Take It Personally, by Anita Roddick
a book review by Paul V. Rafferty
If you are confused about all the rules and regulations emanating from the world’s international financial institutions and if you think there is little you can do about it and if you wonder whatever happened to “Democracy”, then you must read this book - and visit the website.
Anita Roddick has produced a multi-disciplinary collection of essays and illustrations which form a “Basic Course in Restoring Democracy”, called Take It Personally – and we should “take it personally”.
The Monetarist values that have seized the world’s financial institutions are a far cry from the ideals which first shaped them. Like the United Nations, those ideals began in the aftermath of the of the Second World War, when everyone realised that there must be international institutions, safeguarding international affairs, if nations and individuals are to be free.
Keynesian Economics, with its premise that trade must be regulated, was the dominant theory, of the time, as it had provided guidelines for both the United Kingdom and the United States in their recovery from the Great Depression. Marxism, however, ran a close second, with its emphasis on Central Planning, for “the greatest good for the greatest number”.
Today, however, a new form of “Laissez Faire” Economics – which largely caused the Great Depression – has become the dominant vogue.
Currently under the guise of “Free Trade”, this latest monetarist viewpoint holds that if the large multi-nationals are completely unrestricted and simply allowed to do what they do best, all else will improve and the entire planet will benefit. The multi-national managers, with their superior business expertise and acumen, will create a virtual cornucopia for everyone.
Of course, there will be difficulties in “adjustment’, the authorities concede, but – in time – “All will be well” in “the best of all possible worlds”.
Those who disagree with this Panglossian “wisdom” have little alternative, since there is no viable political opposition to the “new” philosophy.
Nevertheless, there are alternatives – and Anita Roddick has gathered many together, in Take It Personally.
The book itself is a pleasure to read and one does not require a degree in Economics to see that alternatives are not only possible but practical. Take It Personally is a collection of essays by individuals working “in the field”, in many countries and who are successfully contradicting the dominant theory that is dictating our future.
In a brief introduction, Anita Roddick points out that: “Like every modern phenomenon you can think of, globalisation is a massive jumble of contradictory trends, of the hopeful and the hopeless, the humane and the barbarous. It is like the opening of A Tale of Two Cities, “the best of times and the worst of times”.
She notes: “Number of people living on less than $2 a day: 5 billion” and “20% of the world’s population consumes 80% of the world’s resources”. Since the book was first published in 2001, the figures may have altered but it is unlikely that there has been any real change. Clearly, there is an imbalance !
Take It Personally is divided into five sections: “Activism”, “People”, “Development”, “Environment” and “Money”, with each section containing several brief essays by experienced experts in their fields. The entire book is peppered with quotations and photos, constantly reminding the reader of our confrontational world situation.
A quotation from Voltaire opens the first section: “It is dangerous to be right when the government is wrong.”
The section on “Activism” opens with an examination of the Ministerial Meeting of the World Trade Organisation, in Seattle, in 1999 when world attention was was focused on the WTO, through the actions of protestors and their repression by police. The importance of the Internet is then highlighted, since no longer can any event be hidden for long. Repressive governmental reactions against dissent, such as the 2001 Terrorism Act in the United Kingdom are also cited as is a quotation from John F. Kennedy:
“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible, make violent revolution inevitable.”
One box points out; “If the WTO is our new, unelected world government, then it is government without a heart, and without a heart you find the creativity of the human spirit dwindles too.”
Perhaps the greatest asset of this book is that each section is followed by advice and lists of resources through which the reader can not only learn more, but more importantly find ways to get involved and Take It Personally.
“People” shows the effects of Globalisation on individuals, while “Environment shows the effects on all life. The myth of “Development has its own section showing how local initiatives with local resources are best suited to fulfilling material needs. The final section, “Money” presents various alternatives, such as “Time Currency”.
“The international money system recognizes only some needs – those that are most easily marketed. It ignores the needs of the poor, the young, the jobless, and the old. And ignores what they can offer too.”
Once again, Ms Roddick quotes John F. Kennedy: “This country can not afford to be materially rich and spiritually poor.” No one can !
If you can afford to buy only one more book, this year, make it Take It Personally. Otherwise, next year may be even worse.
It might even make a good present for those who disagree.
Paul V. Rafferty
Take It Personally, by Anita Roddick is published by Thorsons http://www.thebookplace.com/bookends/chat/roddick.asp?TAG=&CID=
Please also see the following message from Anita Roddick
Activism Made Easy
No Time to be an Activist? Be a Sittist Instead!
I am thrilled to unveil my new website, Takeitpersonally.org, where you can visit every day and find something tangible you can do right from your PC to make the world a better place. Make yourself useful!
I hear all the time from people I meet "I'm a parent, I have a job, I'm too busy, I don't have the time or the energy to be an activist." To them I say, "Be a sittist, then!" Sit down and do something productive. Takeitpersonally.org is designed to be a hub for effective online activism - no endless chain-letter petitions, but actions that have real impact.
You'll find actions on sweatshop labor, corporate corruption, the environment, animal welfare, women's rights, prisoners of conscience and much more. You can use our "Global Action Navigator" to find actions based on geography. Each action is accompanied by a story explaining the issue and what you can do.
The brilliance of this new website is that it saves you the effort of visiting 100 different websites to find the issues you care about and actions you can take. We do the research, we filter through the issues, we find the actions we think are the most effective and useful. You'll find actions from well-known NGOs like Amnesty and Greenpeace, as well as clever and effective campaigns from groups you may never have heard of, from a women's cooperative in Ecuador to a gay-rights group in Scotland, a tribal council in Nigeria to a elephant rescue group in Thailand. There's something for everyone.
We also are pleased to provide up-to-the-minute headlines from IPS, one of the only news services that focuses exclusively on global progressive issues.
I hope you'll add Takeitpersonally.org to your bookmarks and visit it regularly. Consider it your activism homepage on the Web.
TakeItPersonally.org http://www.takeitpersonally.org
Let's do it!
Anita http://anitaroddick.com
a book review by Paul V. Rafferty
If you are confused about all the rules and regulations emanating from the world’s international financial institutions and if you think there is little you can do about it and if you wonder whatever happened to “Democracy”, then you must read this book - and visit the website.
Anita Roddick has produced a multi-disciplinary collection of essays and illustrations which form a “Basic Course in Restoring Democracy”, called Take It Personally – and we should “take it personally”.
The Monetarist values that have seized the world’s financial institutions are a far cry from the ideals which first shaped them. Like the United Nations, those ideals began in the aftermath of the of the Second World War, when everyone realised that there must be international institutions, safeguarding international affairs, if nations and individuals are to be free.
Keynesian Economics, with its premise that trade must be regulated, was the dominant theory, of the time, as it had provided guidelines for both the United Kingdom and the United States in their recovery from the Great Depression. Marxism, however, ran a close second, with its emphasis on Central Planning, for “the greatest good for the greatest number”.
Today, however, a new form of “Laissez Faire” Economics – which largely caused the Great Depression – has become the dominant vogue.
Currently under the guise of “Free Trade”, this latest monetarist viewpoint holds that if the large multi-nationals are completely unrestricted and simply allowed to do what they do best, all else will improve and the entire planet will benefit. The multi-national managers, with their superior business expertise and acumen, will create a virtual cornucopia for everyone.
Of course, there will be difficulties in “adjustment’, the authorities concede, but – in time – “All will be well” in “the best of all possible worlds”.
Those who disagree with this Panglossian “wisdom” have little alternative, since there is no viable political opposition to the “new” philosophy.
Nevertheless, there are alternatives – and Anita Roddick has gathered many together, in Take It Personally.
The book itself is a pleasure to read and one does not require a degree in Economics to see that alternatives are not only possible but practical. Take It Personally is a collection of essays by individuals working “in the field”, in many countries and who are successfully contradicting the dominant theory that is dictating our future.
In a brief introduction, Anita Roddick points out that: “Like every modern phenomenon you can think of, globalisation is a massive jumble of contradictory trends, of the hopeful and the hopeless, the humane and the barbarous. It is like the opening of A Tale of Two Cities, “the best of times and the worst of times”.
She notes: “Number of people living on less than $2 a day: 5 billion” and “20% of the world’s population consumes 80% of the world’s resources”. Since the book was first published in 2001, the figures may have altered but it is unlikely that there has been any real change. Clearly, there is an imbalance !
Take It Personally is divided into five sections: “Activism”, “People”, “Development”, “Environment” and “Money”, with each section containing several brief essays by experienced experts in their fields. The entire book is peppered with quotations and photos, constantly reminding the reader of our confrontational world situation.
A quotation from Voltaire opens the first section: “It is dangerous to be right when the government is wrong.”
The section on “Activism” opens with an examination of the Ministerial Meeting of the World Trade Organisation, in Seattle, in 1999 when world attention was was focused on the WTO, through the actions of protestors and their repression by police. The importance of the Internet is then highlighted, since no longer can any event be hidden for long. Repressive governmental reactions against dissent, such as the 2001 Terrorism Act in the United Kingdom are also cited as is a quotation from John F. Kennedy:
“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible, make violent revolution inevitable.”
One box points out; “If the WTO is our new, unelected world government, then it is government without a heart, and without a heart you find the creativity of the human spirit dwindles too.”
Perhaps the greatest asset of this book is that each section is followed by advice and lists of resources through which the reader can not only learn more, but more importantly find ways to get involved and Take It Personally.
“People” shows the effects of Globalisation on individuals, while “Environment shows the effects on all life. The myth of “Development has its own section showing how local initiatives with local resources are best suited to fulfilling material needs. The final section, “Money” presents various alternatives, such as “Time Currency”.
“The international money system recognizes only some needs – those that are most easily marketed. It ignores the needs of the poor, the young, the jobless, and the old. And ignores what they can offer too.”
Once again, Ms Roddick quotes John F. Kennedy: “This country can not afford to be materially rich and spiritually poor.” No one can !
If you can afford to buy only one more book, this year, make it Take It Personally. Otherwise, next year may be even worse.
It might even make a good present for those who disagree.
Paul V. Rafferty
Take It Personally, by Anita Roddick is published by Thorsons http://www.thebookplace.com/bookends/chat/roddick.asp?TAG=&CID=
Please also see the following message from Anita Roddick
Activism Made Easy
No Time to be an Activist? Be a Sittist Instead!
I am thrilled to unveil my new website, Takeitpersonally.org, where you can visit every day and find something tangible you can do right from your PC to make the world a better place. Make yourself useful!
I hear all the time from people I meet "I'm a parent, I have a job, I'm too busy, I don't have the time or the energy to be an activist." To them I say, "Be a sittist, then!" Sit down and do something productive. Takeitpersonally.org is designed to be a hub for effective online activism - no endless chain-letter petitions, but actions that have real impact.
You'll find actions on sweatshop labor, corporate corruption, the environment, animal welfare, women's rights, prisoners of conscience and much more. You can use our "Global Action Navigator" to find actions based on geography. Each action is accompanied by a story explaining the issue and what you can do.
The brilliance of this new website is that it saves you the effort of visiting 100 different websites to find the issues you care about and actions you can take. We do the research, we filter through the issues, we find the actions we think are the most effective and useful. You'll find actions from well-known NGOs like Amnesty and Greenpeace, as well as clever and effective campaigns from groups you may never have heard of, from a women's cooperative in Ecuador to a gay-rights group in Scotland, a tribal council in Nigeria to a elephant rescue group in Thailand. There's something for everyone.
We also are pleased to provide up-to-the-minute headlines from IPS, one of the only news services that focuses exclusively on global progressive issues.
I hope you'll add Takeitpersonally.org to your bookmarks and visit it regularly. Consider it your activism homepage on the Web.
TakeItPersonally.org http://www.takeitpersonally.org
Let's do it!
Anita http://anitaroddick.com