nemo
Jedi
Earlier this year I decided to learn a bit more on American History, which I knew mostly from fiction, various documentaries and, of course, the movies.
I wanted to get a better understanding of contemporary political happenings and felt the need for ... context. A while ago, after going through half a dozen books,
"A People`s History Of The United States (1492 - present)" by Howard Zinn was recommended to me by another SOTT-forumite.
I`m sure many of you`ve heard the name Howard Zinn. Some of you must have read the book. I`ve just finished it.
Howard Zinn, historian, social activist, teacher and writer, is a contemporary of Gore Vidal (both "served" in WW II;
Vidal deconstructs or "gores" The US gvmt from another angle). Zinn-interviews and lectures can be found on youtube.
The fundamental difference to other Histories is the fact that Zinn swaps the bird`s eye perspective (elite, court historians) with the frog`s eye perspective
(majority of people and discriminated minorities). The effect of American policy on the population is told from the viewpoint of "less equal" people like indians, blacks,
women, the majority of white people without property and other ethnic minorities like the Chinese.
This lucidly and unacademically written book (700 pages, small type, thin margins) leads the interested reader through half a millenium of suppression, perpetrated
by a relatively small oligarchy, beginning with Columbus`discovery of the "indians". This elite was never in total control (or were they?).
How they are achieving their pathological agenda is one of the stories in this book.
Zinn`s main point is that most positive social developments in America of the past centuries (from the pov of the many) came from the people through various grass
roots movements, strikes etc. rather than from "middle men" like lawyers, politicians etc. and certainly not from the top.
Among other things, we learn how this positive development was and is sabotaged by the wealthy few in wicked ways. For example, American Mainstream History
(as a topic) was intentionally introduced in the early government and business funded public educational system to generate patriotism in the people. This patriotism
was thought to be a prerequisite necessary for persuading the masses (who don`t care for war) to fight the elite`s wars, to distract them from the real problems and to
prevent the majority of people from bonding with minorities (who had more or less quite similiar problems like the many).
Zinn refrains from "conspiracy theories" (He doubts that FDR knew of the attack on Pearl Harbour in advance/He also goes along with the official 9.11. conspiracy theory),
which might be interpreted by some forumites as a weakness. I believe, that this is actually a strengh of this book for two reasons:
One, Zinn has more than enough to do by disclosing numerous lesser known conspiracies which are either omitted or merely mentioned in passing in Official History books;
Second, it`s an ideal Wake Up book for people with a conscience who are interested in History without being receptive for "conspiracies".
Those people will either wake up to "the terror" or dimiss it as socialist propaganda - those cannot be helped.
While he is clearly biased against a controlling elite, he refrains from judgement and simply delivers the goods: He gives us all those otherwise omitted historical "facts",
complete with a rich tapestry of original quotes from "the people".
A somewhat humerous alternative title could be: "How To Slaughter Holy Cows By The Dozen", since such is the effect of this book, that is, if you won`t criticize it
for being communist, un-american or plain evil.
I´m sure, most of the contends of this tome is not news for many forumites, which is not to say that they might not occasionally be surprised.
For those of us who are just getting started on reading the recommended material, Zinn`s book might be a great book to start with, especially when one has some
working knowledge of ponerology, which seems to be the key in understanding history.
Far from being a specialist on (any) History, I still cannot imagine a better single book to introduce one to the idea of the Terror of History.
Even though I got quite a number of shocks after having read the Wave series and myriad articles on SOTT, this harmlessly looking book managed to generate
a lot of negative feelings in me. Zinn`s story presents the skeletons in Mainstream History`s cupboard.
Just as a suggestion: Might this book earn a place in the SOTT Recommended History book list?
For ordering the book or reading less complimentary reviews, go to:
_http://www.amazon.com/Peoples-History-United-States-Present/dp/0060838655/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1224697389&sr=1-1
Fwiw, a German translation appeared in 2007:
_http://www.amazon.de/Eine-Geschichte-amerikanischen-Volkes-Gesamtausgabe/dp/3937623507/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1224697602&sr=1-1
Readers with less time might get a copy from the library and read only selected chapters.
I wanted to get a better understanding of contemporary political happenings and felt the need for ... context. A while ago, after going through half a dozen books,
"A People`s History Of The United States (1492 - present)" by Howard Zinn was recommended to me by another SOTT-forumite.
I`m sure many of you`ve heard the name Howard Zinn. Some of you must have read the book. I`ve just finished it.
Howard Zinn, historian, social activist, teacher and writer, is a contemporary of Gore Vidal (both "served" in WW II;
Vidal deconstructs or "gores" The US gvmt from another angle). Zinn-interviews and lectures can be found on youtube.
The fundamental difference to other Histories is the fact that Zinn swaps the bird`s eye perspective (elite, court historians) with the frog`s eye perspective
(majority of people and discriminated minorities). The effect of American policy on the population is told from the viewpoint of "less equal" people like indians, blacks,
women, the majority of white people without property and other ethnic minorities like the Chinese.
This lucidly and unacademically written book (700 pages, small type, thin margins) leads the interested reader through half a millenium of suppression, perpetrated
by a relatively small oligarchy, beginning with Columbus`discovery of the "indians". This elite was never in total control (or were they?).
How they are achieving their pathological agenda is one of the stories in this book.
Zinn`s main point is that most positive social developments in America of the past centuries (from the pov of the many) came from the people through various grass
roots movements, strikes etc. rather than from "middle men" like lawyers, politicians etc. and certainly not from the top.
Among other things, we learn how this positive development was and is sabotaged by the wealthy few in wicked ways. For example, American Mainstream History
(as a topic) was intentionally introduced in the early government and business funded public educational system to generate patriotism in the people. This patriotism
was thought to be a prerequisite necessary for persuading the masses (who don`t care for war) to fight the elite`s wars, to distract them from the real problems and to
prevent the majority of people from bonding with minorities (who had more or less quite similiar problems like the many).
Zinn refrains from "conspiracy theories" (He doubts that FDR knew of the attack on Pearl Harbour in advance/He also goes along with the official 9.11. conspiracy theory),
which might be interpreted by some forumites as a weakness. I believe, that this is actually a strengh of this book for two reasons:
One, Zinn has more than enough to do by disclosing numerous lesser known conspiracies which are either omitted or merely mentioned in passing in Official History books;
Second, it`s an ideal Wake Up book for people with a conscience who are interested in History without being receptive for "conspiracies".
Those people will either wake up to "the terror" or dimiss it as socialist propaganda - those cannot be helped.
While he is clearly biased against a controlling elite, he refrains from judgement and simply delivers the goods: He gives us all those otherwise omitted historical "facts",
complete with a rich tapestry of original quotes from "the people".
A somewhat humerous alternative title could be: "How To Slaughter Holy Cows By The Dozen", since such is the effect of this book, that is, if you won`t criticize it
for being communist, un-american or plain evil.
I´m sure, most of the contends of this tome is not news for many forumites, which is not to say that they might not occasionally be surprised.
For those of us who are just getting started on reading the recommended material, Zinn`s book might be a great book to start with, especially when one has some
working knowledge of ponerology, which seems to be the key in understanding history.
Far from being a specialist on (any) History, I still cannot imagine a better single book to introduce one to the idea of the Terror of History.
Even though I got quite a number of shocks after having read the Wave series and myriad articles on SOTT, this harmlessly looking book managed to generate
a lot of negative feelings in me. Zinn`s story presents the skeletons in Mainstream History`s cupboard.
Just as a suggestion: Might this book earn a place in the SOTT Recommended History book list?
For ordering the book or reading less complimentary reviews, go to:
_http://www.amazon.com/Peoples-History-United-States-Present/dp/0060838655/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1224697389&sr=1-1
Fwiw, a German translation appeared in 2007:
_http://www.amazon.de/Eine-Geschichte-amerikanischen-Volkes-Gesamtausgabe/dp/3937623507/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1224697602&sr=1-1
Readers with less time might get a copy from the library and read only selected chapters.
