America Beseiged

AMERICA BESEIGED deals with the underlying forces within U.S. society that deeply affect our lives. Showing how we are being misled and harmed by those who profess to have our interests at heart, Michael Parenti writes: “We are indeed a nation besieged, not from without but from within, not subverted from below but from above. The moneyed power exercises a near monopoly influence over our political life, over the economy, the state, and the media. Some Americans are astonished to hear of it. Others have had their suspicions, although they may not be quite sure how it all adds up. This book invites the reader to stop blaming the powerless and poor and, in that good old American phrase, start ‘following the money.’ That is the first and most important step toward lifting the siege and bringing democracy back to life.”

Contents

1. Strange Politics

   America Besieged
   The Evasion of Politics
   The President as Corporate Salesman
   Our Leaders Don’t Know Best
   Republicrats and Demopublicans
   The Politics of Sin
   Before We Give Away the Post Office

2. An Unjust Economy

   The Distribution of Wealth
   Keeping the Rich Invisible
   A Free Market for Whom?
   The Myth of Neutrality: Technology and Money
   Murder on the Job
   A GATT to Our Heads
   Ecology for the Money

3. A Dangerous State

   The National Insecurity State
   Repressing the Left
   Political Murder, USA
   Saying “No” to Legalized Drugs
   Is Conspiracy Only a Theory?

4. Managed Media

   Methods of Media Manipulation
   Pack Punditry
   Is It Sports or Is It War?
   “Inferior” People
   Pictures in Our Heads

5. Conclusion

What Is to Be Done (for Starters)?
We Must Fight City Hall