2004-10-09
IMPORTANCE OF SOCIAL PROTEST
While at MASS MoCA I picked up a couple of books that I'm still reading but want to share | Essentially, they all speak to the critical need of social protest and how such effort has a restorative effect on all of us | Rather like the pain of healing; we don't want to deal with it, but when it's over we are the better for it | And now to what I found |
• Cass Sunstein, writes a book titled Why Societies Need Dissent | Published by Harvard University Press |
One review of the book says "...shows that organizations and nations are far more likely to prosper if they welcome dissent and promote openness. Attacking "political correctness" in all forms, Sunstein demonstrates that corporations, legislatures, even presidents are likely to blunder if they do not cultivate a culture of candor and disclosure. He shows that unjustified extremism, including violence and terrorism, often results from failure to tolerate dissenting views. The tragedy is that blunders and cruelties could be avoided if people spoke out."
Couldn't come at a more opportune time |
• Rhymes of a PFC by Lincoln Kirstein | Link Kirstein was internationally famous for his contributions to modern ballet, particularly with George Balanchine | Much less known, probably, was a collection of prose and poems recounting his experiences in World War Two | Written in balladic style, the images ring clear | One brief example:
• A Hacker Manifesto by McKenzie Wark | A fresh look at class warfare | Yeah, I recognize that some find this very term unsettling, but that doesn't mean the phenomenon isn't real | The text may seem dense, but it isn't if you think about it | And we must give this author [and others like him] due regard | ...or ignore them at our own risk |
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While at MASS MoCA I picked up a couple of books that I'm still reading but want to share | Essentially, they all speak to the critical need of social protest and how such effort has a restorative effect on all of us | Rather like the pain of healing; we don't want to deal with it, but when it's over we are the better for it | And now to what I found |
• Cass Sunstein, writes a book titled Why Societies Need Dissent | Published by Harvard University Press |
One review of the book says "...shows that organizations and nations are far more likely to prosper if they welcome dissent and promote openness. Attacking "political correctness" in all forms, Sunstein demonstrates that corporations, legislatures, even presidents are likely to blunder if they do not cultivate a culture of candor and disclosure. He shows that unjustified extremism, including violence and terrorism, often results from failure to tolerate dissenting views. The tragedy is that blunders and cruelties could be avoided if people spoke out."
Couldn't come at a more opportune time |
Mr. Sunstein has also written about the future of free speech, a lengthy essay well worth reading as well |
• Rhymes of a PFC by Lincoln Kirstein | Link Kirstein was internationally famous for his contributions to modern ballet, particularly with George Balanchine | Much less known, probably, was a collection of prose and poems recounting his experiences in World War Two | Written in balladic style, the images ring clear | One brief example:War leaves some half-shot young men
Who wage it, get wounded,and then
Take long aimless walks through the night.
• A Hacker Manifesto by McKenzie Wark | A fresh look at class warfare | Yeah, I recognize that some find this very term unsettling, but that doesn't mean the phenomenon isn't real | The text may seem dense, but it isn't if you think about it | And we must give this author [and others like him] due regard | ...or ignore them at our own risk |
¶ 02:33
