Newsgroup: it.discussioni.misteri
Titolo: Consiglio libro

Per chi legge l'inglese: "How mumbo-jumbo conquered the world" - una
panoramica sulla fuffa in ogni campo, dall'economia (la trickle-down
economy di Reagan, che adesso viene riproposta in Italia da un signore
basso e calvo, 20 anni dopo che ha fallito in USA), al self-improvement,
dalla new-age alle dot-com
Molto divertente e illuminante (Serni, se ti fai vedere da queste parti te
lo presto)
-- 
Hackers do it with all sorts of characters.

 dalla new-age alle dot-com
Si trova in qualche libreria specifica in Italia o meglio andare
direttamente su Amazon ?
ciao
PaZ

 direttamente su Amazon ?
Non ho idea se si trovi in Italia - io l'ho visto per caso in aeroporto,
m'ero fermato a comprare il giornale dopo aver accompagnato mio padre che
tornava in Italia.
Quando ero ancora li', Feltrinelli aveva un reparto ordini esteri
ragionevolmente disponibile ed efficiente (parlo della libreria di Bari,
immagino che le altre non fossero da meno), magari puoi provare con loro.
L'autore si chiama Francis Wheen e l'editore e' Harper Collins.
Eugenio
-- 
Anxiety, n.:
        The first time you can't do it a second time.
Panic, n.:
        The second time you can't do it the first time.

 L'autore si chiama Francis Wheen e l'editore e' Harper Collins.
Grazie,
PaZ

 wrote in message
news:m9pgd.223833$35.10...@news4.tin.it...

Lo trovi su Amazon senza problemi e qui un piccolo estratto:
1. "God is on our side"
George W Bush thinks so, as do Tony Blair and Osama bin Laden and an
alarmingly high percentage of other important figures in today's world.
After September 11 2001 Blair claimed that religion was the solution not the
problem, since "Jews, Muslims and Christians are all children of Abraham" -
unaware that the example of Abraham was also cited by Mohammed Atta,
hijacker of the one of the planes that shattered the New York skyline. RH
Tawney wrote in Religion and the Rise of Capitalism that "modern social
theory, like modern political theory, developed only when society was given
a naturalistic instead of a religious explanation". In which case modern
social and political theory would now seem to be dead.
2. The market is rational
Financial sophisticates in the 21st century smile at the madness of the
South Sea Bubble or the absurdity of the Dutch tulip craze. Yet only a few
years ago they scrambled and jostled to buy shares in dotcom companies which
had no earnings at all nor any prospect of ever turning a profit. To justify
this apparent insanity, they maintained that such a revolutionary business
as the internet required a new business model in which balance sheets were
irrelevant. In short, they thought they had repealed the laws of financial
gravity - until they came crashing down to earth.
3. There is no such thing as reality
Hence the inverted commas which postmodernists invariably place round the
word. They see everything from history to quantum physics as a text, subject
to the "infinite play of signification". But if all notions of truth and
falsity cease to have any validity, how can one combat bogus ideas - or
indeed outright lies? There is, for instance, a mass of carefully empirical
research on the Nazi extermination of the Jews. As Professor Richard Evans
points out, "To regard it as fictional, unreal or no nearer to historical
reality than, say, the work of the 'revisionists' who deny that Auschwitz
ever happened at all, is simply wrong. Here is an issue where evidence
really counts, and can be used to establish the essential facts. Auschwitz
was not a discourse."
4. We mustn't be "judgmental"
In 2002 the Guardian revealed that Christian fundamentalists had taken
control of a state-funded school in Gateshead and were striving to "show the
superiority" of creationist beliefs in their classes. When Jenny Tonge MP
asked Tony Blair if he was happy that the Book of Genesis was now being
promoted as the most reliable biology textbook, he replied: "Yes. . . In the
end a more diverse school system will deliver better results for our
children." This is the enfeebling consequence of unthinking cultural and
intellectual relativism. If some schools start teaching that the moon is
made of Swiss cheese or that the stars are God's daisy chain, no doubt that
too will be officially welcomed as a healthy sign of educational diversity.
5. Laissez-faire capitalism is the prerequisite for trade and prosperity
The International Monetary Fund may say so, as it imposes Thatcher-style
solutions all over the world, but its own figures tell a different story.
Its report on The World Economy in the 20th Century", published in 2000,
includes a graph - printed very small, perhaps in the hope that no one would
notice - which shows that the pre-Thatcherite period between 1950 and 1973
was by far the most successful of the century. This was an era characterised
by capital controls, fixed exchange rates, strong trade unions, a large
public sector and a general acceptance of government's role in demand
management. The average annual growth in "per capita real GDP" throughout
the world was 2.9% - precisely twice as high as the average rate in the two
decades since then.
6. Astrology and similar delusions are "harmless fun"
Those who say this never explain what is either funny or harmless in
promoting a con-trick which preys on ignorance and anxiety. Yet even the
Observer, Britain's most venerable and enlightened Sunday newspaper, now has
a horoscope page.
7. Thin air is solid
Charles Leadbeater's book Living on Thin Air (1999), a starry-eyed guide to
the "weightless economy", was described by Peter Mandelson as "a blueprint
for what a radical modernising project will entail in years to come". The
dustjacket also carried a tribute from Tony Blair, hailing Leadbeater as "an
extraordinarily interesting thinker" whose book "raises criticial questions
for Britain's future". Three years later, after the pricking of the dotcom
bubble, industry secretary Patricia Hewitt admitted that "industrial policy
in [Labour's] first term of office was mistaken, placing too much emphasis
on the dotcom economy at the expense of Britain's manufacturing base...The
idea of Living on Thin Air was so much hot air." Tactfully, she forgot to
mention that the chief hot-air salesman had been her own leader.
8. Sentimental hysteria is a sign of emotional maturity
The psychotherapist Susie Orbach interpreted the 'floral revolution' outside
Kensington Palace after Princess Diana's death as proof that we were
"growing up as a nation". Will Hutton, radical social democrat and
republican, said that the collective genuflection before a dead aristocrat
showed that the British were "freeing ourselves from the reins of the past".
The assumption is that emotional populism represents a new kind of
collective politics. In fact, it is nothing more than narcissism in
disguise.
9. America's economic success is entirely due to private enterprise
In the 19th century, the American government promoted the formation of a
national economy, the building of railroads and the development of the
telegraph. More recently, the internet was created by the Pentagon. American
agriculture is heavily subsidised and protected, as are the steel industry
and many other sectors of the world's biggest "free-market economy". At
times of economic slowdown, even under presidents who denigrate the role of
government, the US will increase its deficit to finance expansionary fiscal
and monetary policies. But its leaders get very cross indeed if any
developing country tries to follow this example.
10. "It could be you. . ."
This was the advertising slogan for the National Lottery, that monument to
imbecility, which was introduced (fittingly enough) by John Major. And
millions of British adults apparently believed it, even though the odds on
winning the jackpot are 13m to one. It could be you. . . but it bloody well
won't be.

 economy di Reagan,
LOL
L'ortodossia accademica adesso è fuffa?
Sarebbe come dire che Keynes causa solo stagflazione.
--
"Read, every day, something no one else is reading. Think, every day,
something no one else is thinking. Do, every day, something no one else
would be silly enough to do. It is bad for the mind to continually be part
of unanimity." Christopher Morley

 L'ortodossia accademica adesso è fuffa?
Si', cita due casi molto interessanti di fuffa diventata ortodossia
accademica, la trickle-down (o supply-side) economy e il decostruzionismo.
Te lo consiglio, e' una lettura davvero interessante :)
-- 
Q:  Where does virgin wool come from?
A:  Ugly sheep.

 Te lo consiglio, e' una lettura davvero interessante :)
In effetti ad un profano capire il pasaggio C=I è difficile (ci ho provato a
spiegarlo giovedì ad un avvocato delle cause perse).
Sul decostruzionsmo concordo parzialmente.


 direttamente su Amazon ?
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www.edit.it
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www.ibs.it