Review: The Uprising
We're not gonna take it.Like Dee Snider of Twisted Sister delivering the smackdown to some kid's parent with those rebellious lyrics in 1984, with his New York Times bestselling book The Uprising, David Sirota is kicking down the door and putting the establishment on notice that we're mad as hell and we're not going to take it anymore.
No, we ain't gonna take it.
We're not gonna take it anymore.
In The Uprising, Sirota reports from the front lines of populist movements on both the political left and right, showing the anger of a people who feel that their government, one that is supposed to be "of the people, for the people, and by the people" does not work for them. From a stint with the Minutemen on the California border with Mexico, to profiling populist Senators Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), and Jon Tester (D-MT), to following the efforts of Marcus Courtney and WashTech to organize high-tech sector workers at Microsoft, to the fragmented anti-war movement, David Sirota effectively lays out the stark realities of an establishment that is broken and the popular discontent that is bubbling up from the grassroots.
Make no mistake, the uprising is not solely the domain of progressives who chafe at every move the Bush Administration makes. Social conservatives who believe their government has through its complacency and apathy, enabled illegal immigration, have joined the uprising, as have fiscal conservatives who seemingly have watched their government spend money faster than Monty Brewster.
The Uprising is a highly entertaining and informative account of what's gone wrong with our system of government through the eyes of the people who are trying to do something about it. And with this book, David Sirota cements his status as one of the leading progressive voices in our country.
In short, I highly recommend you pick up a copy of The Uprising, and see what it's all about. But don't just read the book. Challenge yourself to join the uprising and get involved. For our readers in Portland, below is the information on David's book tour event tonight:
Portland, OR - Friday, June 13th, 7:30pm: Powell's Bookstore
Reading, Q&A and book signing co-sponsored by the Oregon Bus Project, with after-party at bar. Location: Powell's Bookstore, 1005 W. Burnside, Portland, OR. Contact: Alex Tischenko, shoshana.bochner (at) busproject.org) at 503-233-3018. Facebook event RSVP (optional).
# Posted by Ken Camp : 12:25 AM
Comments:
Funny.. here I am at my desk, I just put down my copy of "The Uprising", the one that I bought after listening to David in a packed house at Elliott Bay Bookstore last evening.
What I brought back from his speech was twofold: Direct Action- and not just any action but the ones we can win such as the shareholder resolutions and second our efforts at change need to be brought together; stop all the attempts to get "our" message heard and fall in together, at least 'till we are seen as a real movement that gets change....if not, our reps get primaried.
Direct Action at the state and local level are most effective as a fewer number need to show up to affect change.
David gave a similar presentation to our state Senate and House staff earlier today. I've read the book already, but David showed some interesting graphs that demonstrated how similar this uprising is to the one that happened in the late 1970's/early 1980's. The economic situation is very similar.
But as Rick notes, direct action at the state and local level is where it's at. And as David noted (and I did in my review) it is up to each of us to take direct action to improve our collective circumstances. We are the ones we've been waiting for.
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