Libertarian Age. 2. The Roots of Libertarianism. 3. What Rights Do We Have. 4. The Dignity of the Individual. 5. Pluralism and Toleration. 6. Law and the Constitution. 7. Civil Society. 8. The Market Process. 9. What Big Government Is All About. 10. Contemporary Issues. 11. The Obsolete State. 12. The Libertarian Future. Appendix: Are You a Libertarian?
- Comment: An interesting and stimulating panorama of what libertarians stand for.

[1997] Michael Maren, The Road to Hell. The ravaging effects of foreign aid and international charity, The Free Press, New York
- Contents: Introduction: Darkness and Light. 1. Land Cruisers. 2. Far from Somalia. 3. Fixers. 4. Potemkin Villages. 5. Death in Mogadishu. 6. Crazy with Food. 7. Geneva. 8. Selling the Children. 9. Creating Dependency. 10. Withdrawal Symptoms. 11. Pigs at a Trough. 12. Feeding the Famine. 13. The Mogadishu Line. 14. The Self-Licking Ice Cream Cone. 15. Running Toward Rwanda. 16. Merchants of Peace. Somalia Timeline.
- Comment: One of the most chilling books I have ever read. Get a copy and start it as soon as possible.

[2000] Malcom Gladwell, The Tipping Point. How little things can make a big difference, Abacus, London, 2005
- Contents: Introduction. One: The Three Rules of Epidemics. Two: The Law of the Few: Connectors, Mavens, and Salesmen. Three: The Stickiness Factor: Sesame Street, Blue’s Clues, and the Educational Virus. Four: The Power of Context (Part One): Bernie Goetz and the Rise and Fall of New York City Crime. Five: The Power of Context (Part Two): The Magic Number One Hundred and Fifty. Six: Case Study: Rumors, Sneakers, and the Power of Translation. Seven: Case Study: Suicide, Smoking, and the Search for the Unsticky Cigarette. Eight: Conclusion: Focus, Test, and Believe. Endnotes.
- Comment: The power of interconnected individuals in making things happening.

[2003] Mark Curtis, Web of Deceit, Vintage, London
- Contents: Part I. The Outlaw State. 1. Iraq: Ignoring people, maintaining order 2. Afghanistan; The new Unpeople. 3. Explaining the 'war against terrorism'. 4. Big Brother, our favourite ally. 5. Israel: Siding with the aggressor. 6. Kosovo: Anti-humanitarian intervention. 7. Chechnya; A chronicle of complicity. 8. Labour's real policy on arms exports. Part II. Elites and the Global Economy. 9. Trading off international development. 10. The threat of democracy 11. Our allies, the Gulf elites. 12 The forgotten past in the Middle East. 13. The single-ideology totalitarian state. Par III. Exposing the Secret History. 14. Overthrowing the government of Iran. 15. Deterring development in Kenya. 16. Malaya: War in defence of the rubber industry. 17. British Guiana: Overstepping 'decent government'. Part IV. The Mass Production of Ignorance. 18. Ethical foreign policies and other myths. 19. The media's propaganda role. 20. Indonesia: Complicity in a million deaths. 21. East Timor: Smothering the birth of a nation. 22. Diego Garcia: Removing people from history. 23. The challenges ahead. Chronology of Major Events.
- Comment: The interventions by the British state in favour of tyrants, autocratic elites and military dictators. Some statements by the author about globalization should be taken with caution because to be against British imperialism should not mean to be in favour of other nationalistic and protectionist cliques.

[2004] James Surowiecki, The Wisdom of Crowds, Abacus, London, 2005
- Contents: Part I. 1. The Wisdom of Crowds. 2. The Difference Difference Makes: Waggle Dances, the Bay of Pigs and the Value of Diversity. 3. Monkey See, Monkey Do: Imitation, Information Cascades, and Independence. 4. Putting the Pieces Together : the CIA, Linux, and the Art of Decentralization. 5. Shall We Dance? Coordination in a Complex World. 6. Society Does Exist: Taxes, Tipping, Television, and Trust. Part II. 7. Traffic: What We Have Here Is a Failure to Coordinate. 8. Science: Collaboration, Competition, and Reputation. 9. Committees, Juries, and Teams: The Columbia Disaster and How Small Groups Can Be Made to Work. 10. The Company: Meet the New Boss, Same as the Old Boss? 11. Markets: Beauty Contest, Bowling Alleys, and Stock Prices. 12. Democracy: Dreams and Common Good.
- Comment: The emergence of "spontaneous order" and the functioning of the "invisible hand" approached from an interesting perspective.

[2005] Philip Sands, Lawless World, Penguin Books, London, 2006
- Contents: 1. International Law: a Short and Recent History. 2. Pinochet in London. 3. A New International Court. 4. Global Warming: Throwing Precaution to the Wind. 5. Good Trade, Bad Trade, Cheap Shrimp. 6. A Safer World, for Investors. 7. Guantanamo: The Legal Black Hole. 8. Kicking Ass in Iraq. 9. Terrorists and Torturers. 10. Tough Guys and Lawyers. 11. Window Dressing. 12. This Wretched Legal Advice. Appendices: I. Atlantic Charter (1941). II. Charter of the United Nations (1945). III. Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948). IV. Geneva Convention III relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War (1949) and Geneva Protocol I (1977). V. Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (1984). VI. Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (1998). VII. The North American Free Trade Agreement (1994). VIII. The Agreement establishing the World Trade Organization (1994). IX. UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (1992) and the Kyoto Protocol (1997). X. Advice on the Legality of Military Action against Iraq without a further Security Council Resolution, Attorney General, 7 March 2003. XI. Iraq: Legality of Armed Force. Attorney General's Written Answer to Parliamentary Question, 17 March 2003.
- Comment: The title is a bit misleading. It is not the world that is lawless but it is the state rulers, especially of the affluent Western world, that are completely insensitive to rights, morality and decency. Nevertheless, it is an interesting and well argued text.

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