Margins
Polemical Judo book cover
Polemical Judo
Memes for our Political Knife-fight
2019
First Published
3.86
Average Rating
324
Number of Pages
A brazen guide for sane Americans to bypass trench warfare and win our life or death struggle for civilization. Are we in phase 8 of America’s 250 year civil war? This book explores the possibility of using agility—winning political battles with the shifting dexterity of jiu jitsu—that never occurs to many politicians or strategists. Sure, talk show hosts milk each day’s outrage for humor, indignation and ratings. But does anyone consider ways to get off the hoary, insipid "left-right political axis" and maneuver in three dimensions? Amid the latest tweet-storm and news-grabbing stunt, what pundit ever steps back to ask "Hey, what actually just happened?" Across today’s fast-changing political landscape, Brin explores how to confront our neighbors not with familiar chasms, but commonalities - things both you and they know to be true. How to counter the all-out war against facts and all fact-using professions, including science and the "fake news" media. Using actual outcomes to demolish comfy oft-told narratives—by seeking better strategies against deficits, at engendering a healthy economy and even at fostering open-creative-competitive enterprise. Polemical Judo ranges from electoral cheating to the economy; from saving the planet to troubles with Russia and China; from conspiracies to racism, to forging a Big Tent Coalition. It also explores more extreme "exit strategies" — impeachment, indictment, the 25th Amendment and all that, as well as incorporating bold ideas from Lincoln, FDR, MLK and the Greatest Generation. Because those brave geniuses fought earlier battles for us. And they won.... plus tactics, tactics, tactics that you’ve never seen before. They might—or might not work. But shouldn’t someone at least try some of them? David Brin's best-selling novels include The Postman (filmed in 1997) plus explorations of our near-future in Earth and Existence. His award-winning novels and short stories explore vividly speculative ideas through a hard-science lens. His nonfiction book, The Transparent Society, won the American Library Association's Freedom of Speech Award for exploring 21st Century concerns about security, secrecy, accountability and privacy.
Avg Rating
3.86
Number of Ratings
37
5 STARS
27%
4 STARS
43%
3 STARS
22%
2 STARS
5%
1 STARS
3%
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Author

David Brin
David Brin
Author · 43 books

David Brin is a scientist, speaker, and world-known author. His novels have been New York Times Bestsellers, winning multiple Hugo, Nebula and other awards. At least a dozen have been translated into more than twenty languages. Existence, his latest novel, offers an unusual scenario for first contact. His ecological thriller, Earth, foreshadowed global warming, cyberwarfare and near-future trends such as the World Wide Web. A movie, directed by Kevin Costner, was loosely based on his post-apocalyptic novel, The Postman. Startide Rising won the Hugo and Nebula Awards for best novel. The Uplift War also won the Hugo Award. His non-fiction book—The Transparent Society: Will Technology Force Us to Choose Between Freedom and Privacy? — deals with secrecy in the modern world. It won the Freedom of Speech Prize from the American Library Association. Brin serves on advisory committees dealing with subjects as diverse as national defense and homeland security, astronomy and space exploration, SETI, nanotechnology, and philanthropy. David appears frequently on TV, including "The Universe" and on the History Channel's "Life After People." Full and updated at: http://www.davidbrin.com/biography.htm

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