Parecon: Life After Capitalism

Michael Albert. Parecon: Life After Capitalism. London/New York: Verso, 2003.

Reviewed by T. Hatch

Michael Albert, founder of Znet and an acolyte of Noam Chomsky, has imagined a new economic system. In the parecon (i.e. participatory economics) councils of workers and consumers replace corporations. Instead of a system of buyers and sellers in a perpetual effort to fleece one another, where the means of production and output are hegemonic, the ethic of remuneration is altered to reward those who put forth the most effort and sacrifice. Essentially it is an anarchistic vision of the world's economic system that scraps the social contract rationale for earning on property that maintains itself because of unbalanced circumstances.

The values that the parecon holds dear are solidarity, diversity, equity, and participatory self-management. Markets as we know them would cease to exist. “Naked self-interest and callous cash payment” would take a back seat to cooperation and real bottom up participatory democracy. No longer would an anti-social agenda hold sway rewarding the most ruthless amongst us. Albert's effort is aimed at trying to create a world free of markets which he sees as “a no confidence vote on the social capabilities of the human species.”

He is critical of any system that maintains markets. This includes both the central planning and market coordinationist versions of Socialism as well as the fetish for localism that is embodied in Green Bioregionalism. “Economics is conducted by and for workers and consumers. Workers create the social product. Consumers enjoy the social product.” Accordingly, the watch word would be “to each according to effort.”

As laudable as the ethics of intention in economics might be those with a background in economics will have difficulty in swallowing Albert's prescriptions whole. Although the last section of the book is given over to a defense against possible criticisms of his parecon model of economy it is hardly comprehensive.

In a three hundred page treatise on an alternative economic system money is only mentioned once in passing; this only in relation to possible black market activity which would fizzle out because of the lack of possible reward. Forget about money aggregates and even the concepts of money as a store of value and a means of accounting. Beyond this if Albert is eliminating money as a medium of exchange he has not indicated how this might come about.

The parecon as advanced in the book is a global system. How would this come about? Would there be parecon in one country or would it require a international effort to accomplish? Would parecon start in the most advanced capitalist countries first or would there be a corollary on Trotsky's theory of combined and uneven development?

The most stunning part of Albert's work is his naïve belief in equilibrium which surpasses even that of an Alfred Marshall. Even conceding that human nature is not static and that markets are irrational and exploit large portions of humanity it is fanciful to see councils of consumers communicating to producers their needs in advance for a year at a time and having this come off smoothly. That Weberian cage is indeed constructed of iron.

Moonstone – Book One, The Unbidden Magic Series

Brothers, Marilee. Moonstone – Book One, The Unbidden Magic Series. Smyrna, GA: Belle Bridge Books, 2008.

Contributed by Simone Sidwell, Teen Librarian at Grinnell's Stewart Public Library

Moonstone is a well-written and entertaining paranormal young adult novel from former high school teacher and debut author Marilee Brothers. The underclass/trailer-park setting of the novel in “Peacock Flats,” Washington adds an interesting social dimension to the novel, which chronicles the awakening of the “weird psychic powers” of our likeable and funny heroine, fifteen year-old Allie – and the grand mystical mission to come. Allie’s unemployed, single-parent mother suffers from a psychosomatic case of fibromyalgia, making Allie more of the caretaker than Mom. While struggling with the usual teen angst and joys (puberty, crushes, first-romances, school cliques, gangs, bullies), Allie also is visited by a comical hippy-dippy guardian angel who has been relegated to an afterlife in limbo at the local airport in town, and who alerts her to her new powers. This sets Allie off on an entertaining and dangerous adventure centered upon a mystical piece of jewelry - a moonstone necklace given to Allie by a close family friend – and the sinister minion after it. Allie discovers than in addition to weathering the usual ups & downs of a high-school student in Peacock Flats, she has a greater destiny to fulfill as a “star keeper” entrusted with the power Moonstone...Marilee Brothers’ novel stands out for its humor and Allie’s strong point-of-view as an underdog finding her place in the world. This is another [see her review for Bite Me] good choice for public library teen/fantasy collections - I look forward to the next title in this series.

Bite Me – Book One, The Demon Underground Series

Blue, Parker. Bite Me – Book One, The Demon Underground Series. Smyrna, GA: Bell Bridge Books, 2008.

Contributed by Simone Sidwell, Teen Librarian at Grinnell's Stewart Public Library

Bite Me is a well-written and entertaining paranormal mystery/romance with both teen and adult appeal. Val Shapiro seems like your average 17 year old teenager, except that she has to struggle daily to keep her demon side “Lola,” at bay. Lola is a lust demon or succubus, a part of Val (thanks to her demon father) that she struggles to suppress. As a metaphor for teen lust, this paranormal device works well in the novel -- Val is trying to be “a good girl” despite the raging demon hormones. Val learns along the way, however, that totally repressing Lola’s natural urges is just as unhealthy as giving them free-reign, and eventually finds a way to strike a balance between demonic promiscuity on the one hand, and puritanical denial on the other. Val’s uneasiness with her demonic side has made her a loner for most of her teen life, and when she is kicked out of her parents’ house on her 18th birthday she embarks on a positive journey of self-discovery and belonging! outside the confines of school and family: she takes a job in a secret unit of the San Antonio police force and teams up with a telepathic hellhound dog named Fang and a handsome police detective to take on a gang of renegade Vampires that has been attacking the city...Vampires and demons aside, Parker Blue captures a humorous and authentic young adult voice in Val and keeps readers turning pages. Parker’s book would be a popular addition to public libraries teen/fantasy collections. I look forward to the next in the series.

Books, Authors, and Podcasts ...

Learn about Books and Authors through Podcasts

R. Stuhr

Three sites provide podcasts of lectures, interviews, and panel presentations featuring authors and their recently published works. All three are well organized, easy to browse through, and quick to load (depending on your internet set up of course...).

Connie Martinson Talks Books provides 65 podcasts of interviews conducted by Martinson between 1983 and 2007. She interviews a wide variety of authors. Two that stood out for me were her 1995 interview with Barack Obama after Dreams from My Father was published and her 1992 interview with Rosa Parks after her autobiography, My Story appeared.

URL: http://ccdl.libraries.claremont.edu/collection.php?alias=/cmt. Click on the Connie Martinson link to see the list of 65 interviews.

The Free Library of Philadelphia posts a podcast for each of their Author Events. They have several a week so there are more than 255 to choose from. Sponsored by the Free Library's foundation, these events feature novelists, historians, teen authors, romance authors, public affairs authors, and more. Recent podcasts include a pannel of graphic novelists including Art Spiegelman, Jessical Abel, Chip Kidd, Charles Burns, and David Heatley, novelist Christopher Buckley, and fantasy and teen novelist Cornelia Funke. See all FLP has to offer at

http://libwww.freelibrary.org/podcast/.

Finally, FORA.tv offers lectures and panels on all topics: politics, business, culture, technology and science, and "the world." Under "culture" you'll find music, books and authors, religion, history, visual arts and film, law, giving, and sports. Get immersed in this site at

http://fora.tv/.

Was Charles Schulz a genius?

Tibor Fischer thinks so, and he doesn't think that David Michaelis's
new biography does Schulz justice. Find out more by reading Fischer's review at The Telegraph, http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?view=DETAILS&grid=&xml=/arts/2008/11/04/bopeanuts104.xml

Or read the biography:

Schulz and Peanuts: A Biography by David Michaelis. NY: Harper, 2007.
Burling 3rd Floor PN6727.S3 Z787 2007

Draw your own conclusions by revisiting the strip:

The Complete Peanuts by Charles M. Schulz. Published by Fantagraphics Press of Seattle. We are still receiving these volumes and are up to volume 8, taking us through 1966.

Burling 3rd Floor PN6728.P4 S2454x 2004

Strath Haven High School, Martin S-R, class of 2010 is reading ...

Khaled Hosseini. The Kite Runner. NY: Riverhead Books, 2003
Burling PS3608.O525 K58 2003

Paul Rusesabagina. An Ordinary Man: An Autobiography. NY: Penguin Books, 2006.

Achebe, Chinua. Things Fall Apart. London: Heinemann, 1967
Burling PR9387.9.A3 T5 1967

Guy Delisle. Pyongyang: A Journey in North Korea. NY: Farrer, Straus & Giroux, 2007. (In process at Burling Library)

Philip Roth. Indignation. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 2008 (should be on order for Burling)

Monster Nation: A Zombie Novel
Monster Island: A Zombie Novel
Monster Planet: A Zombie Novel all by David Wellington and published by Thunder's Mouth Press of New York.

Bat-Manga! by Chip Kidd and Geoff Spear. Translated from the Japanese and based on the original Bat Man comic strips. NY: Pantheon Books, 2008.

Breakout: The Chosin Reservoir Campaign, Korea 1950. NY: Fromm International, 1999

Books to Look for at Grinnell College Libraries

The Toss of a Lemon by Padma Viswanathan published by Harcourt 2008. On order

Counting for Nothing: What Men Value and What Women are Worth by Marilyn Waring and published in 1999 by University of Toronto Press. Burling HC 79.I5 W384 1999

Home by Marilynne Robinson. NY: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2008 On order

A Mercy by Toni Morrison. NY: Knopf, 2008 (should be on order soon).

La Perdida by Jessica Abel. NY: Pantheon Books, 2005. Burling, Latino Collection. PN6727.A25 P47 2006

Breakdowns: Portrait of the Artist as a Young %@[squiggle][star]! by Art Spiegelman. New York : Pantheon Books, 2008 (on order soon)

A recent Grinnell College graduate reads ...

The Book review recently heard from a graduate, class of 2008 who is trying to continue her college practice of reading several things at once. Here is what she has to say:

. . . At present I am reading What's the Matter with Kansas? and To the Finland Station by Edmund Wilson. I am sure you know what the first one is about. The second one is about the classical history of revolutionary politics. And this other one I have started . . . is the Unknown Mao, the new biography, which is a pretty easy read, only too bulky to be carried anywhere. To the Finland Station starts in the 1700 and follows this French historian, who for Edmund is sort of the first historian to approach history in a progressive manner rather than in a cyclical manner . . .

What is the Matter with Kansas? How Conservatives Won the Heart of America by Thomas Frank. NY: Metropolitan Books, 2004.
Burling F 686.2 2004

To the Finland Station: A Study in the Writing and Acting of History by Edmund Wilson. London: Macmillan, 1972.
Burling HX 36 W5 1972

Mao: The Unknown Story by Jung Chang. NY: Knopf, 2005
Burling DS778.M3 C38 2005

What are people reading on SEPTA

On their commute from school and work? Well on this particular day it was cold and rainy and there were only a few readers. They were reading Introduction to Continuum Mechanics; The American People, and also train schedules, maps, the Philadelphia Inquirer, The Daily Metro, and The Daily News.

Illiterate America

Jonathan Kozol. Illiterate America. NY: New American Library, 1985.

R. Stuhr

Although this book is over 25 years old, I don't think that the statistics on illiteracy presented by Kozol have changed. No Child Left Behind may be the only thing that is different, and I am not sure that that notorious piece of legislation has made a difference. I think that too often policies are put in place and carried out in a way that those who are successful continue to manage to thrive regardless of what environment they are thrown into. And those who are suffering or left out will continue to be left out. Programs are not designed to help the most in need but to capitalize on those who are already making it. They will contribute to getting the numbers that will prove the program successful. Not so different from the tax breaks offered time after time to those at the very top--helping those who are already doing just fine.

So, in Philadelphia, the statistics quoted by the Mayor and the president and director of the Free Library show that 2/3 of the adult population of Philadelphia are considered to function at a very low level of literacy, 47% of the school children drop out of school, usually between 8th and 9th grade. Fewer than 1/2 the households in Philadelphia have internet or computers, and nearly all public school children qualify for free lunch (this is an area with a very high population of private school attendees). Philadelphia just announced a $1 billion budget short fall over the next five years and this will mean cuts in library hours and services, cuts to public recreational facilities, and cuts to other social services across the city. These are all places that provide safe havens, programming to encourage reading and literacy, daily homework help and more. This is happening in a city where the Mayor is clearly dedicated to improving the literacy and school attendance rate.

Based on these statistics, I would say that Kozol's statistics have not changed for the better. Kozol is passionate about his topic. In this book, he presents the problem in the starkest possible terms, he finds fault with on-again off-again government funding and over reliance on the private sector, and he is leading a call to arms to address the situation. Kozol makes the argument that both economically and in terms of safety and well being, we all suffer from the high rate of illiteracy in this country and so it is well worth our personal investment and worth political and governmental investment. He describes programs that have failed because of a lack of understanding and respesct for those who would be the recipients of literacy programs, and he describes the grass roots efforts that have been successful. He makes recommendations for successful programs, and Kozol calls on college students and adults from all communities to hit the pavement to recruit for and to offer literacy programs.

Just coming off of the election where we either had the good fortune to be part of the grass roots effort or at least were witness to what can be achieved by people hitting getting out and working together for a common cause ... seeing something that seemed to be impossible come to fruition... I think that this book is worth reading in 2008. It will make you angry and it will make you sad but it may inspire readers to see where and how they can be of service in their community.

Burling Library LC 151 .K68 1985b

Kozol has written many books all on the theme of education and children:


Amazing Grace: The Lives of Children and the Conscience of A Nation.
HV875.57.N48 K69 1995.

Children of Revolution: A Yankee Teacher in the Cuban Schools. 1978
LA486 .K69.

Death at an Early Age: The Destruction of the Hearts and Minds of Negro Children in the Boston Public Schools.
LC2803.B7 K6 1967.

The Night is Dark and I am Far from Home.
LA217 .K69 1975.

On Being a Teacher. 1981
LA217 .K688.

Ordinary Resurrections: Children in the Years of Hope
HQ792.U5 K69x 2000.

Rachel and Her Children: Homeless Families in America
HV4505 .K69 1988.

Savage Inequalities: Children in America's Schools
LC4091 .K69 1991.

The Shame of the Nation: The Restoration of Apartheid Schooling
LC212.62 .K69 2005.