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highly recommended |
Quite informative 
I've read most of this book and I've enjoyed what I have read. The points John Tirman makes are valid ones and I think a lot of people should read this book.
The chapters are, necessarily short, and Mr. Tirman gets to the point quickly and concisely.
For those interested in combatting Americanism, this book is a good place to start.
a real head shaker 
This book could easily be misconstrued as a litany of whining. But John Tirman is a bright enough guy to have avoided that. He has worked in and out of the government for many years - it seems he knows his subjects well.
And it comes to pass that no one escapes Mr. Tirman's thunder - conservative, liberal, and everyone in between (although the Clinton's don't take as much heat as the heavy salvos directed at Bush One & Two).
Globalization; evangelism; consumerism; terrorism; Reaganism - from Fidel Castro to Paris Hilton, from SUV's to Vegas - the litany of screwups and new twists on old stupidites just keeps rolling along.
Each of these 100 vignettes is succinct and well delivered; the facts are cogent and convincing.
Yet what is glaringly missing are suggestions about undoing all this chronicled damage that "Americanism" has unleashed (although there is a 12 page addendum: 10 Things that America does right in the world).
Tirman should be credited with speaking out on this wide range of issues, most of them damaging to our credibility as the American people. Is it any wonder that the rest of the world is pissed off with the continuing arrogance and disrespect for their ways and cultures? After reading this book, one is left feeling a bit numb at how badly we have mismanaged our superpower role in the world.
This read is a real head shaker - and hopefully a wake up call.
The Cloud Reckoner
Extracts: A Field Guide for Iconoclasts
Needed by those who want to be in the know
The author sweeps across a very broad panorama of forces that cause America to damage both itself and others. Many of the topics covered are not (readily) found elsewhere, such as the limitations of NY Times and Washington Post reporting, the making of pre-adolescent girls into sex objects, and the highly questionable mushrooming of graduate schools. The book's format leads to succinct, understandable writing that repeatedly hits nails on the head and takes dead aim at the sick dysfunctionality wrought by George Bush and company. It also covers America's ideals, which are alive and well, even if eclipsed or in instances sabotaged by the destructive forces previously cited -- and are worth working to regain. Overall, well, and nicely, done.
An encyclopedic rundown of the American disease.
Any well-read person knows all that is between the covers of this book. Having said that however, because of its brevity and concise topics, this marvelous compendium of 21st century uniquely American disease symptoms qualifies as an extremely useful source book for the new millennium.
All of the familiar suspects are here: Las Vegas #85, consumerism #45, Reaganism #8 & #17, Wall Mart #10, etc, etc, etc. Obviously the reader will have thoughts about what was left out and what should not be there at all. The inclusion of SUVs #28 will no doubt cause as much outcry in America as was caused here when our former Prime Minister publically catigated these monsters some months ago for the same reasoms. Tirman was diplomatic enough not to even mention the engine driving many of his 100-the the onerous American style of capitalism or the Free Market or free enterprise, or whatever moniker the beast hides under. Virtually everyone of Tirman's 100 disease symptoms was mothered by this one evil-at least as it exists in the American variety.
Every evil in his book can be traced to a rampant market driven curse; there is too much of everything from bad Hollywood glamour #90 or gun stalls selling AK47s #37 to virtually anyone that wants one. Only days ago, Brazil voted down a proposition to curb gun sales. Why, because the National Rifleman's Association mounted a major campaign against the legislation-an American organization influncing political events in another country. Foreign interference like that would not be tolerated in Kansas or probably anywhere else in America.
This book brings all the problems together; if you read a newspaper and ever wonder how most of the world's problems started, get yourself this wonderful book and educate yourself. It will be money and time well spent.
A Hundred Different Perspectives
Be it 'AIPAC', 'Big Pharma', 'Consumerism' or 'Disney, Inc.', John Tirman's celebration of democracy provides the reader with much food for thought. In 'Altering the Earth's Climate' and 'Television', the leadoff chapters of 100 Ways America Is Screwing Up the World, the author sets the tone for his fascinating book and shows how a fresh perspective of some common topics can easily set your mind spinning.
Tirman is a well respected political scientist who has written widely on foreign policy, politics and human rights. This book takes a long look at broad range topics that you are probably well aware of but may never have really given them this kind of thought. His very personal style of writing makes each topic quite understandable and sensible at the same time. He also packs a lot into just a few pages on each subject. I have paraphrased some of his reflections on 'Agribusiness' below to provide you with what I feel is a good example.
'The lower cost of Government subsidized corn in the US has created an incentive for processed food manufacturers to substitute high-fructose corn syrup for other sugars, which now strongly correlates with obesity and an epidemic of diabetes that offsets any intended good of the subsidies. Genetically modified foods are sure to be another health-related problem of farm subsidies that's just over-the-horizon. And to make matters worse, such subsidies end up costing the developing world some $300 billion annually with actual assistance being only $50 billion! And just because Europe is as guilty as we are on these issues doesn't make it right.'
In 'We Don't Do Body Counts', Tirman shows how, with our current policy in the Middle East, we have callously attempted to deflect attention from the moral consequences of our war of choice, which are always inconvenient. It makes us remember the Vietnam Nightly News and the failure of past policies. 'America as Victim', 'Damsels in Distress', 'The Weapons Habit', 'The Killing Fields of Death Row'; the list goes on. Each topic is a masterpiece of insightful analysis. I feel that his discussion of 'Consumerism' should be required annual reading for people of all ages until 'we get it.'
As the current Executive Director of MIT's Center for International Studies, he is obviously no pessimist and he demonstrates that by ending this work on a positive note with a wrap-up called Ten Things America Does Right. I encourage you to read this book; it will definitely open your eyes.
Bob Magnant is the author of The Last Transition... - a fact-based novel about Iran, Iraq and the Middle East...
reviews: page 1, 2
What do George W. Bush, Wal-Mart, Halliburton, gangsta rap, and SUVs have in common? They're all among the hundred ways in which America is screwing up the world. The country that was responsible for many, if not most, of the twentieth century's most important scientific and technological advancements now demonizes its scientists and thinkers in the twenty-first, while dumbing down its youth with anti-Darwin/pro-"Intelligent Design" propaganda. The longtime paragon of personal freedoms now supports torture and illegal wiretapping—spreading its principles and policies at gunpoint while ruthlessly bombing the world with Big Macs and Mickey Mouse ears. At once serious-minded and satirical, John Tirman's 100 Ways America Is Screwing Up the World is an insightful, unabashed, entertaining, and distressing look at where we've gone terribly wrong—from the destruction of the environment to the promotion of abhorrent personal health and eating habits to the "wussification" of the free press—an alternately admonishing and amusing call to arms for patriotic Blue America.
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based on 6 reviews
