The Greatest Miracle in the World

Book Description

A work that will lift the mind and heart of every reader. --Dr. Norman Vincent Peale

Customer Reviews:

greatest miracle in the world.......2007-09-17

awesome, excellent book ...words are inadequate. can't wait to read the other two books I also purchased from the same author. will send chills up your spine .. .

The Greatest Book Ever Written By Man........2007-03-10

This has to be the best book ever written by man. If you don't get it after reading this book, you never will.

Brilliance .......2006-07-22

I have read everyone of Og Mandinos Books and all I can say is that he writes with brilliance, clarity, enthusiasm, and spirit. You can never go wrong with any of his books. He points out the path to success and motivates the spirit within to achieve all that we as human beings are capable. He helped me to tap into my innate genuis and create a life of prosperity and creativity. If you havent raed his books, start now and your journey of the spirit will begin. He was a born writer and even after his passing continues to have a great influence on many people old and young. He truly lived a purposeful and divine life. Go buy all his books and enjoy the growth and enlightenment. After that Buy my Book " Your daily Walk with the Great Minds of the Past and Present". Enjoy and rememeber you are capable of great things in your life.

Greatest Miracle in the World.......2006-03-10

Did not care for this book, kind of sorry I bought it. Was outdated.....probably will not buy another one of Mr Mandino's books

You've Got To Read This Book!.......2005-08-10

I'v read it before and getting ready to listen to the audio version (again). I was amazed at how Og captured my heart and kept me glued to the story.

You've just got to read this book! I went through the program in the book and it just totally changed my life. Og had a special gift. As his mother told him. She said "Not only will he be a writer but a Great writer" Indeed how right she was!

I have told many people about Og. He's my hero because he has shown me the love of God in a special way. Get the book. You won't be sorry. It can change your life as it has mine and sooooooo many others.

dale

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Practical ways to become better at human relations
Why they do this?
Product Description Was Inadequate
This book helped me tremendously
You'd do better to get the 2 books this book was extracted from

How To Enjoy Your Life And Your Job
Dale Carnegie
Manufacturer: Pocket
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

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ASIN: 0671708260

Book Description

UNCOVER YOUR HIDDEN ASSETS -- YOU CAN FILL EACH DAY WITH EXCITEMENT AND A SENSE OF SATISFACTION!

Even if you love your work, you probably have days when almost nothing goes right. Bestselling author Dale Carnegie shows you how to make every day more exciting and rewarding -- how you can get more done, and have more fun doing it. Dale Carnegie's time-tested advice will help you to:

Make other people feel important -- and do it sincerely
Avoid unnecessary tension -- save your energy for important duties
Get people to say yes -- immediately
Turn routine tasks into stimulating opportunities
Spot a sure-fire way of making enemies -- and avoid it
Smile in the face of criticism -- you've done your very best!

How to Enjoy Your Life and Your Job will help you create a new approach to life and people and discover talents you never knew you had. Dale Carnegie can help you get the most out of yourself -- all the time. Start developing your innate strengths and abilities -- start enriching your life TODAY!

Customer Reviews:

Practical ways to become better at human relations.......2007-09-16

This book merely takes excerpts from Dale Carnegie's two earlier books: (1) How to stop worrying and start living and (2) How to win friends and influence people.

Rules excerpted from How to Stop Worrying and Start Living include

1. Be yourself, do not imitate others.

2. Work habits:
(a) keep your desk clean except for material related to the current problem at hand
(b) work on more important problems first
(c) when you encounter a problem, solve it right away if you have the necessary information rather than leave it lingering
(d) delegate effectively, you're still responsible for the results

3. Relax

4. Be enthusiastic

5. Count you blessings, not your troubles.

6. Remember that unjust criticism is often a disguised compliment.

7. Put in your best effort; don't let others' criticisms get to you

Rules from How to Win Friends and Influence People include

1. Don't criticize, complain

2. Give honest, sincere appreciation

3. Arouse enthusiasm through appreciation and encouragement.

4. Consider and articulate benefits to the other party in pursuing the proposed action

5. Become genuinely interested in other people

6. Make the other person feel important and do it sincerely.

7. Show respect for the other person's opinion.

8. Begin in a friendly way.

9. Get the other person to say successive "yes", "yes" immediately.

10. Let the other person take credit for the idea.

11. Appeal to the nobler motives.

12. Call attention to people's mistakes indirectly.

13. Talk about your own mistakes before criticizing the other person.

14. Ask questions instead of giving direct orders.

15. Let the other man save his face.

The habits are easy to understand and eminently practical. Reading the book will help you become better at human relations.

Why they do this?.......2007-06-29

Why did they rehash old stuff into a new book? This book is really two books - How to win friends... and stop worrying, start living. I didn't know and I actually read both books already and I got suckered into buying this. You may say I should've read the fine print, but whatever, it's stupid.

Product Description Was Inadequate.......2007-05-13

Dale Carnegie is an amazing author and the wisdom in this book is life-changing.

The real problem with this book is that the product description failed to mention that it is a **COMPILATION** of excerpts from 2 other books:

"How to Stop Worrying and Start Living", and
"How to Win Friends and Influence People".

I already had those two books and, so, wasted my money by buying this book.

This book helped me tremendously.......2005-12-31

I realize that this book is simply an abridged compilation of HOW TO WIN FRIENDS AND INFLUENCE PEOPLE and one of Dale Carnegie's other famous books, the title of which eludes me for the moment. However, HOW TO ENJOY YOUR LIFE AND YOUR JOB is still a very important book on its own simply because it allows the reader the opportunity to learn these valuable lessons while concentrating on one central theme, not to mention a theme which is almost always on everone's mind with waking and sleeping: the workplace.

This book was easy to read and offered deep insight on how to work better and smarter. It's not a 12-step program or some kind of money-made-easy scheme. All the techniques in the book require practice, hard work, and a lot of patience. But by doing the best I can to employ these techniques in my workplace, I've become not only more proficient but also more relaxed, and more able to enjoy the job, even to the point at which it's no longer a drudge to have to go to work in the morning.

I highly recommend HOW TO ENJOY YOUR LIFE AND YOUR JOB.

You'd do better to get the 2 books this book was extracted from.......2005-08-14

"How to Enjoy Your Life and Your Job" was created by taking excerpts from "How to Win Friends and Influence People" and "How to Stop Worrying and Start Living" - both excellent books. Buy those books separately or buy "Dale Carnegies Lifetime Plan for Success : The Great Bestselling Works Complete In One Volume" (ISBN: 1578660394) which contains both complete books. This way you get Carnegie's work in its complete form. I consider Carnegie to be one of the best self-help authors of all time, and that is reflected in these writings. Carnegie's work will help you improve your attitude, relationships, choices, and the results you achieve in life if you are willing to put his advice into practice. I only gave this book 3 stars because it is just a rehash of Carnegie's other books, with material cut out.

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Lila
Creates a useful framework for thinking about one's life
Problems
Commitment Phobia
Hot & Cold, Excellent & Awful

Lila: An Inquiry Into Morals
Robert Pirsig
Manufacturer: Bantam
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Binding: Mass Market Paperback

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ASIN: 0553299611
Release Date: 1992-11-01

Customer Reviews:

Lila.......2007-05-16

This book was ordered for my son. He is in the process of reading it.
Thank you for sending it so quickly!!

Creates a useful framework for thinking about one's life.......2007-01-18

Like Persig's earlier book 'Zen and the art of Motorcycle Maintenance' this book uses the same technique as Plato's dialogues to discuss philosophical ideas.

The basic idea in all three works is to use an actual event (like fixing a motorcycle) as an example to discuss a general principle of philosophy. I always found Plato strange because he argued that specific cases should be deduced from abstract principles, not the other way around (idealism) but used the opposite technique (nominalism) in his writings. At least Persig uses nominalist techniques to argue for a nominalist position. I interpret one of the previous reviews as saying that Persig should have used idealist techniques..............

'Zen...' asked deep questions, and sometimes said there was no definite answer. Seventeen years later, Persig thinks he has some new answers. I agree. I often find myself using the ideas he taught me, to understand myself and the world. What more could I ask?

Problems.......2006-07-25

I had a number of problems with this book. To begin with, those of you who are familiar with Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance are probably aware that the main premise of this book contradicts the moral he drew from his last one. He takes an indescribable and undividable conception of quality, and proceeds to describe and divide it. To make matters worse, he makes the same mistake as philosophers throughout history by failing to realize that pure abstractions like dynamic and static quality are obscure and fail to describe reality as we experience it.

These, however, are minor criticisms compared to this: Almost all of the ideas in this book have already been written by the process philosophers. In particular, Pirsig rips off Henri Bergson to an astounding degree and Bergson is much more clear about his ideas. Basically, my recomendation would be to avoid this book entirely and pick up 'The Creative Mind: An Introduction to Metaphysics' by Henri Bergson instead and see for yourself what I've been trying to say.

Commitment Phobia.......2006-07-04

After ten years or so, all that stayed with me was the main character barely being able to wait for Lila to leave, then once she does, he fantasizes about the wonderful life they would have had together, and how he could have "helped" her. This is a perfect example of what is popularly referred to as "commitment phobia."

Also the name "Lila Blewitt" sounded like something out of a Thomas Pynchon novel. She had potential but she blew it?

Hot & Cold, Excellent & Awful.......2006-06-23

Several instances during my reading of this book I put it down for good. At times, it was so awful I couldn't waste another minute of my life on it. It would sit on the table for a few days, then I would be compelled to pick it up again. Eventually the book rose out of these doldrums and grew into a book of decent quality. Towards then end, it picked up so much steam I made it my primary book, as opposed to a book I read when I had the chance. Overall, the book is a 3 star read for me, based on the fact that half of it is absolutely awful and half of it is quite entertaining.

The parts of the book I found most indigestible were his introductory series of philosophical thought in what I suppose is an attempt to properly set up his further philosophical arguments later on. For me, this doesn't work. Too often he fuses the insecurities of his own life into the narrative instead of properly setting up later discussion. His passages are often rantings of a proverbial madman, unfocused and bent on addressing various incidents he has endured since the writing of his first work, the brilliant Zen & the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.

While reading these initial chapters I found myself thinking this book could only hinder the legacy of Zen & the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. It's like a baseball player hitting a grand slam on the first at bat of his career, only to strike out every time he comes to the plate after that. As the narrative wears on, he stops striking out. But it becomes apparent he will never again hit the long ball, instead producing more like a singles and doubles hitter.

Later in the book, when we have gotten past the long-winded philosophical setups, the baggage from his life, and the absolutely awful story, Pirsig ventures into various philosophical discussions I started to find fascinating. By the end of the book, I was hoping Pirsig had more books I could pick up. Sadly, this is it. At this point in time it seems unlikely he will produce anything else. So we're left to distill what we can out of this and his first offering.

I can't claim Pirsig is a modern day philosophical genius. He is no such thing. What he is, ironically, is someone who can convey his philosophical ideas to the common reader in a clear and concise manner...sometimes. Try reading Hume or Kant, and soon you'll find yourself asleep in the middle of the day. Pirsig, while assuredly not concise enough for modern philosophical inquiry, is nonetheless easy to read. More importantly, he speaks to a real reader, not someone who needs to be steeped in classical philosophy. I found these qualities more prevalent as we approach the end of the book.

This doesn't mean I find the book outstanding, or worthy of the apparent online community that exists for this work - not at all. In fact, I still find this work solidly mediocre when taken as a whole. It's certainly worth the read as long as you're willing to push your way through the first 150 pages or more. Assuming you can get that far, the book is rich and rewarding at times. However, if you're looking for a brilliant sequel to Zen & the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, this isn't going to cut the mustard.

What Should I Do with My Life?: The True Story of People Who Answered the Ultimate Question

Average customer rating:

Thought-Provoking, Artfully Written
Sent as a gift
Good concept, never follows through
Stories of idealistic elitists
Cool concept, poor execution

What Should I Do with My Life?: The True Story of People Who Answered the Ultimate Question
Po Bronson
Manufacturer: Ballantine Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

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ASIN: 0345485920
Release Date: 2005-11-29

Amazon.com

In What Should I Do with My Life? Po Bronson manages to create a career book that is a page-turner. His 50 vivid profiles of people searching for "their soft spot--their true calling" will engage readers because Bronson is asking himself the same question. He explores his premise, that "nothing is braver than people facing up to their own identity," as an anthropologist and autobiographer. He tackles thorny, nuanced issues about self-determination. Among them: paradoxes of money and meaning, authorship and destiny, brain candy and novelty versus soul food. Bronson's stories, limited to professional people and complete with photos, are gems. They include a Los Angeles lawyer who became a priest, a Harvard MBA catfish farmer turned biotech executive, and a Silicon Valley real estate agent who opened a leather crafts factory in Costa Rica.

Bronson is a gifted intuitive writer, the bestselling author of The Nudist on the Late Shift, whose thoughtful, vulnerable voice emerges as the book's greatest strength and challenge. He describes his subject's lives along with the ways they annoy, puzzle, and worry him. He frets about meddling with his questions, yet once, memorably and appropriately, he offers a talented man a top post in his publishing company. While this creates the juiciness of his portraits, it also can make Bronson the book's most memorable character and the only one whose story is not resolved. Even so, this remarkable career chronicle sets the gold standard for the worth of the examined life. --Barbara Mackoff

Book Description

In What Should I Do with My Life? Po Bronson tells the inspirational true stories of people who have found the most meaningful answers to that great question. With humor, empathy, and insight, Bronson writes of remarkable individuals—from young to old, from those just starting out to those in a second career—who have overcome fear and confusion to find a larger truth about their lives and, in doing so, have been transformed by the experience. What Should I Do with My Life? struck a powerful, resonant chord on publication, causing a multitude of people to rethink their vocations and priorities and start on the path to finding their true place in the world. For this edition, Bronson has added nine new profiles, to further reflect the range and diversity of those who broke away from the chorus to learn the sound of their own voice.

From the Trade Paperback edition.

Download Description

What should I do with my life?

It's a question many of us have pondered with frequency. Author Po Bronson was asking himself that very question when he decided to write this book -- an inspiring exploration of how people transform their lives and a template for how we can answer this question for ourselves.

Bronson traveled the country in search of individuals who have struggled to find their calling, their true nature -- people who made mistakes before getting it right. He encountered people of all ages and all professions -- a total of fifty-five fascinating individuals trying to answer questions such as: Is a career supposed to feel like a destiny? How do I tell the difference between a curiosity and a passion? Should I make money first, to fund my dream? If I have a child, will my frustration over my work go away? Should I accept my lot, make peace with my ambition, and stop stressing out? Why do I feel guilty for thinking about this?

From their efforts to answer these questions, the universal truths in this book emerge. Each story in these pages informs the next, and the result is a journey that unfolds with cumulative power. Here are the stories of people who found meaningful answers by daring to be honest with themselves. Among them:

The Pittsburgh lawyer who decided to become a trucker so he could savor the moment and be closer to his son.
The toner-cartridge queen of Chicago, who realized that her relationships with men kept sabotaging her career choices.
The Cuban immigrant who overcame the strong disapproval of her parents and quit her high-paying job to pursue social-service work in Miami.
The chemistry professor who realized, quite late in life, that he would rather practice law.
The mother torn between an Olympic career and her adolescent daughter.
The seventeen-year-old boy who received a letter from the Dalai Lama and was called to a life of spiritual leadership.
The creator of St. Elmo's Fire, who wasn't sure he could quit his successful Hollywood life for the deeper artistic life he had always wanted to pursue.
The author himself. Po Bronson has worked as a bus-boy, cook, janitor,sports-medicine intern, bus-lift assembly-line technician, aerobics instructor, litigation consultant, greeting-card designer, bond salesman, political-newsletter editor, high school teacher, author, and book publisher.

Reading this book is like listening in on an intimate conversation among people you care about and admire. Even if you know what you should do with your life, you will find wisdom and guidance in these stories.

"Brimming with stories of sacrifice, courage, commitment and, sometimes, failure, the book will support anyone pondering a major life choice or risk without force-feeding them pat solutions."
   PUBLISHERS WEEKLY

Good Morning America "Read This!" Book Club Pick

Customer Reviews:

Thought-Provoking, Artfully Written.......2007-09-24

I've heard it said that you can tell by how someone writes whether they genuinely like people. Po Bronson clearly likes people, and it shines through in this book. I highly recommend it for anyone seeking to set foot in others' shoes, whether you are in the midst of self-examination (and shouldn't that be a constant for all of us, really?) or not.

Sent as a gift.......2007-09-22

I sent this as a gift to my daughter who is very pleased with the book

Good concept, never follows through.......2007-09-13

The idea for a book addressing the question "what should I do with my life?" is a good one. It's something everyone faces at some point, and many struggle with. So I was looking forward to reading this book.

Unofortunately, all it amounts to is a series of vignets or snapshots of different individuals interviewed by Bronson and the choices they made in their careers and lives, without any other real deeper insight or conclusions offered. It's interesting to read people's different stories, and the pool Bronson drew from is certainly varied/diverse. Yet Bronson sounds just as confused as the reader when addressing these stories, and just as unsetted about that basic question. And by the end of the book, Bronson AND the reader is left no further off then where we started. If anything, this book leaves you feeling more confused and conflicted then when you started reading.

I kept hoping Bronson would get at some overarching theme that ties the stories together, or offer up some reasonable conclusions, however broad by the end of the book, but he doesn't. It's as if he interviewed these folks, wrote down their stories and just left it at that. I think it's intended to be thought provoking for the reader, and it is on some levels. But if you're picking this book up, chances are you've already been pondering this question, and don't need to be reminded to think about it.

This book had potential, and it's a good concept, but Bronson just never follows through. While interesting in parts, it leaves you hanging and is ultimately unfulfilling. I was hoping this book would inspire some insight, and it just doesn't. Disappointingly shallow.

Stories of idealistic elitists.......2007-08-25

I wanted to love this book, I really did. I work a little in career counseling, have changed careers, and believe the career search and finding what we enjoy is one of the most challenging, demanding and rewarding journeys in life. Bronson's idea for the book was outstanding; his choice of people to feature was narrow.

Before reading this book I read the reveiws here and was surpised at some of the anger. After reading the book, now I understand it. By page 200 (or earlier) I was already tired of the words, "Stanford," "Yale," "stock broker," "venture capitalist," and "Hollywood," (he has two stories of disgruntled Hollywood scriptwriters, who go back to la-la land).

Even the catfish farmer is an Ivy Leaguer/Wall Street guy who goes back to the big business world. So many dislikeable people, like the "Phi Betta Slacker" who bemoans a $1,500 a day runway model job; one Hollywood scriptwriter (Stanford or Ivy League alum, of course) who can't believe that going into the medical field requires having to deal with sick people, and that very ill people are actually in hospitals. Horrified, she runs back to Hollywood. Guess that high-priced education didn't pay off. And then there's the guy from Oregon living in the bay area who thinks he's just a goofball who got lucky making $160,000 a year, and is somewhat upset about it.

Please.

This book does not cross all economic levels, it's about elitists who just don't seem happy making those six figures. For someone not from that stratosphere, it's maddening to read time after time. I was hoping I'd hit a chapter where a middle or lower class person actually changed careers and liked it. Of course Bronson himself is a Stanford alum, high finance guy, so this is the prism in which he views life.

On the bright side, there are some good insights in this book on how people make changes and take leaps of faith. But when I hit a guy with $9 million in the bank (and oddly sharing a small two-bedroom apartment) and Bronson tells us, "not to feel sorry for him" and then we hear how this guy's life isn't fulfilling. Of course he goes back to where? Stanford.

I'm sure the Stanford and Ivy League alumni chapters love this book, but it's really not for the common man.

Cool concept, poor execution.......2007-08-16

While this book surely contains a few interesting stories, I just couldn't get over the arrogance and ego of the author. In way too many stories Bronson writes about how his own genius suggestion or question to his subject suddenly makes them have an amazing epiphany, like they've just been hanging out for 20 years waiting for a rich white guy to tell them to what to do. If Bronson stepped back out of the action and let the subjects themselves remain the story, this book would have been much stronger.

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Secret Medical Tortures
GORDON THOMAS SHOULD BE GIVEN THE NOBLE PEACE PRIZE
Discovering what the gov't can do shocks.
Has far-reaching implications that are just as important now
A riveting, intensely researchered, and chilling masterpiece

Journey into Madness
Gordon Thomas
Manufacturer: Bantam
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

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ASIN: 0553284134
Release Date: 1990-05-01

Customer Reviews:

Secret Medical Tortures.......2005-04-15

This 1989 book was written to tell the world about the use of physicians in medical torture of political prisoners. It didn't start in Nazi Germany, and didn't end in Abu Ghraib (drugs, electroshock, gags, garrotes, blindfolds, branding irons, sexual abuse, mock executions). Physicians provide fake medical certificates for persons tortured to death ('Perspectives'). The author had access to written testimony, and off-the-record interviews (which were confirmed from other independent sources).

'Book One' deals with Beirut, the Near East, and the kidnapping of William Buckley, American Political Officer, in 1984. It mentions the survival technique of looking at every approaching face to determine if it is an enemy by the tension displayed on the face (p.59). The Hizballah justified terror as needed to create a new and ideal society (p.61). Brain-washing rarely involved physical cruelty bet depended on the use of repetition, harassment, and humiliation (p.69). [Just like your schooling?] Changing opinions was older that recorded history. America developed the most powerful advertising industry in the world and adapted it to psychological warfare and opinion making. They studied the techniques used by modern American evangelists in conversion, and the Catholic rite of confession (p.73). Pharmaceutical laboratories discovered how drugs can be used in mind control (p.74). How amoral and ignorant was Gov. Reagan (p.81)?

'Book Two' gives the history of the abuse of medical knowledge since WW II. Chapter 5 tells of Allen Dulles and his ruthless and unscrupulous character hidden beneath his cheerful and witty personality. The Korean War provided a new shock from former POWs (pp.94-95). The "twilight zone" is described (p.97). They could not understand the changed views of POWs! Chapter 7 notes how conscientious objectors were put into mental hospitals and used as test animals (pp.140-141)! Chapter 8 tells about electroshock treatments at the Allan Memorial Institute which went beyond the norm (p.149). Were there studies reminiscent of Dr. Josef Mengele at Auschwitz (p.150)? Allen Dulles continued with his drug experiments and poisonous mushrooms (pp.156-157). It tells of the poisoning death of Dr. Frank Olson (pp.160-162). [To shut him up?] Chapter 10 has a 'Top Secret' recording of Korean War POWs (pp.184-186); did you understand it? Was it caused by learning a new view of society? Chapter 11 tellis of the use of sensory deprivation experiments to cause irreversible damage to a patient's mind. Chapter 12 gives an example of post-event predictions (p.216). Chapter 13 tells how Dr. Mary Morrow was able to escape from the tortures of Dr. Ewen Cameron (pp.230-231). Chapter 14 gives the results of hypnotism to create a sleeper killer (p.253). Chapter 15 explains why the Vietcong succeeded (p.257). Truthful reports had bad consequences (p.258).Who controlled Oswald (p.260)? Could the CIA handle the truth (p.261)? NO (p.263)! Could psychics read minds from a distance (p.273)? Or devil worship (p.275)?

'Book Three' covers the events after Watergate. Chapter 17 tells about briefing President-elect Reagan. Claire Sterling's "The Terror Network" is evaluated (p.321). Could Agca have been brainwashed to make him an assassin (p.326)? Chapter 19 tells how the CIA created the cruelest police in the Arab world (p.328). All the bugs planted in Sadat's presidential palace did not warn of the assassination. Examples of medical torture are on pages 334-335. Torture by physicians goes back to the Roman Empire (p.346), to the English in Kenya (p.348); it wasn't just the Nazis. Science is always at the service of the rulers. "Hooding prisoners" was used in 1865 for the Lincoln assassination conspirators (p.356). The 'Notes' provides background information on this book.

GORDON THOMAS SHOULD BE GIVEN THE NOBLE PEACE PRIZE.......2002-11-05

Journey into Madness is one of THE ABSOLUTE BEST books I have ever read in my entire life. If I was the principal of a High School, Journey Into Madness would be a required reading for all of the students. The young people need to learn that they have the right to living a pain-free life. And they need to understand that they will NOT get into trouble for reporting distressful or torturous experiences to authorities like they're librarians, nurses, and teachers. Thank you, Gordon Thomas, for being so kind as to offer the peace and mercy needed in the hearts of so many children and adults around the world. The American children are forever in debt to you for your merciful kindness.

Love,
Joematters.com

Discovering what the gov't can do shocks........1999-07-14

Mr. Gordon's research and objectivity is laudable, his book an eye-opener. It lends credance to movies such as Blind Sight. Mr. Gordon's description of Dr. al-Abub, his training and mission and that his current endeavors continue makes one wonder what humans can be about that they could do to others what they do. Can there still be Dr. Camerons/al Abubs working the torture circuit in the name of nationalism and belief?

Has far-reaching implications that are just as important now.......1999-02-04

The second review merely seeks to lessen the impact of the book "Journey into Madness" by Gordon Thomas by pointing out that other governments do similar things. No. Not on the scale and with the hypocrisy that the CIA does.

For those interested, who would like to know more about such practices and how the CIA and the medical community continue their terror and human rights abuses here and in other countries, there is some mention of this in "The Serpent and the Rainbow" by Wade Davis. He writes of the work of the American psychiatrist Nathan Kline (sp?) with the CIA in Haiti. This details their search for a drug they (doctors & the CIA) could use to control people - turn them into zombies. It mentions, coincidentially, the secret and not-so-secret primate and human experiments occurring at the New York State Psychiatric Institute by a Dr. Leo Rozen (sp). These practices still occur. The NIMH, in fact, are admittedly are giving people with mental illness Angel Dust (aka ketamine) to induce psychosis. This causes more irreversible damage than LSD.

Recently there were series of articles in the Harford Courant (1998) and the Boston Globe on drug abuses and torture used in private and publicly funded psychiatric hospitals.

A riveting, intensely researchered, and chilling masterpiece.......1998-03-29

I was truly captivated, by the facts, Mr. Gordon was able to unearth, during his research into the CIA's, dark, and mysterious research and developement of mind control techniques. We the people, know so little about any branch, of the intelligence community. The closest most citizens, ever get to the intelligence community, would be the news reports, or movies, of which is difficult at best to grasp the un-thinkable acts that was obviously standard operating proc- edures, for the men and women of the central intelligence agency.

Mr. Gordons no holds barred, and tenacity in following his leads, unearthed some the most outrageous, and cold blooded acts, possibly ever committed by intelligent human beings, at which Mr. Gordon documented . From the moment I opened the cover of the book, I was spell bound. As I recall I read the book long after the Colonel Oliver North scandel, and prior to the hearings, I couldn't recall ever hearing of Col. Oliver North, but as I read the book I learned that he was a prominent figure in the intelligence community.

To this day I am still amazed, at Mr. Gordens ability to spend what had to seem like an eternity, uncovering and then to actually corraborate the the wild and unbelievable stories. It's a miracle Mr. Gordon, didn't fall prey to bouts of paranoia, considering the agency he was researching.

Book Description

This wise and optimistic book examines the rampant scandals that plague American corporations today and shows how companies can reverse the resulting climate of mistrust. By seizing the opportunity to address some of the nation’s—and the world’s—most serious problems, business can strengthen its reputation for integrity and service and advance to a new stage of ethical legitimacy. Daniel Yankelovich, a social scientist and an experienced member of the corporate boardroom, describes the toxic convergence of cultural and business trends that has led inexorably to corporate scandals. Yet he offers reassurance that opportunity exists for positive change. Creative business leaders can advance market capitalism to its next stage of evolution, building upon business norms that simultaneously emphasize the legitimacy of profit making and the importance of the care that companies give to employees, customers, and the larger society.

The book asserts that American culture has abandoned its old tradition of enlightened self-interest, of “doing well by doing good.” A narrow legalism has taken over (“I didn’t break the law; therefore I didn’t do anything wrong”). Yankelovich argues that attempts to deal with such flawed ethical norms by means of more laws and regulations cannot succeed. He offers a series of case histories to show how and why stewardship ethics can strengthen individuals, corporations, the nation, and the world economy.

Customer Reviews:

Lots of Stimulating Thought in a Small Book.......2007-08-09

Daniel Yankelovich is a social scientist who has also served on several corporate boards. That gives him a unique perspective on the ethical challenges that face board members.

Yankelovich, to use his term, is a "privileged witness," who sees business from the outside, but has seen its inner workings up close. Even more important in some ways is the fact that he and his company have been among the firms tracking changes in society over several decades.

Here is why he wrote this book: "The purpose of this short book is to suggest that the business community can turn the scandals of recent years to good use, both for business itself and for the larger society."

Yankelovich sees three causes for these scandals. They are: 1) deregulation; 2) linking the biggest part of CEO compensation to stock price; and, 3) the importing of wider social norms into business, resulting in what he calls "unenlightened self-interest."

In the first half of the book he outlines changes in social norms in both business in society over several decades. Business, according to Yankelovich is more likely establish the norms he desires than society as a whole. And, he thinks, if business does so it will "help dispel moral confusion in the culture at large."

He says: "My main argument in the book is that the time has come for market capitalism in the United States to advance to a new stage of enlightened self-interest."

To do that he advocates something he calls "Stewardship Ethics," which he defines as "commitment to care for one's institution and those it serves in a manner that responds to a higher level of expectations." He devotes the second half of the book to describing what a set of norms based on "stewardship ethics" might look like and how they might come about.

In one of the most helpful sections of the book, Yankelovich spends time outlining the difference between his Stewardship Ethics and the bundle of beliefs and positions that come under the heading of "Corporate Social Responsibility."

If you're like me, you'll find Yankelovich's position a refreshing change from the "profit is evil" approach of most CSR types. If you are someone who sees the pursuit of profit by companies as, at best, a necessary evil, you will be very uncomfortable with this book and its ideas.

This book has two key strengths. First, Yankelovich himself is both knowledgeable and logical. Second, the book is short, only around 170 pages of text. Those are also the book's weaknesses.

Because Yankelovich himself is knowledgeable, he often leaves terms undefined. I could not find a definition, for example, of one of his key terms, "market capitalism." It may be that everyone indeed defines that term the same way, but I doubt it.

The shortness of the book means that some arguments are made without adequate support. For example, on page 96, Yankelovich says, "How well a company conceives and executes stewardship ethics as a community has a direct bearing on its long term profitability." He then offers the example of Wegman's as proof. Alas, a single example without supporting evidence is not proof.

This brings us to the key question: "Should you buy and read this book?"

If you are a senior executive, a member of a corporate board, or a faculty member at a business school, this should be on your "must-read" list. Yankelovich has crammed a lot of good stuff and cogent analysis in here about the business climate and corporate responses.

This book is also a good read if you're interested in the ethical challenges of contemporary business, but you don't make it your primary focus. If you're a professional ethicist or philosopher, you'll find the book a little light on both reasoning and support, but that's exactly why it's a good read for the rest of us. The book is filled with provocative ideas and well written.

But if you're looking for a "how to" book, this would be a poor choice. It's a great book for stimulating thought and discussion, but the "how to" will be up to you.

Must Reading For Any Current Or Future CEO And Business Leader.......2007-07-09

This is a book I wish I had written. I have talked at length over the past few years about what is wrong with today's capitalist economy and particularly so since the Enron, Tyco, WorldCom, and other corporate scandals. However, I am and always have been a committed supporter of a free-market economy with minimal government interference. In the late 1950s (while very young!) I embraced Ayn Rand's "laissez-faire" theory of business, only to be later disturbed by some of the unwarranted and seriously problematic assumptions one had to make in order to completely buy into her "doctrine" of extreme individualism and "caveat emptor" economics. While I recognized that neither Communism (ala Marx) nor state socialism could bring about a dynamic market economy combined with political liberty, there was, I thought, definitely something missing in the theory and practice of a free-market economy as Rand and her coterie envisioned and promoted it. Moreover, the so-called "mixed economy" (which is what the U.S. pretty much has now -- a mixture of free-market and "socialist" elements) has not prevented the scandals recently experienced.

Enter Daniel Yankelovich with his new book "Profit With Honor: The New Stage of Market Capitalism." In my opinion, on the Aristotelian scale of ethical virtue, his book represents the "mean" between the extremes of a dog-eat-dog capitalism with profit as the "only" consideration and the position that profit is evil, private enterprise is antisocial and, therefore, a centrally-planned government-run economy is the only acceptable solution. Economic activity is, of course, not fundamentally different from any other human activity, whether it be individual, social, political, or whatever. There has to be some moral foundation, some ethical framework, which justifies and provides a rational structure for the activity. Neither of the aforementioned extremes can provide the necessary theoretical support nor the practical guidelines for an economic system which must take into consideration human nature and the human condition.

In his book, Yankelovich states that his "main argument . . . is that the time has come for market capitalism . . . to advance to a new stage of enlightened self-interest. American business needs to develop a new ethic -- a coherent set of social norms -- both to counteract the forces leading to the scandals and to meet the challenges of the global economy that call upon business to take on many new responsibilities." He calls his program (if that is the appropriate term) a "stewardship ethics," a set of cultural norms for business which involves social responsibility without rejecting the concepts of profit and self-interest. This is, for the most part, my position on the issue. The philosophical enemies of market capitalism have had plenty of ammunition provided to them in recent years by some of those -- dare I say "crooks"? -- who are involved in market capitalism itself. Without a solid and rational moral foundation, market capitalism becomes its own worst enemy. Yankelovich appears to be confronting this challenge and, I think, points the way to a good resolution of the problem.

There is no question now, in my view, that capitalism as it has been practiced in the past is just that -- a thing of the past. Capitalism must now advance to the "next stage of evolution," as Yankelovich envisions it. While it is vital that profit-making remain a central concern and goal of any economic enterprise, companies must also give due consideration to customers, employees, and society at large. There is really no essential conflict between making a profit (which any business must do to survive) and social responsibility. This notion of conflicting objectives was, I suspect, a matter of philosophical immaturity during the developmental growth of the capitalist system. It should be recalled that many of the so-called "robber barons" of the past did participate in philanthropic activities and contribute generously to the "social good." (Think Carnegie libraries, Ford and Rockefeller foundations.)

But, of course, the problem remains regarding the future of market capitalism, especially amid all the recent scandals. This is where I think Yankelovich makes his most noteworthy contribution. Abstract principles of ethics -- which is what many of us were primarily concerned with when I taught classes in ethical theory in years past -- is one thing. Important as that is, however, the application of ethical principles to practical situations, institutions, and social realities is, after all, of immediate concern. What Yankelovich provides is an extension of rational ethical principles into the marketplace, that is, where the action is and where they are most useful. There is no justification now for schools of business and departments of economics to ignore the moral and social ramifications of market activities; courses in business ethics, and I suggest maybe the "stewardship ethics" recommended in this book, ought to be a core part of the curriculum -- not just an elective, but a requirement.

"Profit With Honor" is, of course, not a full-blown treatise on business ethics. It is a short book, a mere 169 pages of actual text. It is, however, concise and to the point. Yankelovich's suggestion that market capitalism should adopt the idea of "doing well by doing good" comes across throughout the book and this idea needs to be internalized by anyone considering a future in business leadership. He concludes: "In our culture . . . the transformation to stewardship ethics may take place without even being widely noticed. But its effects will register in enhanced trust in the business sector, in improved long-term profitability, and in significant advances in global well-being." One can only hope what he says proves prophetic. This book is an excellent introduction to the problem at hand and, for many of us I suspect, a framework within which the practical solution to the problem can be realized. Must reading for any contemporary or future CEO. Highly recommended.

Should Be In Every Boardroom.......2007-07-07

This book is about ethics and integrity in corporate America. The author discusses the various scandals of the past decade or so, looks at root causes, and proposes a solution.

This book could easily have been a statist prescription for yet more regulation by that whacko entity we call the federal government (which doesn't actually govern), but fortunately it was not. Just as easily, it could have been yet another book used by the author to push the leftist agenda in the rosiest of terms, despite the fact that agenda has always failed and always will. Fortunately, we were spared that reality-challenged view as well. Nor is it another effort to push the "conservative" agenda (basically, a way of diverting money to special interests). In fact, Yankelovich stresses the need to move beyond political "solutions" to problems.

People change careers, and I am one of those people. In my former life as an engineer (in a galaxy far, far away or something to that effect), one of the skills I learned was root cause analysis. This kind of analysis is demonstrably absent in public policy, as is evident from the demonstrable failure of federal policies, federal agencies, federal programs, and just about anything else spewing forth from Washington, DC. I notice that most "experts" have pretty logical-sounding solutions to what ails us, but almost none of them first determines what problem needs solving. They have a hammer (their area of expertise), and the whole world is their nail.

Yankelovich takes a humbler and more rational approach. This book talks about what CEOs and other leaders should do to restore integrity in our corporations, yet in the preface he says he's neither a celebrated CEO nor an expert on the subject. Upon reading the book, I found this worked to his advantage. He's not an armchair general type, either, though. He was on many boards over many years and has seen the workings of the inner sanctum firsthand. His background as a social scientist and researcher is also a critical qualification, because he has an excellent lens through which to observe and analyze.

At 169 pages in paperback format, this book is short. It's not a highly detailed academic treatise on case histories. Yankelovich is certainly capable of producing such an opus. But it would be read by academics rather than CEOs. This book is the perfect size for its primary target audience--the high level corporate executive. It can fit into a briefcase for reading during a return flight or two.

Profit with Honor has ten chapters. The first two give us a clear picture of the problem. In those chapters, Yankelovich also discusses why legal remedies don't work. For example, if you have a law barring a certain behavior, people who believe it's OK to game the system will find and exploit a loophole. To see how this pans out, look no further than our insane, and counterproductive, federal income tax code. He also talks about what happens when a company promises to play nice and then doesn't.

The next two chapters explain why "What's good for GM is good for America" isn't so (not to pick on GM--that was the actual statement, but the sentiment was quickly adopted by other companies). Yankelovich also provides comparisons between the ethics of today (or lack thereof) to the ethics of previous times. This isn't a "sure was great in the good old days" fantasy. Yankelovich bases his analysis on actual research, including a study of the Harvard Business School Class of 1949.

What he has to say about "civil society" in Chapter Five is right on target, and should be required reading for everyone over the age of six. Unfortunately, we have too few adults with the proper training in civility, and we gag on that aftertaste of that every day.

Chapter Six and Chapter Seven provide a good discussion of stewardship ethics, which Yankelovich proposes as the means of getting our corporations back on track.

In Chapter Eight, Yankelovich exposes the fallacy of the "Shareholder Value" philosophy, leaving no doubt for the reader that it has proven to be costly and destructive. Chapter Nine explores the concept of gatekeeper integrity. Our gatekeepers include institutional investors, auditors, business lawyers, investment bankers, business journalists, and educators--and they have profoundly failed us.

The final chapter, Titled "Hummer vs. Hybrid" nicely ties the book's concepts together. What better way to make things clear than to use a common example and figuratively turn it over in your hand so that each edge, nook, and cranny is exposed to sunlight? This example concerns the attitudes of two companies. The first one is GM, which I loathe. The second is Toyota, of which I am a customer and a huge fan.

GM chased short-term profits by producing gas-guzzling Hummers. Thanks to GM lobbyists, the CONgress (which sells legislation to the highest bidder) introduced more distortions into that abomination called "the federal income tax code" to make it advantageous for people to own Hummers rather than a vehicle that makes sense. Hummers tear up our roads (causing us to pay higher road taxes) and consume four times the fuel that a sensible vehicle does (causing gas prices to be higher). So, we all pay for some insecure person to drive around in a Hummer dominating the road while GM managers soak up their bonuses for short-term profits and Middle East terrorists enjoy the funding provided by the additional oil revenue. All perfectly legal.

Toyota, on the other hand, behaved responsibly by producing the fuel-efficient Prius hybrid. It's important to note that this isn't their only fuel-efficient vehicle. My Camry gets nearly 40 MPG on the highway (5-speed manual transmission, good driving habits, synthetic oil, and other things boost its fuel economy past the EPA rating). Some other models of conventially-powered Toyotas, such as the Corolla, do even better.

If we replaced every GM vehicle with a Toyota Camry, America would no longer have an energy problem.

Toyota's venture into the hybrid market came at the cost of short-term losses. This car isn't a cash cow for them, and it isn't causing their executives to go home with multi-million dollar bonuses. It's part of the their long-term strategy to build cars that serve people and society. It's the result of their "continual improvement" ethic.

Yankelovich follows this same ethic in his writing. He isn't proposing a quick fix. He's proposing a change in underlying attitudes and beliefs, and it takes time for those things to produce effects. It's like eating right vs. taking medications. Eating right won't instantly make you healthy, if you are presently not eating right. But it's the only way to be healthy and correcting the effects of wrong behavior takes time.

It's also a monumental task to get all the players on board with such a change. If this book makes its way into boardrooms and executive suites across the country, and if individuals in those boardrooms and executive suites decide to make personal integrity a top priority ala the Class of 1949, that change can and will happen.

If you like the idea of a nation in which corporations are run in an ethical fashion (providing a model the federal "government" might learn from), read this book and then recommend it to others.

The Church and the Market: A Catholic Defense of the Free Economy (Studies in Ethics and Economics)

Average customer rating:

The Unhistorical Historian
Very effective
Catholics for Freedom
an austrian primer
Long overdue

The Church and the Market: A Catholic Defense of the Free Economy (Studies in Ethics and Economics)
Thomas E. Woods Jr.
Manufacturer: Lexington Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0739110365

Book Description

Filling a lapse in the debate on the role of religious thought in economic theory, The Church and the Market: A Catholic Defense of the Free Economy, informed by the history of Catholic economic thought, shows that the long-seen contradiction between Catholic faith and support for the market economy does not exist.

Customer Reviews:

The Unhistorical Historian.......2006-03-26

Woods accepts uncritically the rather paradoxical view that there is an arena of human action (economics)exmempt from the moral order. This implies that it is also exempt from Church teachings. Thus, for Woods, it is the Church and not the market that is problematic. The market, for Woods, moves according to its own logic, just as the stars do; it is a pure science on the order of physcis or astronomy. However, the view that men are moved in the same way as are the stars is more akin to astrology than astronomy.

The traditional view that prevailed from Aristotle to Smith was that all human relationships, including economic ones, were regulated by justice. Justice, for Aristotle and St. Thomas, was not merely a "Part of virtue, but virtue entire." Hence there can be no human relationships outside its realm. To posit an order of relationships beyond justice is to subscribe, consciously or not, to the doctrine of the double truth. Just as in the 13th century, those who subscribe to this doctrine reject the authority of the Church, or indeed any authority at all.

Woods is truly unprepared for his task, with only a rudimentary knowledge of economics, mainly gleaned from the pretensions of "praxeology," a philosophy so flawed that only an economist could take it seriously. (Economists are generally the most poorly trained and least well-read of all the academics.) But Woods is an historian, and should have used his training in this area to examine the question. Had he done so, he would have discovered that the system he longs for existed in the 19th and early 20th century. The economy was, during that period, very nearly laissez-faire, with the government not even 1/10th as involved as it is today. The system was also highly unstable and inequitable, subject to ever increasing cycles of economic euphoria and depression, culminating in the Great Depression that very nearly brought the system down. Only massive government redistribution, starting after World War II, could given the system any stability. Now this intervention itself has become problematic, resulting in debts that cannot be sustained.

We have been where Woods would have us go; we did not like it. The truth of the matter is that economic Austria and social chaos share a border, and you cannot draw near to the one without coming close to the other. If justice is one thing and economics another, then there can be no just systems, and society is condemened to being a war of all against all. A little history would have saved the historian from great errors. And a little humility would not have hurt, either; if one is going to be a dissenter, it would be a good idea to have a better idea of the teaching one is dissenting from. Woods has neither history, nor humility, nor economics, nor justice. Without justice, there can be no stable social order.

Very effective.......2006-01-29

Let me note from the outset that I've gotten to know Professor Woods by means of emails we've exchanged after I've read some of his articles; I have reviewed a couple of his other books for Amazon as well.

I read The Church and the Market late last year and loved it. Woods has a gift for explaining complicated things in ways that can easily be understood. Woods anticipates more arguments against the free market than I could have come up with in 20 years and demolishes them all, without invective or a sneer.

This is an extremely learned book, and written in clear and engaging prose. Woods takes a consistently pro-freedom position in his discussion of wages, antitrust, the welfare state, banking, foreign aid, etc.

At the same time, he addresses some of the Catholic hostility to the market, and poses some interesting questions. His argument goes something like this: certain papal statements call for a "living wage" (for example) because they believe such recommendations will make workers better off. But what if such a policy (whether enforced by law or by ecclesiastical urging is irrelevant) will make workers worse off? (Woods gives many reasons that this would be the case, including the fact that fewer workers would be employed.)

Leave aside your objection that Woods' economic analysis is wrong, and that, say, a $50 minimum wage would actually be a great thing. The question is this. Let's say Woods is right, which is certainly possible. Let's say this approach would indeed make workers worse off. Is a Catholic free to say so? If not, why not?

Note that Woods isn't saying the Church is not allowed to speak on economic matters. He is saying that some of the economic assumptions behind the bishops' statements on the economy are faulty, and that the resulting moral analysis is necessarily faulty as well.

It would be something else if Church leaders were to admit that the policies they recommend would surely make people worse off, but that justice requires that they be instituted anyway. That would be one thing. But these policies are being recommended on the express assumption that they will help people. But what if they won't? What then?

That is an interesting and good question, though many Catholics are embarrassing themselves by claiming Woods has no right to ask it. Playing right into the Protestant caricature of Catholicism, they insist that free discussion on such matters is not allowed (a fact that would have been very interesting to medieval scholars, who wrote about and debated just about every philosophical and theological issue you can name). They acknowledge none of the careful distinctions Woods makes, and some of the dafter ones go so far as to say he's dissenting from official teaching simply in pointing out reality. What a nightmare.

As for N. Ravitch, below, he's Professor Norman Ravitch, who 1) hates the Catholic Church (do a Google search on him) and 2) makes a habit of reviewing books he hasn't read. (Check out his review of George Weigel's book God's Choice, for example.) The point of Woods's book is to ADDRESS anti-market statements by Church figures; Ravitch, apparently going only on the brief description above, assumes Woods' book just ignores them. No one who even owned a copy, much less actually read it, could have mischaracterized it so completely.

Catholics for Freedom.......2005-03-12

Professor Thomas Woods is an interesting author: a traditionalist Catholic who is also a supporter of the free market economy. In this book, he presents a Catholic case for the free enterprise system, employing the economics of Ludwig von Mises and Murray Rothbard (neither of whom was religious, much less Catholic.)

It's well known that the Roman Catholic Church has never been a particularly strong supporter of capitalism. Many popes have stressed the benefits of private property and opposed extreme versions of socialism, but have not realized the positive benefits of Capitalism. In the past, teachers in the Catholic Church haven't understood the functioning of economic laws. The always-paradoxical John Paul II, while having a better understanding of the markets processes, supports large-scale government intervention in the economy. In addition, many Catholics believe that the church's advocacy of the mixed economy is dogma, thus putting Catholic supporters of free enterprise on the same level as those who advocate women priests and the like.

Prof. Woods thus has a lot of work to do. He first shows the autonomous nature of economic reasoning. Churchmen are entitled to instruct the faithful on their duties to their fellow man, but lay Catholics are free to make an independent appraisal of the effectiveness of any given plan. For example, if a churchman tells his flock to help the needy, that's all well and good; if he tells them that the only way to improve the lot of the poor is through minimum wage laws, labor unions, foreign aid and the like, he is making a judgment about how economic laws work. Woods argues that, from the Catholic perspective, there is no reason to believe that the pope is infallible in his economic prescriptions. Prof. Woods discusses a large number of subjects, including usury, wages, prices, banking and foreign aid.

My one concern is whether all of Catholic economic teaching fits neatly into Prof. Woods' approach. Many popes taught in a rather dogmatic way about the need for various interventions in the economy. One example is the support for laws mandating the closing of stores on Sunday (as well as giving workers the day off). If popes who advocated these things had been Misesian praxeologists, I doubt they would have come to different conclusions.

The book ends with a strong critique of distributism, which seeks a larger distribution of private property in the hands of workers. Chesteron and Belloc, among others, advocated distributism. Many traditionally minded Catholics see distributism as a "third way" between capitalism and socialism. But as Prof. Woods points out, the only institution which has the power to redistribute property on a massive scale is the state.

an austrian primer.......2005-03-05

This book's title is deceptive in that it suggests the author is going to examine the place of capitalism within formal Catholic social thought. Sadly, Dr. Woods foregos the opportunity to examine the teachings of the social magisterium in favor of the standard bromides of the Austrian school. Admitting at the outset that he's no intention of bringing up the pronouncements of the popes throughout the ages, he instead nitpicks about the sorts of things which have traditionally annoyed Austrians. In most things, Woods follows the lead of others, contributing nothing himself in the way of original analysis. He acknowledges his intellectual debt to Murray Rothbard in the introduction and, later on, draws on Rothbard's arguments concerning the 16th century scholastics, some of whom wrote opinions in accord with Austrianism. Unfortunately, a few 16th century theologians does not the Church make and it's of course silly to even think that these men, grounded as they were in the thought of the Angelic Doctor, would in any way endorse the bastard children of the Enlightenment. It would be the equivalent of saying that the popes are Austrian because they view private property as a pillar of society.

According to Rothbard, the error of Thomists and all classical natural-law theorists is that they viewed the state as a "major locus of virtuous action". Elsewhere, Rothbard defines the state as a monopolistic criminal enterprise. Each of these views is well outside of the social magisterium; no where will you find a pope who rejects the validity of the state since it holds authority by the will of God. St. Paul addresses the state in Romans 13, not the all-powerful market, and he does not fall on the side of Murray Rothbard. The errors of the non-Catholic Rothbard on political issues are not enough to persuade Woods that he's suspect as an authority in economics. He clings instead all the more tightly to the luminaries of Austrianism in a book ostensibly dedicated to Catholic social teaching on economic concerns. Modern Catholic intellectuals and popes have always recognized the interdependence between the economic and political frameworks. What one holds regarding the proper constitution of a society has ramifications in the economic sphere. Rothbard's political views are inseparable from his economic theory since the state exists solely to destroy the fruits of the market (cf. Man, Economy & State).
The irony is that Dr. Woods continues to defend the compatibility of Austrianism and Catholicism, despite the repeated condemnations of economic liberalism by popes like Pius XI, to whom Woods appeals against the errors and confusion which have plagued the post-conciliar Church (cf. The Great Façade; the phrase "cafeteria Catholic" comes to mind). Here, Pius XI addresses Woods and his ilk in his encyclical letter Ubi Arcano Dei:
"Many believe in or claim that they believe in and hold fast to Catholic doctrine on such questions as social authority, the right of owning private property, on the relations between capital and labor, on the rights of the laboring man, on the relations between Church and State, religion and country, on the relations between the different social classes, on international relations, on the rights of the Holy See and the prerogatives of the Roman Pontiff and the Episcopate, on the social rights of Jesus Christ, Who is the Creator, Redeemer, and Lord not only of individuals but of nations. In spite of these protestations, they speak, write, and, what is more, act as if it were not necessary any longer to follow, or that they did not remain still in full force, the teachings and solemn pronouncements which may be found in so many documents of the Holy See, and particularly in those written by Leo XIII, Pius X, and Benedict XV. There is a species of moral, legal, and social modernism which We condemn, no less decidedly than We condemn theological modernism."

Liberalism takes many forms. In our own day, most faithful Catholics assume it is primarily concerned with corruptions of human sexuality. In fact, the popes remind the faithful that liberalism appears under varied guises.

Dr. Woods evinces a poor philosophical foundation and he is easily taken in by all sorts of Austrian assumptions. For example, Ludwig von Mises, critical inspiration to Rothbard and other Austrians, claims in his work Human Action that praxeology "is the science of every kind of human action," rejecting any claim that his new science, heretofore unknown to the doctors of the Church, is not limited to those actions which lead to an improvement in man's material well-being. This claim of course is fundamentally at odds with St. Thomas and Catholicism at both a natural and theological level. From a Thomistic perspective, one wonders how anyone can have a perfect science of all human action that does not weigh good or bad actions. This is true whether it's philosophical ethics or evangelical precepts. The error of the past, says Mises, is that philosophers like Aristotle sought to explain human action by notions of good or bad, just or unjust, or even worse, the miraculous "interference" of a Deity. Instead, human actions are not ordered by objective valuations, but rather by the dictates of the market. Virtue and vice are subjective notions which have no place in economics. If a man is to "succeed" says Mises, he must adjust his actions to economic law. In his intro to Human Action, he uses the example of a man who wants frequent sexual intercourse: if he's going to get it, he's going to have to know economics. Austrian economics, not Chicago-style. Elsewhere, he quips that "simple faith and economic rationalism cannot dwell together. It is unthinkable that priests should govern entrepreneurs." Meaning, the Church has no business at all talking about the market. The social magisterium is just so many opinions which may or may not be the correct way to establish a just and felicitous social order. Rothbardians would go further and say that the Church can be ignored without moral peril whenever She posits the notion of a common good that the state is obligated to safeguard.

Woods argues that economics is not a species of ethics but is instead a pure science studied in the same way that physics is by physicists. As St. Thomas says in his commentary on Aristotle's Ethics, "external goods that are used purposively by men have a moral consideration." It's precisely this ethical cast that Mises and other Austrians have sought to remove from the discipline of economics. The Church has claimed the right to decide the moral lights which should guide Christians in formulating a just economic order. The author does not meditate upon the question of whether there is a moral calculus in the laws which the state passes to regulate the exchange of goods or in relations between labor and capital. How can he? His mentor Rothbard had already taught that the state was criminal by nature, so it follows that its decrees are only the threats of violence made by a monopolistic crime syndicate. Rothbard took Mises to his logical conclusion, deciding that the market would necessarily find the most humane and efficient way to secure corporate goods with the state tagging along as an unwanted parasite. The author uses the same line of thought in his discussion on safety regulations. The market will always do a better job of implementing safety in the workplace than any public regulation because it is rational. If an objective moral evil exists in the social order, it cannot be addressed by the state. The market is infallible and will eventually solve any problem, whether it takes days or decades. Positive laws to remedy or palliate a condition are by definition always worse than doing nothing. It's kind of like a doctor telling his patient to fore go any treatment since death will eventually cure his illness.

Woods wants us to accept that economics is a value-free science, a set of observations about the way things work in a world marred by scarcity. At the same time, he can't help dipping into moral considerations (e.g, p. 47), predicating moral or immoral of certain economic choices. In addition, he favorably quotes the Jesuit Mariana, who calls any ruler "wicked" who sets a price by edict. Mises and Rothbard of course also resorted to various moral arguments when discoursing on economics; their gift for moralistic psychologizing has been picked up by anarchists like Hans Hoppe at UNLV. The question is then: whose morals guide the discussion? Are they Catholic? Do they reflect the mind of the Church in her magisterium and liturgy (cf. The Feast of Christ the King)? The Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, used by Byzantine Catholics, is very un-Rothbardian: the priest prays for the good of the civil authorities and the armed forces. It's hard to be a Greek Catholic and a Rothbardian anarcho-capitalist. Biblical passages like 1 Peter 2:13 become problematic at best, candidates for expunging at worst. To be deep in Austrianism is to cease to be Catholic.

At the very least, we can dispense with the pretension that economics is just a pure science about the way things are. This claim can also be found in fields like sociology and psychology. It's foolish to predicate pure value-neutrality of the political science, but the Economic Man is a powerful myth, so it happens that the whole science of economics gets a pass when it does this very thing. The Austrian School is a marginal school at best (no pun intended), with Noble Laureates and scholars coming from other schools like Chicago. The variety of theories would suggest that economics is a science in an equivocal sense only.

Woods has repeatedly shown that he's out of his depth in tackling the question of the Church and the market. For those who accept his thesis, think more carefully about it after reading Rothbard and Mises. Both authors have good insights and much of what they write is reasonable when they discuss the minutiae, but this book is nothing more than an Austrian primer. Woods limits much of his effort to sniping at individuals like Belloc. Heinrich Pesch gets two whole pages even though he's hugely influential in 20th century Catholic social thought. One senses that Woods is really only interested in regurgitating standard Austrian fare. We don't need this book for that purpose since many others have already been written.

A concise but potent antidote to Austrian ideology is the recently released Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church. Unlike this book, it actually delves into the heart of the Church's teaching on economic, political and cultural issues. Citations are copious and far ranging and, alas, authoritative.

Long overdue.......2005-02-27

I have been waiting for this book for many years. As an economist and an orthodox Catholic, I have been concerned at how many of my fellow Catholics, with little if any background in economics, have dismissed the free-market while advancing policies that can only lead to economic ruin. This is a travesty, I've always thought. In philosophy, in medical ethics, and in many other disciplines Catholics have been some of the best thinkers; in economics, on the other hand, the situation is too embarrassing to behold.

What Dr. Woods has done here is to show that so many of the Catholic arguments against the free market are rather like many of the Protestant arguments against Catholicism: they're often based on ignorance and misunderstandings. He then proceeds to lay out one of the strongest and most overwhelming cases for the free market I have ever read - and I have read a lot of them.

I just finished Woods's book an hour ago and signed on to write my review. I was sorry to see the review below (which has since been placed above this one, apparently). At no time does Woods's book contend that economic efficiency is the supreme value; in (as I recall) chapter one Woods expressly dismisses that idea, and in fact criticizes the Chicago School of economics for at times holding that very position.

The Church and the Market often deals with issues that by and large have not been taken up by the popes at all. Thus the chapter on money and banking discusses the gold standard, the moral dimension of fiat currency, the moral implications of fractional-reserve banking, the moral aspects of inflation, etc. Here Woods shows Catholics that a good grasp of economics can help them render better moral judgments. He also corrects the errors of Fr. Coughlin, who is still admired by some people but whose grasp of monetary economics was disastrously poor.

I wonder if the critic above read the whole book, since it explicitly answers the very clichés that are sprinkled throughout that review. This is disappointing; I hoped Woods's book, so carefully and persuasively argued, would force opponents of Austrian economics to stop and think. Instead, at least in this one case, it has succeeded only in making them repeat the same ill-informed charges they did before he wrote his book. That is the kind of ignorance against which this important -- and beautifully written -- book is directed.

Your work is not wasted, Dr. Woods, believe me. Many of us have been waiting for this book for a long time. Pay no attention to those who call you disobedient (or whatever it is they'll call you). You have done the Church an important service, as did the scholastics who showed that the best of secular thought could be reconciled with the teaching of the Church.

Body Bazaar: The Market for Human Tissue in the Biotechnology Age

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Easy Read for the Non-scientist
Who Owns Your Body?

Body Bazaar: The Market for Human Tissue in the Biotechnology Age
Lori Andrews , and Dorothy Nelkin
Manufacturer: Crown
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0609605402
Release Date: 2001-02-13

Amazon.com

Can a human being be reduced to the sum of his or her body's parts? In a curious turnaround, science and industry are making the case that our selves are separate from and even the owners of our flesh and bone, rather than the meat machines 20th-century biologists posited. That this reversal is to their advantage and profit is the theme of Body Bazaar: The Market for Human Tissue in the Biotechnology Age.

Authors Lori B. Andrews and Dorothy Nelkin, each intimately involved in the struggle to define the laws and issues of the biotech age, make a strong and clear case against the newfound rights of business interests to harvest our bodies and derive exclusive profit from the resulting products and processes. Though some of their arguments are unconvincing--while it is certainly true that many cultures hold blood and other tissues sacred or at least taboo, such beliefs would seem to pale before, say, a cure for cancer--on the whole, the reader is left with a sense of urgency that harm is being done to an unsuspecting population of health care consumers unknowingly mined for new biological properties and to humanity itself, rightly expecting the same selflessness from the medical community that eradicated smallpox and smashed polio with little to no profit for the principals. Using stories of individuals injured or abused by the increasingly rapacious biotech industry and their own careful analysis of the changing intellectual property laws governing the mess, the authors warn of a dehumanized world unimaginable even a few decades ago. Whether we'll avoid the pitfalls of our new tech or simply cope with the results is a question for history. --Rob Lightner

Book Description

In the age of biotechnology, the body is speaking to us in new ways. Our DNA, blood, and bones — our very being! — have acquired currency in an exceedingly bizarre fashion that we could not have imagined even a decade ago. Valued as both a source of information and the raw material for commercial products, the tissues in a single human being can now attract millions of dollars, and with them new commercial uses for human blood and body tissue. Because of this, the risks --we face both individually and as a society --are massive and should be understood by everyone.

Body parts are useful to researchers and entrepreneurs, insurers and employers, law-enforcement authorities and immigration officials. And they are more easily available than most people suspect. Nearly all of us have blood and tissue on file. Whenever you have a blood test, a biopsy, or surgery, that tissue is potentially available without your consent. Genetic testing is mandatory in many contexts, and our DNA may become our primary identification --the social security number of the future.

Human tissue is crucial to health care, but it has also become a medium for artists who have found ways to sculpt in blood and to plastinate skin. Interior decorators buy human skulls in body boutiques. DNA can even be used to run computers, since its replications provide more memory than the binary code. As the body market expands, people have been dismayed to discover that their eggs have been given to other women without their consent and that scientists and biotech companies are making huge profits by secretly patenting their cell lines and genes.

Andrews and Nelkin illuminate the business of bodies, telling individual stories to show the profound psychological, social, and financial impacts of the commercialization of human tissue. They explore the problems of privacy and social control that arise with the extraction of information from the body, and the provocative questions of profit and property that follow the creation of marketable products from human bodies.

Their findings are shocking, groundbreaking revealing the existence of a $17 billion body business in a true story that reads like science fiction.

Customer Reviews:

Easy Read for the Non-scientist.......2001-05-08

Andrews and Nelkin have done a good job of describing the burgeoning field of biotechnology in layman's terms. Although redundant at times, the authors get right down to the nitty-gritty on issues of tissue marketing, genetic manipulation, assisted reproduction, embryonic research, cloning and other current topics. The book also explores the ethical issues of these rapidly expanding fields, which is particularly relevant in view of the money to be made on lucrative discoveries by researchers and companies who place the bottom line above human rights. This book is recommended for anyone who wants to know about DNA but is afraid to ask.

Who Owns Your Body?.......2001-02-26

If you took a human being and dismantled the body into its elements of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, phosphorus, and the rest, you would get a collection of pure chemicals that used to estimated as worth 89 cents. That's what you get if you take all the information and structure away. Information and structure within our bodies are worth something, and are worth more and more every day as we are able to understand them better. And here's a disturbing thought: someone else may own those particular details on your own particular body. And sell them.

According to Lori Andrews and Dorothy Nelkin, in their troubling book _Body Bazaar: The Market for Human Tissue in the Biotechnology Age_ (Crown Publications), that's happening often. It happened to John Moore, who about fifteen years ago was being treated by a specialist for hairy-cell leukemia. As you can imagine, such treatment required a lot of tests on Mr. Moore's body, but it seemed to Moore that there were too many going on, and that the doctor was secretive, and insistent that the blood, and then bone marrow and skin and semen, had to be obtained at his own lab. Moore investigated, and found that he had become patent number 4,438,032. The doctor had found that there were certain unique chemicals in Moore's blood, and the pharmaceutical company Sandoz had reportedly paid $15 million for the right to develop a cell line taken from Moore. The doctor seems to have said that he had found a "gold mine" in Moore, and Moore indeed felt he had been "harvested." So, of course, Moore sued for property theft. In 1990, the California Supreme Court ruled in favor of the doctor, saying in effect that Moore didn't own his body parts, but the ones who discovered and patented them did.

Author Andrews is a legal scholar and bioethicist at the Illinois Institute of Technology, and Nelkin is a New York University professor of law. They offer many