Customer Reviews:
this book does have a lot to do with libertarian socialism.......2004-07-29
First off, if you are not sure what libertarian socialism is it is the left wing view that extends from left wing marxism through anarchism, and this book has a lot to do with the footholds of these views. With his speaking of "when work is external from the worker" and so on. and just his overall speaking of the need to strongly decrease the power of the state. He is not over concerned with "private rights", but writing this soo long ago he had no conception of what "private person" would be reinterpreted as. I think he would have agreed to limit these powers too, so it seems to me that he has a lot to do with libertarian socialism in a very indirect way
Humboldt and Mill: Classical Liberalism.......2004-03-02
I feel a sense of responsibility and urgency to write this review in regards to what the only other reviewer of the Liberty edition has submitted: Wilhelm von Humboldt has nothing to do with "Libertarian socialism" - that statement is simply oxymoronic. Here is what Humboldt speaks to in this particular volume:
1.) The development of classical liberalism in Europe at the turn of the nineteenth century.
2.) The role of liberty in the development of the individual.
3.) The necessary criteria to be met in allowing the state to limit individual actions.
4.) The manner in which it is prudent to confine the state to its proper role.
F.A. Hayek, who utterly rejected socialism, considered Humboldt to be Germany's greatest philosopher of freedom. Humboldt's purpose was to juxtapose the ancient ideals of a pursuit for excellence with the concept of negative liberty - which was later elucidated by Isaiah Berlin. If you are interested in the foundations of classical liberalism, I would suggest reading the works of Hayek, Humboldt, Hobhouse, Collingwood, Berlin, Oakeshott, and Mill. However, if you are interested in socialism I would recommend reading Marx, Proudhon, Feuerbach, Hegel, Rousseau, Richard Pipes' "Property and Freedom," Joshua Muravchik's "Heaven on Earth," and especially, "News from Nowhere," by William Morris.
insight into the philosophy of libertarian socialism.......2000-06-20
In "The Limits of State Action" Enlightenment thinker Wilhelm von Humboldt describes the leading principle of his thought as being the essential importance of human development in its richest diversity - a principle that is not only undermined by the narrow search for efficiency through division of labour, but by wage labour itself.
Humboldt espouses the libertarian view that whatever labour "does not spring from a man's free choice, or is only the result of instruction and guidance, does not enter into his very nature; he does not perform it with truly human energies, but merely with mechanical exactness"; when the labourer works under external control, "we may admire what he does, but we despise what he is."
Essentially anticapitalist in its nature,"The Limits of State Action" provides insight into the philosophy of libertarian socialism, anarchy and educational reform. Fascinating reading.
Book Description
In Overseers of the Poor, John Gilliom confronts the everyday politics of surveillance by exploring the worlds and words of those who know it best-the watched. Arguing that the current public conversation about surveillance and privacy rights is rife with political and conceptual failings, Gilliom goes beyond the critics and analysts to add fresh voices, insights, and perspectives.
This powerful book lets us in on the conversations of low-income mothers from Appalachian Ohio as they talk about the welfare bureaucracy and its remarkably advanced surveillance system. In their struggle to care for their families, these women are monitored and assessed through a vast network of supercomputers, caseworkers, fraud control agents, and even grocers and neighbors.
In-depth interviews show that these women focus less on the right to privacy than on a critique of surveillance that lays bare the personal and political conflicts with which they live. And, while they have little interest in conventional forms of politics, we see widespread patterns of everyday resistance as they subvert the surveillance regime when they feel it prevents them from being good parents. Ultimately, Overseers of the Poor demonstrates the need to reconceive not just our understanding of the surveillance-privacy debate but also the broader realms of language, participation, and the politics of rights.
We all know that our lives are being watched more than ever before. As we struggle to understand and confront this new order, Gilliom argues, we need to spend less time talking about privacy rights, legislatures, and courts of law and more time talking about power, domination, and the ongoing struggles of everyday people.
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Limits to Globalization: Welfare States and the World Economy
Stephan Leibfried
Manufacturer: Polity Press
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ASIN: 0745628516 |
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In this exciting new book, Rieger and Leibfried argue persuasively for the need to understand developments in welfare and social provision alongside the processes of globalization. In the two decades following the Second World War, the massive expansion of the welfare state system arguably allowed Western governments to expose their societies to uncontrollable external risks associated with the deregulated global economic environment. The authors contend that the combination of changes in welfare and technological innovation provided the necessary conditions for globalization by limiting some of the more harmful effects of economic change. Today, the developed welfare state is in need of reform for various endogenous reasons. If such reforms are to work effectively, however, Rieger and Leibfried claim that governments must take into account the complex ways in which domestic social policy and external economic policy are interconnected. They maintain that the present climate provides a unique opportunity for policy-makers to engage constructively with globalization, warning that failure to think creatively about welfare in this context could result in governments falling back into an unhelpful and out-moded protectionist stance. Drawing on case studies from Germany and the United States, Rieger and Leibfried show how welfare reform has worked in practice in the Western world. Contrasting these findings with the experience of East Asian states, they go on to argue that whilst welfare systems may appear to be similar, they function in different ways depending on the cultural setting. These cultural differences may condition the way in which welfare state regimes are able to mitigate the effects of globalization upon particular societies and economies.
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From Warfare State to Welfare State: World War I, Compensatory State Building, and the Limits of the Modern Order
Marc Allen Eisner
Manufacturer: Pennsylvania State University Press
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ASIN: 0271019964 |
Book Description
When American history is divided into discrete eras, the New Deal stands, along with the Civil War, as one of those distinctive events that forever change the trajectory of the nation's development. The story of the New Deal provides a convenient tool of periodization and a means of interpreting U.S. history and the significance of contemporary political cleavages. Eisner's careful examination of the historical record, however, leads one to the conclusion that there was precious little "new" in the New Deal. If one wishes to find an event that was clearly transformative, the author argues, one must go back to World War I.
From Warfare to Welfare State reveals that the federal government lagged far behind the private sector in institutional development in the early twentieth century. In order to cope with the crisis of war, government leaders opted to pursue a path of "compensatory state-building" by seeking out alliances with private-sector associations. But these associations pursued their own interests in a way that imposed severe constraints on the government's autonomy and effectiveness in dealing with the country's problems--a handicap that accounts for many of the shortcomings of government today.
Average customer rating:
- pretty good read..its all about being honest
- accepting limits
- Good book, and the author is nothing if not honest
- Read but don't think it has to be so for you
- An important perspective, yet it should not be generalized
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The Limits of Hope: An Adoptive Mother's Story
Ann Kimble Loux
Manufacturer: University of Virginia Press
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An Unlit Path
ASIN: 0813917107 |
Customer Reviews:
pretty good read..its all about being honest .......2007-08-23
This book was very interesting. The author seems ot have a big heart, yet is very weeary about the girls she adopts. They came from a disturbing background. But sometimes love isn't enough. The trials and tribulations that this family went through ,according to the author, were tough. However, she is very honest and tells the story of how much she has tried to do all that she can to help these girls in their life.
It is a great read for those considering adoption or foster parenting.
accepting limits.......2004-09-02
In many ways the authors eperiences are scary in their simularity to mine. My wife and I adopted two little girls, age 4-5 at the time, from the county after taking months of parenting classes and being given access to all the information that the county had available.... Still we had no realistic idea of how difficult it was going to be and how radically our lives would change. It was like trying to heard cats, they were extreamly impulsive, rebellous and raged at us for everything wrong in their lives, often including physical abuse of us and our house. A few years later we had an unexpected biological child who is in most ways just the opposite of J n L and things really got lively, runnaway, theft, drug and alchol use. At about age 14 we borrowed enough to send the eldest from a mental hospital to a behavior modification program in Utah. She spent about 1.5 years there, it did not make her a "model Child" but did change the direction of her life. Upon her return she made a serious suicide attempt and my wife, declaring she had had enough, took the youngest child and left me with the two adoptive teenagers.
At about this time my mother in law loaned us a copy of "The Limits of Hope", it was a real eye opener for me because her eperiences were so simular to ours. I did not reach the conclusion that a group home would be better for them, we had tried that with the oldest, she just ran away at will from them like she did us, but it did help me to understand that it is not realistic to expect them to be like their younger sister and to try a different direction. I lifted the thousand and one rules, complete with rewards and punishments, that we had imposed in a failed attempt to provide "structure" and just settled for open communication and letting them suffer the consiaquences of their own actions. I have had to bail both of them out at one time or another, wound up home schooling them both but the anger level has gradually subsided as they learn to take charge of their own lives. The eldest is now a sophmore in college and the youngest.....I still have hope, limited of course.
So, while I reached some different conclusions than the author, the book came to me at a critical time in my life and helped me understand that I needed to see my adoptive children as they are, not as I/we wished them to be. And, it helped me admit to myself and them that I did feel differently about them than I do about their sister and give up the romatic notion that we can treat all of them the same and expect the same results.
Good book, and the author is nothing if not honest.......2004-02-09
The girls who were adopted were not yet 3 and 4 years old, so it is easy to see how optimistic the author was being to readily adopt them. I can't see how the mother giving up a career to sit at home with her kids would be any more helpful to these girls. (She had 3 biological children in the same age range who faired well with her working part time). If anything, it enlightens readers to just much the first few years of life can impact the character and psyche of a child. In this case, the differences between the biological children and the adopted girls were huge. However, in my personal experience, children being reared from birth by the same parents can also have have huge differences in their behaviors.
I feel that the author was just being brutally honest in her assessments of these two girls. I would recommend this book to anyone, but would hope it didn't dissuade anyone from pursuing adopting an older child. Just remember that, unlike many wards of the court who have physical limitations clearly outlined, some children have suffered abuse that may not be clear for months or even years. It is a commitment, to say the least. Also, the time frame is relevant. In current times, these children are studied and tested, and their histories are reported openly before adoption is considered. I know this, because I have looked into adopting an older child.
Read but don't think it has to be so for you.......2003-09-11
It is impossible not to be disturbed and deeply moved by the inescapable trauma the two abused girls caused the author's family (and the inescapable trauma the children had been exposed to prior to adoption). Those of us who have not experienced such a situation think it harsh for the author to challenge the notion that a stable home environment is always the best answer for abused or neglected children. Not having walked in the author's shoes, we may be quick to say that Ms. Loux's family wasn't the right family to cope with the two seemingly incorrigible girls. I am unwilling to make that judgment, but I do wonder whether Ms. Loux and her husband, who had full time careers, should have ventured into adopting older children who can be presumed to have suffered damage. The children must, in essence, have been raised by babysitters or other caretakers rather than by Ms. Loux. I am also wondering how much time Ms. Loux spent with her children's school teachers and whether there was adequate therapeutic intervention for the children and the family as a whole. All this would have required ongoing attention by Ms. Loux, and it is difficult to see whether a dual career family can meet the needs of abused children. Yet, I observed a neighbor who had adopted a seven-year old girl from a severely abusive home, and the adoptive parents did everything imaginable, including full-time care by the adoptive mother, to rescue this little girl. We tried to help too. Still, the girl went down an unstoppable path of self-destruction that included pregnancies, drug use, prostitution and ultimately lingering in prison with AIDS. This adoptive mother does not go so far as Ms. Loux in saying that 'her daughters have earned respect for their lifestyles and choices...She (Margey) keeps all the money she makes from prostitution to buy drugs.' To respect this life style must surely be the limits of hope for this adoptive couple. It is sad all the way around, but this book should not keep other prospective parents from adopting older children. Each situation is different.
Gisela Gasper Fitzgerald, ADOPTION: An Open, Semi-Open or Closed Practice?
An important perspective, yet it should not be generalized.......2000-11-04
Ann Kimble Loux's book, The Limits of Hope, is the story of her adoption of two girls, ages three and four, after she and her husband had had three biological children. It will no doubt be read by many people in many different ways. Some will come away with a sense of outrage at a system that would place children with a traumatic history with a family and fail to convey to them any of that history. Some will be outraged at the lack of preparation the family had prior to taking on the challenge of raising two such damaged children. Some will be shocked at the apparent inability of an upper middle-class family, with highly educated parents, to get access to appropriate information and services they needed for their children. Yet others will be heartened to read of a family that stuck with their difficult children, when so many such adoptions are disrupted (i.e., the adoption fails and the child is back in "the system").
At the time when Ms. Loux adopted her daughters, it was common thought that even children with traumatic histories would be fine as long as they were given some stability and love. It was also common practice not to disclose to the adopting family any confidential information about the children's prior life. This has changed. We now know that early childhood trauma is not something that will just heal itself (for most children), and prior to the adoption of older children, comprehensive information about their backgrounds and histories is given to the adoptive family. However, much of what Ms. Loux has to say about her experience is still relevant. More and more, older and older children are being placed with families for adoption. It can be a lifeline for those children - but the families need to understand what they are undertaking. Ms. Loux seems to believe that these children probably cannot be raised in families, because she views her children's adoption as, essentially, a failure. While her assessment of her family's experience is no doubt accurate, I would take issue with generalizing it to the entire population of hurt children who are finding loving, permanent families.
There is practically no discussion in the book about how Ms. Loux dealt with the schools - no individual education plan meetings mentioned, no special education. There is little mention of therapeutic services for the children or the family as a whole. These are serious omissions, either in the book or in the provision of care to the girls. Clearly, children with as many problems as these children had needed therapeutic intervention and special education services. If the omission is in the book, it is a shame, because information on dealing with these service providers is invaluable for parents with special needs children (and virtually all older adopted children have special needs). If the omission is in the care, it is disturbing: Ms. Loux and her husband were both educators, and her brother is a psychiatrist. It was difficult to understand, while reading the book, why Ms. Loux was not getting more, and earlier, help from her brother, and why the family was not receiving more services.
The tone of the book was relentlessly despairing. I could not help but wonder whether there was no joy in the family's life. Was the negativity the result of the difficulties, did it contribute to it, or was it part of a spiral over which no one was able to gain control? I also had no sense of how the presence of the adopted children affected the biological children, or the parents as a couple, and those are things that would have been of great interest to readers. As a parent of one child adopted "through the system" and two biological children, I wanted to read about the ways the adopted and biological children affected each other - both good and bad. Another issue which would have been important to address is that of the dual career family. Both Ms. Loux and her husband had full time careers. It is possible that a dual career family cannot meet the needs of children who are suffering the effects of early childhood trauma. It may be that someone needs to be more available: both to the children on a day-to-day basis, and to the schools, the therapists, and when necessary, hospitals and partial hospitalization programs.
For families who are considering adopting an older child, or who have already done so, this book is important in that it points out, with brutal clarity, the difficulties that they may face. What is missing is the positive aspects of such adoption: despite the extraordinary difficulty of raising such children, there are the moments of joy, of accomplishment, of triumph. While Ms. Loux at times bemoans her inability to have adjusted her hopes and expectations to the reality of who her children were, she does not seem, even now, to have come to peace with the fact that their dreams are not the same as her dreams for them. All parents have to come to terms with that; even more so adoptive parents of older children. Prospective adoptive families need to hear: "Your life will change in ways you cannot imagine. You must think carefully about your biological children and how this will affect them. But if you hang in there with your child, and can be proud of his/her victories, however small, because they are his/hers, if you can focus on your child and his/her needs and wants, you may save a life, and enrich your own." Ms. Loux has made it clear, however, that if people think that they can adopt children whose early lives have been traumatic and incorporate them into a "normal" upper middle-class home with little upheaval, they are setting up everyone - the parents, the families, and the children - for a terrible fall.
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Communication, Citizenship, and Social Policy: Rethinking the Limits of the Welfare State (Critical Media Studies, Institutions, Politics and Culture)
Andrew Burgelman, Jean-Claude Calabrese
Manufacturer: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
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Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 0847691071 |
Book Description
Communication, Citizenship, and Social Policy examines issues of communication technology, neoliberal economic policies, public service media, media access, social movements and political communication, the geography of communication, and global media development and policy, among others, and shows how progressive policymakers must use these bases to confront more directly the debates on contemporary welfare theory and politics.
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Growth to Limits: The Western European Welfare States Since World War II : Germany, United Kingdom, Ireland, Italy (Growth to Limits)
Manufacturer: Walter De Gruyter Inc
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Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 3110111314 |
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Limits of Government
Joseph Johnston
Manufacturer: Regnery Publishing, Inc.
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ASIN: 0895266539 |
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Johnston illustrated the dangers free societies run into when they do not limit government power.
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The Limits of Social Policy
Nathan Glazer
Manufacturer: Harvard University Press
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ASIN: 0674534433 |
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Build a Web Site in a Day: An 8-Hour Plan for Launching & Promoting Your Site
Thomas Wrona , and
Elisabeth Parker
Manufacturer: Ventana Communications Group
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ASIN: 1566045142 |
Book Description
Focuses on getting a site up quickly and cheaply. Presents a unique approach to subject matter, combining technical training with practical advice. Explains the anatomy of a Web site with the use of text files, graphics, and transmitting files to an ISP, Demonstrates how to manage a Web site by organizing files, troubleshooting, using browsers, and checking links. Covers how to promote a Web site by registering with search engines and marketing using newsgroups, email, and other Web sites.
Book Description
Many excellent books teach God's principles of finance. Perhaps one or more of them has helped you lay a strong biblical foundation for carrying out your money management responsibilities. But as you try to apply those principles to making real-life investing decisions, it's easy to feel overwhelmed by jargon and the sheer number of investment possibilities.
Sound Mind Investing is a carefully created "next step" guide that helps you put Godly principles of finance in motion. Whether you're a beginner or an experienced investor, you'll benefit from stepping across this bridge between "theory" and "action". Each user-friendly lesson is written in everyday English and filled with helpful visual aids.
The first edition of Sound Mind Investing was a Gold Medallion Book Award finalist in 1994, and won the endorsements of such respected Christian teachers as Larry Burkett, Ron Blue, Adrian Rogers, Charles Stanley, and others.
This book can help you chart your financial future by using the same concepts that have made Austin's newsletter America's best-selling investment newsletter written from a biblical perspective. Whether you invest a little or a lot, these biblical principles apply to you. In short, he's made learning about investing as painless as it's going to get.
Customer Reviews:
Still a Good Source of Financial Advice.......2006-08-14
Yes, things have changed in financial investing since the book was published in 1993. However, the practical biblical wisdom is still appropriate.
Among the investing that still apply today that Austin Pryor mentions include:
1. A Biblical Blueprint for Building Your Financial House on Solid Rock.
2. Investing That Glorifies God and Values His Majesty.
3. Investing That Glorifies God and Builds His Kingdom.
4. Investing That Glorifies God and Upholds His Righteousness.
5. Investing That Glorifies God and Seeks His Wisdom.
6. Investing That Glorifies God and Enjoys His Blessings.
Again, while investing has changed some since the book was published around 13 years ago, the biblical principles mentioned in the book are still relevant and will still be years down the road.
Read and heed the wisdom found in this book. Recommended.
Managing Money with a Sound Mind.......2003-02-18
In the foreward of the third edition of "Sound Mind Investing", Larry Burkett writes "...I endorse the integrity and honesty of Austin Pryor. Obviously you, the reader, must evaluate his advice yourself. No one individual has the right advice for everyone, and anyone can, and will, be wrong in the changing economy we live in. But if you will spend the time to read carefully the counsel Austin provides in this book, you will find it both time and money well spent."
I agree wholeheartedly. After having read numerous introductory texts on money-management from a Christian perspective, this book is the most comprehensive and readable text of the lot.
Austin's book is divided into 6 Sections:
1) Getting Debt-free. The author considers this the first level of financial fitness, an equivalent of laying a proper foundation upon which to build. At this early point in the text, he discusses the importance of tithing in your plan. Austin writes "we are not commanded to give generously. Rather, our giving is a test of sincerity of our love and our willingness to trust in God's utter faithfulness" (based upon 2Cor 8:8,9:8). Austin goes on to say "When you pray about your giving, may I encourage you to give to the full measure of your gratitude and cheerfulness. And continue to ask God to enlarge your heart toward Him so you can eagerly embrace the sacrifice needed to give all the more."
In addition, budgeting as well as the dangers associated with the misuse of credit cards are discussed.
2) Saving for Future Needs. This includes the principles of saving money in a secure, low-risk emergency fund (financial planners recommend 3 to 6 months living expenses; Austin recommends $10,000) as well as in an accumulation fund for big-ticket items that you anticipate purchasing within 1 to 5 years. He also includes advice on preparing to help your children to finance their college or technical education. He believes that, if parents have the financial means, they should consider helping with the expenses of a college education for their children. Emphasis is given to the benefits of investing for your children's education as early as possible. Powerful examples are given. Note that Austin believes that children should be responsible for a portion of their educational expenses as well. Advice on where to invest this money is given, including but not limited to Ed IRAs and 529 plans.
3) Investing Your Surplus. Once you are debt-free and have adequate savings in an emergency fund, the author believes you can then begin to take educated risks by investing your surplus in mutual funds. This section is a primer on investment basics and mutual funds.
4) Diversifying for Safety. Austin is a strong proponent of building an age-appropriate,diversified portfolio through mutual fund investing. For the typical investor, he advocates "dollar-cost-averaging" or "value-averaging" strategies versus market-timing strategies, although he does admit venturing into market-timing strategies in his personal investment approach (He did this professionally in the past, but does not recommend market-timing for the average investor. Reasons are given). This book includes a short quiz that enables the reader to see what their personal tolerance is for investment risk. Once you determine your tolerance level, Austin leads you through determining your appropriate portfolio mix and shows you how your mix should change as you go through the various financial stages of your life.
5) Retirement Countdown. Austin wants his readers to have a realistic view of their needs for retirement. He discusses how to properly lower your investment risk as retirement approaches.
6) Investing that Glorifies God. The book ends with a section entitled "Investing that Glorifies God, a Biblical Blueprint for Building Your Financial House on Solid Rock". This section is priceless. Austin essentially reminds the reader of the importance of an eternal perspective, and that our investing should glorify God by acknowledging His sovereignty, valuing His majesty, building His Kingdom, upholding His righteousness, seeking His wisdom, and enjoying His blessing.
Please consider the counsel given in this book. I have and it has changed my financial life.
Highly Recommended.......2001-07-18
This is an awesome book! It is helpful for the beginner as well as someone who already has a "foundational" knowledge of finance. It is easy to read and understand and yet gives you a wealth of information. I read it cover to cover and even now often find myself using it as reference for making financial decisions. A must have for anyone interested in getting their financial house in order in a manner that is honoring to God. Worth every penny and more!
Sound Mind Investing is great.......2001-07-07
After trying to invest on my own,with mixed results; I've come to have a real admiration for the years of solid experience and great insight in Sound Mind Investing. The market perspective, great research and wonderful world view rate this book tops for me.
SOUND MIND INVESTING HAS HELPED OUR FAMILY.......2001-07-02
Austin Pryor teaches all of the basics of investing in this one book. The principles he teaches have already helped me. I trust his wisdom and knowledge. This book is well worth the money you'll spend for it.
Customer Reviews:
Excellent.......1999-09-01
Having read twenty or thirty investment books, this one has got to be one of the best introductory to advanced texts I've seen. It is an extremely easy read and a great reference book. I especially like the author's highlighting of the most important concepts in each section.
Excellent!!! Austin Pryor explains everything clearly........1998-07-07
This is a must read for anyone wondering about investing or retirement plans. Mr. Pryor gives a step by step plan to make and then meet your financial goals. He clearly explains all forms of investments with their risks and benefits. If you have any questions about investing, Mr. Pryor explains everything in a simple to understand manner. If you are old enough to earn money, this book is worth investing in. I wish I had read this years ago.
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- Vacation and Second Homes: 465 Designs for Recreation, Retirement and Leisure Living: Under 500 Square Feet to over 5000 Square Feet
Books Index
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