DIGGING DEEPER LXXIII: Economic realities -- Mon., Feb. 16 & 23 @ 7pm

Details

On two successive Mondays, Feb. 16 & 23, at 7:00 p.m., UFPPC's study circle, Digging Deeper, will examine two unconventional books that attempt to grapple with the new economic realities of our time:  James Howard Kunstler, The Long Emergency: Surviving the Converging Catastrophes of the Twenty-First Century (New York: Atlantic Monthly Press, 2005), and Loretta Napoleoni, Rogue Economics: Capitalism's New Reality (New York: Seven Stories Press, 2008).[1]  --  James Kunstler, a social critic and novelist, argues that the civilization the West built on cheap energy has reached its limit of expansion, and is about to undergo a massive and historic contraction that will lead to catastrophe on a world-historical scale.  --  Kunstler believes that the American public is "sleepwalking into a future of hardship and turbulence."  --  Loretta Napoleoni, a widely traveled economist who has worked both for financial institutions and for newspapers, argues that "the world is being reshaped by dark economic forces, creating victims out of millions of ordinary people whose lives have become trapped inside a fantasy world of consumerism."  --  Both books offer fresh insights into the contemporary crisis.  --  More information below....

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WHAT:  Digging Deeper LXXIII: Economic realities
WHO:  Led by Mark Jensen
WHEN:  Monday, February 16 & 23, 2009 -- 7:00 p.m.-8:30 p.m.
WHERE:  Mandolin Café, 3923 South 12th St., Tacoma, WA 98405

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United for Peace
of Pierce County
Study Circle:
February 16 & 23, 2009
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www.ufppc.org
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UFPPC study circle

DIGGING DEEPER LXXIII: Economic realities

On two successive Mondays, Feb. 16 & 23, Digging Deeper will examine James Howard Kunstler, The Long Emergency: Surviving the Converging Catastrophes of the Twenty-First Century (New York: Atlantic Monthly Press, 2005), and Loretta Napoleoni, Rogue Economics: Capitalism's New Reality (New York: Seven Stories Press, 2008).

James Kunstler, a social critic and novelist, argues that the civilization the West built on cheap energy has reached its limit of expansion, and is about to undergo a massive and historic contraction that will lead to catastrophe on a world-historical scale.  Kunstler believes that the American public is "sleepwalking into a future of hardship and turbulence. . . . In the Long Emergency, there will be no hoped-for hydrogen economy.  No combination of alternative fuels will permit us to run things the way we are running them, or even a substantial fraction of them.  We will have to downscale every activity of everyday life, from farming, to schooling, to retail trade.  Say farewell to easy motoring and commercial aviation.  Life in the Long Emergency will be about staying where you are."

Loretta Napoleoni, a widely traveled economist who has worked both for financial institutions and for newspapers, argues that "the world is being reshaped by dark economic forces, creating victims out of millions of ordinary people whose lives have become trapped inside a fantasy world of consumerism. . . . The market matrix and the illusionist theater of modern politicians prevent them from from seeing the economic anarchy that is sweeping across our planet."

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Since July 2004, United for Peace of Pierce County has been conducting “Digging Deeper,” a Monday-evening book discussion group, often in the form of a study circle.  Topics have included peak oil, climate change, the corporation, torture, Iran, U.S.-Iran relations, the writings of Robert Baer, Islam, American immigration policy, Barack Obama and the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr., Saul Alinsky’s life and writings, war and human nature, parallels between the U.S. and ancient Rome, the sustainability revolution, resource issues, and the debt crisis, as well as abiding themes of war, peace, politics, and social change.  Occasionally, the group has spent several weeks reading longer works, like Daniel Yergin’s The Prize or Robert Fisk’s The Great War for Civilisation.

DIGGING DEEPER meets every Monday from 7:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at the Mandolin Café, 3923 S. 12th St., Tacoma, WA.

Participation is free and all who are interested are welcome.  For more information contact Mark Jensen (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.).