Digging Deeper LXXV: Of the elite, by the elite, and for the elite

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On successive Mondays, Mar. 9 & 16, at 7:00 p.m., UFPPC's study circle, Digging Deeper, will examine two books that demystify social, political, and economic myths about American society and its global role: Michael Parenti, Democracy for the Few, 8th ed. (Wadsworth, 2007); and Michael Hudson, Super Imperialism: The Origin and Fundamentals of U.S. World Dominance (Pluto Press, 2003).[1]  - - Michael Parenti holds a Ph.D. in political science from Yale; his volume "tries to show how democracy is repeatedly violated by corporate oligopoly, and yet how popular forces have fought back and occasionally made gains."  --  Hudson has a Ph.D. in economics from NYU; his book "aims at providing the background for U.S.-European and U.S.-Asian financial relations by explaining how the U.S. Treasury bill standard came to provide America with a free lunch since gold was demonetized in 1971," and is an updated version of a 1972 version that "was the first to criticize the World Bank and IMF for imposing destructive policies on the world's debtor economies, and to trace these policies to U.S. diplomatic pressure."  --  Both works offer important insights into the contemporary crisis.  --  More information below....

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WHAT: Digging Deeper LXXV: Of the elite, by the elite, and for the elite
WHO:  Led by Mark Jensen
WHEN:  Monday, March 9 & 16, 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:
March 9 & 16, 2009
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www.ufppc.org
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UFPPC study circle

DIGGING DEEPER LXXVI: Of the elite, by the elite, and for the elite

On two successive Mondays, Mar. 9 & 16, UFPPC's study circle, Digging Deeper, will examine two books that demystify social, political, and economic myths about American society and its global role:  Michael Parenti, Democracy for the Few, 8th ed. (Wadsworth, 2007), and Michael Hudson, Super Imperialism: The Origin and Fundamentals of U.S. World Dominance (Pluto Press, 2003).  Both books are updated versions of texts first published in the 1970s.

Michael Parenti describes himself as a “recovering academic,” and calls himself as a “red-blooded American social scientist.”  He was born in 1933 to an Italian-American family; his father worked for his brother’s bakery.  Parenti regards racism as endemic, U.S. democracy largely illusory, and media as elitist.  He believes that the G.W. Bush administration succeeded, not failed, in realizing its aims.  Democracy for the Few is a textbook for a course in political science.

Michael Hudson's career has been remarkably broad, spanning academia, government, private business, and international institutions; he is involved in political campaigns (most recently as Dennis Kucinich's economic advisor) and is also an archaeologist of note (he is a founding member of the International Scholars Conference on Ancient Near Eastern Economies).  Super Imperialism has been called "the first work to synthesize the new and different forms which capitalist imperialism has assumed since Lenin" (Terence McCarthy, Columbia University). 

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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.).