Reviews and Comments

Short at 144 pages + references, this is an essay + critical reactions + reactions to the reactions. A good audience would be anyone with a job with interest in history, economics, and labor. The pre-industrial egalitarian ideals and philosophy meeting the industrial revolution and the invention of the firm are covered quite a bit.

It would be interesting to compare the history and thought presented in this book with what happened in other regions that were not colonized by the UK.

Thought this was going to be a book more about platforms than about economics, but it leaned more on the side of economics.

Short review of the modern internet age (which really isn't so long) and how platforms have grown, prospered, and become more efficient since the 90s.

A clear-eyed, sometimes painfully straightforward accounting of Chealsea Mannings life. Although everyone rewrites their past, you can feel the goal was to not hagiographise but rather an honest-as-possible accounting of the impacts of Don't Ask Don't Tell, the war on terror, and Mannings disillusion with the war.

Pros: * Eco-utopians fighting (nonviolently of course) against Gilead in a Mad Max style post-apocalyptic world, it's a cliche, but done well. * Not a starry-eyed communist utopia where everyone gets along, the author makes sure to bring up that not everyone agrees with decisions made by community, and these decisions are hard in times of conflict * Many threaded story lets reader see different points of view

Cons: * There are so many sex scenes that it makes the pacing of the book confusing. It's like a lot of the characters are bonobos. The scenes aren't bodice-ripper style or particularly uncomfortable, there's just a lot of them * Lots of chi'i and accupressure (this might be a pro to some)

Being a small book, and based on conversations, it didn't get into great detail, but does offer a launch point for exploring perspectives on the other side of US intervention.

4 stars because it was like a rehash / continuation of an existing conversation - not a bad thing but since ratings are subjective it doesn't matter.

Both right-wing and left-wing preppers will find something for them in this book. Written from the POV of a teenager in a life-or-death situation, the book is pretty much on survival mode the entire time, with the accompanying lack of nuance and fear permeating throughout. Still, seems like an important and balanced read.

First published in 1906, a lot of the things Kropotkin imagined (soon we will all have electricity! And food delivery!) actually came to pass, and a lot of the social issues (child labor) have been mitigated, in the west. Many of his suggestions / predictions did not come to pass (we still have money). Very interesting to review what the pressing issues of his day, and feel some degree of hope that although we have our own problems, we have less cases of 8 year olds out-competing their parents in the workplace.

Like a pound cake of cons, this is a psychology-oriented review of cons and swindles. Very dense with many examples, some of which are a bit hard to keep track of since con-people have various aliases. Generally well-written, focuses on "classic" cons (ponzi schemes, fortune tellers) as opposed to religious cons/cults.

Pretty good.

ownershipmatters.net/newsletter-item/issue-30-building-movement-infrastructure-david-ellerman-private-equity-employee-owned-bringing-up-cooperators/