Lee, Thomas F. Battlebabble: selling war in America: a dictionary of deception. (Common Courage Pr, 2005).
Euphemisms sell war. From Operation Desert Storm to Operation Iraqi Free-dom, and throughout the intervening years of deadly sanctions, a dense fog of rhetoric rose to hide the government’s imperialistic ambitions and our brutality. Blunt realities of war have been smothered under layers of language. This book will play a role in the evolution of an increased sensitivity towards the deceptive words of war.
Loeb, Paul Rogat. The impossible will take a little while. (Basic Books, 2004).
In The Impossible Will Take a Little While, a phrase borrowed from Billie Holliday, the editor of Soul of a Citizen brings together fifty stories and essays that range across nations, eras, wars, and political movements. Danusha Goska, an Indiana activist with a paralyzing physical disability, writes about overcoming political immobilization, drawing on her history with the Peace Corps and Mother Teresa. Vaclav Havel, the former president of the Czech Republic, finds value in seemingly doomed or futile actions taken by oppressed peoples. Rosemarie Freeney Harding recalls the music that sustained the civil rights movement, and Paxus Calta-Star recounts the powerful vignette of an 18-year-old who launched the overthrow of Bulgaria's dictatorship. Many of the essays are new, others classic works that continue to inspire. Together, these writers explore a path of heartfelt community involvement that leads beyond despair to compassion and hope. The voices collected in The Impossible Will Take a Little While will help keep us all working for a better world despite the obstacles.
Loeb, Paul Rogat. Soul of a citizen: Living with conviction in a cynical time. (Macmillan, 1999).
Soul of a Citizen awakens within us the desire and the ability to make our voices heard and our actions count. We can lead lives worthy of our convictions.
A book of inspiration and integrity, Soul of a Citizen is an antidote to the twin scourges of modern life--powerlessness and cynicism. In his evocative style, Paul Loeb tells moving stories of ordinary Americans who have found unexpected fulfillment in social involvement. Through their example and Loeb's own wise and powerful lessons, we are compelled to move from passivity to participation. The reward of our action, we learn, is nothing less than a sense of connection and purpose not found in a purely personal life.
Soul of a Citizen has become the handbook for budding social activists, veteran organizers, and anybody who wants to make a change--big or small--in the world around them. At this critical historical time , Paul Loeb's completely revised edition--and inspiring message--is more urgently important than ever.
