Archives de catégorie : Nonfiction

THE RISE OF THE NEW PURITANS de Noah Rothman

Commentary editor Noah Rothman takes aim at the “woke left,” comparing them to stern, joyless Puritans who seek to make every daily choice a matter of life or death and break society down into the saintly or sinful.

THE RISE OF THE NEW PURITANS:
Fighting Back Against Progressives’ War on Fun
by Noah Rothman
Broadside Books/HarperCollins, July 2022

In Noah Rothman’s view, the Left used to be the party of the hippies and the free spirits. Now it’s home to woke scolds and humorless idealogues. The New Puritans can judge a person’s moral character by their clothes, Netflix queue, fast food favorites, the sports they watch, and the company they keep. No choice is neutral, no sphere is private.
Not since the Puritans has a political movement wanted so much power over your thoughts, hobbies, and preferences every minute of your day. In the process, they are sucking the joy out of life.
In THE RISE OF THE NEW PURITANS, Noah Rothman explains how, in pursuit of a better world, progressives are ruining the very things which make life worth living. They’ve created a society full of verbal trip wires and digital witch hunts. Football? Too violent. Fusion food? Appropriation. The nuclear family? Oppressive.
Witty, deeply researched, and thorough, THE RISE OF THE NEW PURITANS encourages us to spurn a movement whose primary goal has become limiting happiness. It uncovers the historical roots of the left’s war on fun and reminds us of the freedom and personal fulfillment at the heart of the American experiment.

Noah Rothman is the associate editor of Commentary Magazine, author of Unjust, and an MSNBC/NBC News contributor.

ON BELONGING de Kim Samuel

In an age of social isolation, what does it mean to belong?

ON BELONGING:
Finding Connection in an Age of Isolation
by Kim Samuel
‎ Abrams Press, September 2022

Humanity is at an inflection point. Stress, disconnection, and increasing environmental degradation have people yearning for more than just material progress, personal freedom, or political stability. We are searching for deeper connection. We are longing to belong.
ON BELONGING is an exploration of the crisis of social isolation and of the fundamental human need to belong. It considers belonging across four core dimensions: in our relationships with other people, in our rootedness in nature, in our ability to influence political and economic decision-making, and in our finding of meaning and purpose in our lives, with lessons on how to create communities centered on human connection.
A trailblazing advocate and thought leader on questions of social connectedness, Kim Samuel introduces readers to leaders around the world who are doing the work to cultivate belonging. Whether through sports, medicine, music, business, culture, or advocacy, the people and programs in this book offer us meaningful lessons on building a world where we all feel at home.

“Kim Samuel dives deeply into one of the most complex issues of twenty-first-century human existence, the results of which can be discovered in this compelling book. ON BELONGING draws narratives from profound life experiences, timeless literature, and cutting-edge academic research. The key to finding potential solutions to so many of the social, ecological, economic, and political challenges we face will be revealed within these pages. Find inspiration and even hope right here!”―Annie Lennox, singer-songwriter and global feminist activist

Kim Samuel is an activist, educator, and movement builder. She is the founder of the Samuel Centre for Social Connected-ness and an academic lecturer at institu-tions including Oxford, Harvard, and McGill Universities. Samuel was recently named the first-ever Fulbright Canada ambassador for diversity and social connectedness. She lives in Toronto.

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WARUM ES SO SCHWER IST, EIN GUTER MENSCH ZU SEIN d’Armin Falk

Why we want to do the right thing, but do the wrong thing instead – and how to become a better person.

WARUM ES SO SCHWER IST, EIN GUTER MENSCH ZU SEIN
(Why It Is So Hard to Be Good)
by Armin Falk
Siedler Verlag, May 2022

Would you save a life for 100 euros? The answer has to be yes – doesn’t everyone want to do the right thing? But Armin Falk, Germany’s leading behavioural economist, shows that we often do bad things despite wanting to be good, and are far from being as good as we like to think.
Why is it that we don’t do the right thing day in and day out: help others, give to those in need, protect our climate or care for the well-being of animals? Using many concrete examples and the insights he has gained from years of research, the Leibniz Prize-winner reveals under what circumstances people are likely to act morally – or immorally – and the role that personality, gender, education and culture play. Once we have understood this, we’ll find it easier to change – not only ourselves, but the very fabric of our economy and society.

Armin Falk, born in 1968, is the director of the Institute for Behavioural Economics and Inequality (BRIQ) and of the Laboratory for Experimental Economic Research, as well as Professor of economics at the University of Bonn. He is one of the world’s most highly regarded economic scientists. His work has won him the 2009 Leibniz Prize (the ‘German Nobel’) and a 2013 Advanced Grant from the European Research Council, the world’s highest prize for economists.

EARTH FOR ALL, par le Club de Rome

Now is the moment to change course towards a future that is stable. A future worth living on a finite planet. This book is the operating manual to do just that.

EARTH FOR ALL
by The Club of Rome
New Society Publishing, Summer 2022

Almost 50 years ago a group of scientists published a remarkable book that shocked the world. The book, The Limits to Growth, was a warning to humanity. Based on the results from one of the first computer models of the global economy, it showed that population and industrial growth was pushing humanity towards a cliff. Fifty years on, the scenarios explored by the authors still hold true. We know we are crossing planetary boundaries. Inequality is causing deep instabilities in societies making it impossible to make long-term decisions for the benefit of all. There seems to be no way out.
EARTH FOR ALL is an antidote to despair. Using state-of-the-art computer models combining the global economy, population, health, inequality, food, and energy, a leading group of scientists and economic thought leaders present short- term levers for long-term systems change. They show for the first time it is possible to have long-term prosperity for all if key turnarounds are put in place and foundational paradigm shifts adopted. It is possible to stabilize our planet and ensure greater wellbeing for all. And it is possible to do this in a single generation: by 2050. This is arguably the most profound scientific and economic insight of our age.
EARTH FOR ALL describes five systemic shifts that need to happen to upend poverty and inequality, lift up marginalized people, and transform our food and energy systems. Decade by decade, the book details what needs to happen, where and when. It explores eight geographical areas, each with their own distinct characteristics: from the US to Asia and Africa; and recommends key principles for the necessary economic paradigm shifts to enable a new kind of growth within limits.

The Club of Rome is an NGO founded in 1968 to address the multiple crises facing humanity and the planet. Drawing on the know-how of its 100 members – notable scientists, economists, business leaders and former politicians – the organization seeks to define comprehensive solutions to the complex, interconnected challenges of our world. Its goal is to actively advocate for paradigm and systems shifts which will enable society to emerge from our current crises, by promoting a new way of being human, within a more resilient biosphere. Its seminal, best-selling 1972 report, The Limits to Growth, alerted the world to the consequences of the interactions between human systems and the health of our planet. Since then, more than 45 Reports have reinforced and expanded that intellectual foundation.

THE POWER OF MANTRA de Lama Zopa Rinpoche

Lama Zopa Rinpoche, the respected and beloved cofounder of the Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition, offers us a significant book that is both a beautiful tool for experienced practitioners and a how-to for beginners.

THE POWER OF MANTRA:
Vital Practices for Transformation
by Lama Zopa Rinpoche
‎ Wisdom Publications, February 2022

Revitalize your practice with the potent energy of mantra. In this book, beloved teacher Lama Zopa Rinpoche guides us through the most popular mantras in Tibetan Buddhism: Shakyamuni Buddha, Chenrezig, Manjushri, Tara, Medicine Buddha, Vajrasattva, and more. A mantra—literally “that which protects the mind”—is a series of Sanskrit syllables that evoke the energy of a particular buddha or bodhisattva. It works as a sacred sound that brings blessings to ourself and others, and as a tool to transform our mind into one that is more compassionate and wise. In clear and succinct teachings, Lama Zopa shows us why we need different mantras and how each mantra works. He also explains their importance and power, giving specific instructions for practicing them. The exquisite, full-color illustrations of the deities that accompany the text make this book a beautiful guide, one suitable for both beginners and experienced practitioners.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche is one of the most internationally renowned masters of Tibetan Buddhism, working and teaching ceaselessly on almost every continent. He is the spiritual director and cofounder of the Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition (FPMT), an international network of Buddhist projects, including monasteries in six countries and meditation centers in over thirty; health and nutrition clinics, and clinics specializing in the treatment of leprosy and polio; as well as hospices, schools, publishing activities, and prison outreach projects worldwide.