The Conscience of a Liberal

The Conscience of a Liberal, by Paul Krugman, is an analysis of what brought the Republican Right to power and what needs to be done to undo the damage that their anti-government policies have wrecked on the United States. Krugman, a Nobel winning economist, explains that the high quality of life that the middle class of the United States possessed during the fifties and sixties was due to a lack of economic inequality. He also argues that the prosperous era of the mid-twentieth century came to an end because of the policies of the hard right, rather than because of a change of economic circumstance.

Krugman’s analysis of the conservative right was covered more in depth in “The Rise of the Counter-Establishment” and its political machine is made more clear in “Blinded By the Right”. However, Krugman adds more context by explaining how specific conservative policies have led to the wealth of the nation has been shifted to the top 5% by political means and that the middle class has been mugged by those whose money can influence elections. Anti-union policies, as the elimination of many taxes on the wealthiest Americans, are blamed for the United States current circumstances as well as a Republican party willing to use racism, regionalism, and bigotry to win elections.

Krugman wrote the was published in 2007 but manages to explain the problems of creating universal health care and the importance of health care being passed if progressives are to pull the nation from the precipice that the radical right is pushing it towards.

This was a great book, well written, and a surprisingly quick read. I would recommend reading it and rate it a buy.

Cabin in the Sky

Cabin in the Sky is a classic African American film. It came out back when we were still Negro’s and is a film about a man, Little Joe, who is killed while gambling. He is a borderline soul and is given a short amount of time to come back to Earth so that he can earn his way into either heaven or hell. An Angel and a devil both try and nudge his soul in their respective directon It’s a musical, that stars the likes of Lena Horne, and many other classic actors.

I watched this film quite often as a child, and never ceased to enjoy it. It shows the dedication and artistry of African American film makers during a time when their abilities were not respected. Besides being a great African American film, it is also a great American film.

I would recommend this as a buy for several reasons. It is well written, well filmed, and truly entertaining. It is a historical film that will allow you to see a glimpse of how the pre civil rights African Americans lived in their own communities and you’ll enjoy it.

Guns, Germs, and Steel

Jared Diamond’s “Guns, Germs, and Steel” is a brilliant analysis of how societies form and how technology is developed. He shows that, while culture and native intelligence is important, environment has a great impact on how a society develops. I first read this book for a Technology and Culture class in graduate school and was very impressed by it.

Jared Diamond starts with the premise that humans are basically similar in intelligence and drive on average. He then explores the environmental differences throughout history that each group of human beings has faced, and how these differences affected the development of technology, culture, and society.

Jared demonstrates that human beings, when shown new technology and foodstuffs that are useful, take advantage of them, and that much of the success of many societies has to do with experience learned from the past and advantageous environment. Diamond shows how agriculture throughout the world came about. He explains how the geography of an area could affect the nature of the crops that were available to a population and in turn the cultural development of a society. His largest example is comparing the cyclical crops of Eurasia. The Eurasian crops, due to the changes in weather, had regular growing and planting times allowing agriculturalist to plan for the future. In climates that were more extreme, such options were not there and this slowed down their agricultural development. This is just one of many interesting agricultural facts that he brings up in his book.

Jared also explains how the availability of animals that could be domesticated was important because it lead to the contraction of diseases for which immunities could be developed. When the West entered the New World, they found populations that had not domesticated many animals and so the West infected them with diseases for which they had no immunities. I am oversimplifying his argument, but hope that what I have written in regards to agriculture and animal husbandry inspires you to buy the book.

Diamond discusses how cultures either embrace or reject technological advancements based on how connected they are to other societies, or how decentralized and interactive their cultures are. He also explains how elites, or plutocracies, evolve. It is a fascinating book. I would recommend buying the “Guns, Germs and Steel” I bought the hardcover and it sits prominently on my bookshelf.

Slumdog Millionaire

Wow. The film is about a poor kid from the slums, or a “slum dog” who is one question away from winning the Indian version of Who Wants to be a Millionaire. The film begins with the police torturing him to find out how he cheated because it is assumed that an impoverished product of the slums could not possibly have known the answers to such difficult questions as those asked on the show. As he explains to the police how he knows the answers, we are shown flashbacks of the significant moments of his life that are tied to his knowledge.

The film is in both English and an Indian language with subtitles. We are able to see the plight of the Muslim minority in India. The abuse of women, children, and the poor is also highlighted in the film. The industry and grit of the Indian people is displayed in every moment of Slumdog Millionaire. The lead actor Dev Patel, is brilliant in the film, making the audience feel happy when he is happy, and sad when he is as well. His brother, Selim, is played by three different actors throughout his life, all of whom make you both love and hate the character.

Slum Dog Millionaire is a movie that has won many awards and much critical acclaim. You have doubtlessly heard of it. I want to let you know that, besides being a darling of the critics, it is also a watchable and engrossing movie that you will enjoy. It’s a buy.

Mongol

Mongol is the story of how Genghis Khan came to power. It is a quite interesting portrayal of a man who is usually portrayed as a heartless and barbaric conqueror. It is a foreign film, so you have to read the subtitles, but it appears to be well funded and is quite interesting. The audience is afforded the opportunity to see inside Mongol culture and witness how cultural mores and values can be both harm and help the life of an individual.

Aside from the action and historical aspect, the focus on how culture tears apart the friendship of Genghis and his blood brother, how it leads to his fathers death and then saves his own life, is a fascinating part of the story. We do not get the opportunity to see Genghis conquer the kingdoms of Asia, but we do get an opportunity to see him conquer the many barriers cast in his way.

I would rate Mongol a buy. It may not be a film that you watch every other weekend, but it will be one that, when you do sit down and watch it, you will enjoy thoroughly.

Uprising

Huey Newton said “I’d rather die on my feet then live on my knees”. The story of Uprising, a film about the rebellion of Jews in the Ghettos of Warsaw during World War II, is a presentation of this philosophy. Germany conquered Poland in about a month during World War II. They isolated the Jews into the Ghettos and then began a process of evacuating Jews to concentration camps where they were killed en mass. Rather than go willingly to their deaths. Heroes in the Warsaw Ghettos fought a hopeless battle against the Germans. The managed to kill many German soldiers and a few of the Jews even escaped to freedom.

I’m generally a sucker for a film with people fighting a hopeless battle and facing their deaths bravely, but it is a little different when the story being portrayed is not a work of fiction. Uprising is very respectful to the people who died in Warsaw. It shows them as human beings who were imperfect, but who were trying to do the right thing. It shows how the anti-Semitism of the allies prevented them from coming to the aid of the successful Jewish fighters. And it showed how the spirit of a people who had been oppressed for millennia could not be destroyed. It is a film which is definitely worth seeing, not just because of its historical content, but because of the quality of the film. It’s worth having in your DVD collection.

Confederate States of America

I was going through the mountains of West Virginia when I first heard of this film. The premise intrigued me, what would the world be like if the South had won the Civil War? I finally got to see it a year later and was not disappointed. The film is set as a documentary of sorts tracking the history and modern life of the Confederate States of America. The South wins the war in the 1860’s spreading slavery through out the United States. It ends up conquering all of Latin America and instituting Jim Crow laws in Mexico.

The film is most interesting when it shows how closely related the United States of American and the Confederate States of America are. It follows a famous politician around as he pontificates about modern issues as they affect the CSA. He could easily be mistaken for a far right religious conservative in his assumptions and belief in his own righteousness. Commercials parodying COPS, shown instead as a show about slave catching, and highlighting brands that really existed in American history, such as Niggerhair cigarettes, the film shows us just close we resembled the CSA for during some portions of our history.

It was a good film, the film is low budget but well executed. It quite enjoyable, being interesting and informative at the same time. The Confederate States of America is worth purchasing and I would recommend that you do so. The director, Kevin Willmott, is a professor at Kansas University and is currently working on a film about a young Native American who escapes the Haskell internment camp.