Monday, October 26, 2009

Recovery Realism or Post-Crash Realism


Image licensed under Creative Commons by conorwithonen

Recovery Realism / Post-Crash Realism http://bit.ly/2XwdVo Recovery Realism / Post-Crash Realism: The portmanteau(s) of Recovery 2009-2010 / Post-Crash 2009 and Critical Realism. We just have to say that we feel vindicated. What we seek to promote here is a "new" version of critical realism. This branch of philosophy is largely based on the teachings (yes, teachings...) of the likes of: Larry Klayman, Joseph Grano, John Derbyshire , Larry McDonald and (most importantly...) Barbara Ehrenreich. These folks are teaching us (largely through their appearances promoting their books on Book TV).
Though Mr. Klayman comes across as a little cranky, we really appreciate his informative views and look forward to following him through various media outlets. Mr. Klayman is also the founder of Judicial Watch and Freedom Watch. We tend to agree with Mr. Klayman's observations that the American political, judicial and court systems are largely corrupt. We admit that we have experienced some of that corruption firsthand. We hope you pick up a copy of Mr. Klayman's book: Whores: Why and How I Came to Fight the Establishment‎.
Joseph Grano gave an excellent presentation on Book TV regarding his work; You Can’t Predict a Hero. Although it relates mainly to the 911 tragedy (we prefer the term atrocities...), Mr. Grano still makes very fine and high-minded points about the role of upper management in crisis. Mr. Grano is a decorated veteran.
Mr. Derbyshire appears to be a likeable, curmudgeonly, largely unapologetic, unabashed conservative thinker with background in the sciences and maths. Mr. Derbyshire largely uses scientific data and empiricism to convincingly make his conservative arguments. Mr. Derbyshire might be seen as abrasive and counter intuitive to some, but he does make some very intelligent points. A largely bemused, but still affable Alan Colmes delightfully appears with Mr. Derbyshire after presenting his book: We Are Doomed: Reclaiming Conservative Pessimism.
Their pithy arguments related more by realism than by context, Barbara Ehrenreich (on the negative aspects of positive thinking) and Lawrence McDonald (how positive thinking brought down Lehman Brothers, and possibly all of Wall Street...). Both persons' arguments are solidly related by their negative position on positive thinking and the negative effects of corporate positive thinking on us all. Positive thinking probably brought down Lehman Brothers, the financial and housing markets, your employer, your job, your career, your 401k, your stock portfolio, your pension, your home, your entire city (see: Urban Wasteland...) and state. And, this power of positive thinking's negative aspects is still at work. Time for a dose of reality. Read Ms. Ehrenreich (Bright-Sided) and Mr. McDonald (A Colossal Failure of Common Sense). Our editors, too, have lost jobs over this extremely pernicious presence of 'positive thinking'. Thanks to Book TV and these authors for bringing us a much needed dose of reality. We just hope that the people pick up on this trend and fight for it or against it.


Please note: The editors and authors have received no endorsements from these authors, their publishers, and so on...

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