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Title: The Way Things Never Were: The Truth About the "Good Old Days" by Norman H. Finkelstein ISBN: 0-689-81412-7 Publisher: Atheneum Books Pub. Date: 01 July, 1999 Format: School & Library Binding Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $16.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.25 (4 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: No need to get uptight !
Comment: When I read this book, I knew it would upset some people for whom the mythical idea they had in their head of those "happier, simpler times" would be exploded. What Mr. Finklestien forced me to realize in my reading of the book were basically two things.
Firstly, the human memory tends to be mercifully selective, emphasizing the positive and glossing over the negative. Be honest. Do you not feel that most people, yourself included, tend to have idealized memories of people that have gone on to their eternal rest ? The mere act of their passing made them better people in the minds of many who knew them. That works equally well with things, places and times that will never return. Many readers of this book will want to criticize Mr. Finkelstein for making them face the truth of the matter that, in the words of Mr. Joel, "The good old days weren't always good..." I am not among those. Instead, I greatly appreciate the author for the dose of reality.
Secondly, I have always been of the opinion that you cannot really "solve" problems. The act of eliminating one creates another. I believe that if you look at the wide screen that encompasses both past and present, you get a good illustration of my point. Some things about America's golden age were indeed better; some indeed weren't. I could write you a list right now as long as your arm of things from that era that I would love to see return, then turn right around and write an equally long list entitled, "But for God's sake, please let me never again see....."
My bottom line....I found Mr. Finkelstein's work very informative and interesting. For those who can handle the truth, it's a good read. But if you're among those who may become traumatized by having your mental version of those "good old days" challenged, my recommendation to you is to simply stay away.
Rating: 1
Summary: The good old days really were better.
Comment: I appreciate books that set right distortions and falsehoods about the past. However, I do not appreciate books that seek to rewrite history by setting up new distortions and falsehoods. This is not an objective history with the purpose of "deconstructing" the popular image of the American golden age of the mid-twentieth century. I'm not sure why, but the author has a quite different agenda- to deny that the prosperity and stability of the period ever existed.
A big part of the author's argument seems to be that because the consumer goods of the present day are more advanced or affordable, then our lives must be so much better. He makes the arguement that because so many households have color television and VCR's then we live in a paradise. The grim fact that the standard of living has continuously fallen for the average working person since 1973 is ignored. The fact that it now takes two wage earners working overtime to barely keep the same household standard of living that a single wage earner could maintain on 40 hours a week is ignored.
There is also no mention of the fact that all the superior consumer goods that the author values so much are for the vast majority of cases not made in the United States by decently paid American workers, but are almost always made out of the country by virtual slave labor. American workers usually can only find low paid retail jobs selling these goods....
Even in recalling the social unrest and protests of the 60's and 70's the author ignores the basic fact that everyone still believed that change for the better was possible. People only go out in the streets to protest or picket if they still have faith in the system. In these days of corporate control of both parties no one even bothers to protest- they know that the deck is callously stacked against them.
Yes, the purpose of this book is to mislead people into denying the basic historical, statistical fact that the standard of living was higher for a larger percentage of the total population in the 40's, 50's, and 60's than at any other time in history. The current huge and growing gulf between haves and have nots did not exist for income distribution was much more equitable. The author seems to be trying to make people more tolerant of the current unjust status quo by denying that the recent past was any better.
I am just not sure if the distortions in this book are the result of denial- or a deliberate attempt falsify the record. I lived through these years in a working class family and I KNOW what the truth is....
Rating: 3
Summary: Iconoclastic, but not necessarily objective
Comment: The author has attempted here to put American history in its true perspective (whatever that may mean). He successfully reports SOME of the differences between then and now, but his manipulation of the facts didn't convince me that we've got it better now than before. I grew up in the 50s and indeed DO remember simpler times. While Finkelstein laments our "limited choices" back then, and "black-and-white" television (oh, POOR US!) he fails to mention that our 'limited' choices were far more than previous generations had. Granted, we have more conveniences now than previously (COLOR t.v.---one-fourth the size of a small room wall, even!!), but we have over-crowded living conditions, deplorably crowded freeways, unbelievably high insurance rates for medical care, and, of course, the threat of nuclear disaster STILL is having over our heads. So, we are living longer? GOOD! But keep in mind that living longer has it's own set of problems. A so-so book.
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Title: The Legend of Luke (Redwall, Book 12) by Brian Jacques, Fangorn ISBN: 0441007732 Publisher: Ace Books Pub. Date: 30 January, 2001 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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Title: Angels & Demons by Dan Brown ISBN: 0671027360 Publisher: Pocket Star Books Pub. Date: 26 June, 2001 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
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