Citizens of the Empire : The Struggle to Claim Our Humanity

Rating:
Summary: Maryland reader
Review: Sometimes book blurbs get it right: "Robert Jensen supplies a much needed citizens' manual, that explains the evasion of moral principles that underlie appeals to patriotism. His justified concerns over his country's and the world's future is meshed with discussion of the basis of hope and the possibilities of constructive action," writes Edward S. Herman.

To me it is Herman's second point that makes Citizens of the Empire vital reading for anyone concerned about our country's road to empire. Jensen offers cogent analysis of the rhetoric neocons use to justify America's bellicose swaggering across the world stage as well as the historical precedents that led us here. But more important is Jensen's optimism that all is not lost, that we citizens of the empire need not and should not give in to the despair and cynicism so many of us suffer in post-9/11 America.

Jensen cuts through the thicket of Orwellian deceptions that entangle us daily, especially in this election season. But I recommend Citizens of the Empire for its heart.

Rating:
Summary: This couldn't have come at a better time
Review: This book really hit home, because I think it addresses questions a lot of people have right now, but maybe don't want to discuss. I think its getting easier and easier for us all to see that something is terribly wrong, but it's not easy to articulate.

And, for me at least, when you do try to articulate it, you find a culture that doesn't want to engage these questions.

Looking critically at the world can become overwhelming. Where do we start? Is there any point? What do you do in the face of so much power, and so much injustice?

Jensen doesn't profess to have all the answers, and that's why the book is so powerful. This isn't a fact-laden, academic book. It's meant to be read, passed along, and talked about. Sure, there are good introductions to arguments against the war, and details of past U.S. aggressions, but the strength of the book is much bigger than that. Jensen talks honestly and humbly about our place in the world, and in doing so actually gives some hope that we can become human beings.