Book Review: The Patriot’s Toolbox (2010)

Posted on August 23, 2013 by Brian Wright

Eighty principles for restoring liberty and prosperity
by The Heartland Institute
Reviewed by Brian Wright

Back in the late 1970s the so-called Craniacs— Libertarian Party (LP activists, led by Ed Crane, rooted to funding by Kansas oil billionaire Charles Koch—were on the march (to influence party policy on a broad range of issues). I recall, then, one young political journalist in the Crane/Koch camp writing for the magazine, Libertarian Review, a column something like, “Garbage Can Libertarianism.” Of course this phrase was pejorative and targeted at the sorts of libertarians who identified with more down-to-earth economic policies—such as privatization of city services (such as garbage collection)—advocated by the Reason Foundation and Reason magazine. Continue reading →

Book Review: 9/11 Synthetic Terror (2006)

Posted on August 16, 2013 by Brian Wright

Made in the USA
by Webster Griffin Tarpley
Reviewed by Brian Wright

Mr. Tarpley is the third leg of a trifecta of men with Griffin in their names, each of whom will go down in history as opening up the death-dealing operations of “Cartel Planet” and decisively shining truth to power. [The other two are Dr. David Ray Griffin, author of The New Pearl Harbor and other 9/11 Truth masterpieces, and G. Edward Griffin, author of The Creature from Jekyll Island: a second look at the Federal Reserve.] Less poetically and more descriptively, “Cartel Planet” is the ongoing Anglo-American financier oligarchy—the phrase Webster Tarpley uses—that has taken over the real human economy of the West (and most of the world) for purposes that are not healthful to real humans: tyranny, war, genocide, pandemics, plunder, banking crises, recessions, depressions, and so on. Continue reading →

Book Review: A Brief History of Time (1988)

Posted on August 9, 2013 by Brian Wright

From the Big Bang to Black Holes
by Stephen Hawking

A Brief History of Time was quite a phenomenon in and around the late 1980s when it was first published. Written for the layman, it nevertheless provides a comprehensible picture of ‘what we know’ for anyone who cares about science and philosophy. I cannot imagine a better introduction for young minds entering the scientific disciplines—particularly theoretical physics or cosmology. In my own case, as one who ventures a number of normative[1] abstractions or values in a sociological context, I’m interested in the philosophical “so what?”[2] that may be seen to be supported by reason and science. I have long appreciated other hard-knowledge populizers: Isaac Asimov, Jacob Bronowski, and Carl Sagan (who wrote the introduction to History of Time) come to mind. Continue reading →

Book Review: Nonaggression Faith: SNaP Module #7

Posted on August 2, 2013 by Brian Wright

Turning the SNaP into a winning spiritual practice
by Brian Wright

This review represents the final module in my so-called Liberation Technology User’s Guide series (of seven): Nonaggression Faith. In this short book I lay down the foundations in creed, doctrine, and general requirements for a ‘religion’ and ‘church.’ Note the quotation marks around the two terms, necessitated by so many negative reactions to the unbracketed words. By religion I mean:

… an integrated system of belief in, reverence for, and practice of a supreme universal principle or idea, intended to bring spiritual fulfillment. Continue reading →

Book Reviews: The Farrah Chronicles (2011)

Posted on July 26, 2013 by Brian Wright

Ninety minutes in the life of a very shaky girl
by Christine Mahoney

For those who feel the recently emerging author-directed alternative publishing technology tends to produce mundane work, The Farrah Chronicles will challenge your presumptions. This small story of a young woman’s journey through stylish neighborhoods of broken dreams and borderline sanity is a sparkling diamond of imagination. Written in first person via flashback, we’re first introduced to Farrah (29) as she’s being retrieved by her parents—and into their court-directed care—from an ‘institution.’ She finds it a little more than ironic that the state is placing her safekeeping ‘in the questionable hands of the very people who endangered it. Indefinitely.’ The next nine months provide the context of her reminiscences, as Farrah chronicles through her ninety-minute psychotherapy sessions (with the highly credentialed and determined Genie) what has brought her to this stage. As Farrah puts it: Continue reading →

Book Review: SNaP Module #6: Productive Action (2010)

Posted on July 12, 2013 by Brian Wright

The practical ‘what-you-can-do-now’ to prosper book
by Brian Wright

… as one contributes to the dawning of a world of liberty. In naming this book, this module in the SNaP series, I went through a few iterations before settling on ‘productive action.’ But productivity is what I wanted to stress, because the Patharchy has been quite successful in suppressing the life force and its material foundations among the natural humans worldwide. Moreover, I needed to focus on economic actions that are productive at the same time they pose alternatives to the statist system. Continue reading →

Book Review: Libertarianism in One Lesson (2005)

Posted on July 5, 2013 by Brian Wright

Why libertarianism is best hope for the future
by David Bergland
Reviewed by Brian Wright

Mr. Bergland’s concise, logical, and benevolent book—first edition published in 1984—on the nature of liberty, libertarianism, and the modern libertarian movement has become a classic. Properly so. Like most classics in the field, it is well worth consulting repeatedly by liberty activists—as well as being placed in easy reach on our bookshelves for handing to those yet innocent of the principles of freedom.