A cogent argument for an economy benefiting working people.
A well-reasoned call for remaking economic policy to level the playing field for the dispossessed.
Aspen Institute fellow Foster, co-founder of the Economic Security Project, advocates for the Guarantee Framework, a series of reforms in which the “government of the wealthiest country on earth takes responsibility for ensuring that every American’s basic needs are met.” These basic needs include health care, housing, access to education, and so forth. Against those who would characterize this approach as socialism, Foster counters that American-style capitalism already grants numerous guarantees to the wealthy, such as property and patent rights. In any event, she adds, opposition to it is racist, given that so many of those who would immediately benefit from such guarantees are people of color. At heart is the argument for a guaranteed income, a basic tenet of “an economy that works for everyone.” Elaborating on a crowdsourced agenda called the “Contract for the American Dream,” Foster adds more planks to the platform: taxing the very wealthy at higher rates, forgiving student loans, protecting renters from groundless evictions, building affordable housing, and so on. Along with those ideas, the author considers bills proposed by Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, and others that would give workers greater representation in corporate decision-making and, in Sanders’ case, “require large businesses to direct a portion of their stocks into a worker-controlled fund.” Naturally, she notes, the present Congress is generally ill disposed toward such equity, though it can move when it wants to: In 2020, in the throes of the pandemic and its economic shock, Congress passed a bill providing emergency financial assistance to “vulnerable communities.” What remains, Foster suggests in this evenhanded discussion, is to enshrine the rest of the Guarantee Framework to protect just those communities on every front.
A cogent argument for an economy benefiting working people.Pub Date: April 23, 2024
ISBN: 9781620978467
Page Count: 288
Publisher: The New Press
Review Posted Online: March 9, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2024
An important dialogue at a fraught time, emphasizing mutual candor, curiosity, and respect.
Two bestselling authors engage in an enlightening back-and-forth about Jewishness and antisemitism.
Acho, author of Uncomfortable Conversations With a Black Man, and Tishby, author of Israel: A Simple Guide to the Most Misunderstood Country on Earth, discuss many of the searing issues for Jews today, delving into whether Jewishness is a religion, culture, ethnicity, or community—or all of the above. As Tishby points out, unlike in Christianity, one can be comfortably atheist and still be considered a Jew. She defines Judaism as a “big tent” religion with four main elements: religion, peoplehood, nationhood, and the idea of tikkun olam (“repairing the world through our actions”). She addresses candidly the hurtful stereotypes about Jews (that they are rich and powerful) that Acho grew up with in Dallas and how Jews internalize these antisemitic judgments. Moreover, Tishby notes, “it is literally impossible to be Jewish and not have any connection with Israel, and I’m not talking about borders or a dot on the map. Judaism…is an indigenous religion.” Acho wonders if one can legitimately criticize “Jewish people and their ideologies” without being antisemitic, and Tishby offers ways to check whether one’s criticism of Jews or Zionism is antisemitic or factually straightforward. The authors also touch on the deteriorating relationship between Black and Jewish Americans, despite their historically close alliance during the civil rights era. “As long as Jewish people get to benefit from appearing white while Black people have to suffer for being Black, there will always be resentment,” notes Acho. “Because the same thing that grants you all access—your skin color—is what grants us pain and punishment in perpetuity.” Finally, the authors underscore the importance of being mutual allies, and they conclude with helpful indexes on vernacular terms and customs.
An important dialogue at a fraught time, emphasizing mutual candor, curiosity, and respect.Pub Date: April 30, 2024
ISBN: 9781668057858
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Simon Element
Review Posted Online: March 13, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A fierce, penetrating, and empowering call for change.
Artist and activist Vaid-Menon demonstrates how the normativity of the gender binary represses creativity and inflicts physical and emotional violence.
The author, whose parents emigrated from India, writes about how enforcement of the gender binary begins before birth and affects people in all stages of life, with people of color being especially vulnerable due to Western conceptions of gender as binary. Gender assignments create a narrative for how a person should behave, what they are allowed to like or wear, and how they express themself. Punishment of nonconformity leads to an inseparable link between gender and shame. Vaid-Menon challenges familiar arguments against gender nonconformity, breaking them down into four categories—dismissal, inconvenience, biology, and the slippery slope (fear of the consequences of acceptance). Headers in bold font create an accessible navigation experience from one analysis to the next. The prose maintains a conversational tone that feels as intimate and vulnerable as talking with a best friend. At the same time, the author's turns of phrase in moments of deep insight ring with precision and poetry. In one reflection, they write, “the most lethal part of the human body is not the fist; it is the eye. What people see and how people see it has everything to do with power.” While this short essay speaks honestly of pain and injustice, it concludes with encouragement and an invitation into a future that celebrates transformation.
A fierce, penetrating, and empowering call for change. (writing prompt) (Nonfiction. 14-adult)Pub Date: June 2, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-593-09465-5
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Penguin Workshop
Review Posted Online: March 14, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2020
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
bookshelf
