The Umbrella of U.S. Power: The Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Contradictions of U.S. Policy (The Open Media Pamphlet Series, 9)
by Noam Chomsky
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Book Summary Information
Author: Noam ChomskyEdition: Paperback
Published: 1999-02
ISBN: 1888363851
Number of pages: 78
Publisher: Seven Stories Press
Book Reviews of The Umbrella of U.S. Power: The Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Contradictions of U.S. Policy (The Open Media Pamphlet Series, 9)
Book Review: Our Less Than Stellar Record
Summary: 4 Stars
At times, Noam Chomsky is quite the critic of America; but, not out of dislike of his country, but because he recognizes our failures at face value. You don't have to agree with his politics, to learn something from his books. In "The Umbrella of U.S. Power", Chomsky points out the hypocrisy that our great country can sometime perpetrate; in this case in regards to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UD). The UD is an international document that U.S. is a co-signer of that spells out the universally accepted minimums of the human rights that all people of the Earth retain.
Unfortunately, we do not have a great track record of upholding these rights when dealing with threats to our nation. I am not going to debate the necessity of these or not in this review; I, like many, have my moments of better us than them. But, if we are to call ourselves Americans and wish to embrace our liberty, democracy, and freedom, we need to be honest with ourselves. And, to do that, we must, as good citizens, be aware of how our government conducts our business in these matters.
Only through fully understanding our history and our actions can we better handle crisis in the future. Is holding prisoners from our "War on Terror" in limbo on a beach in Cuba the best solution to the problem that some of these people pose? Or could we have found a viable solution to this situation and protect ourselves at same time, all while upholding the UD we signed?
Read this book for the truth. Then choose how you fall on the issue. But, don't stick your head in the sand and assume that our leaders know what's best; collectively, if informed, we the people can guide our nation best.
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A Guide to my Book Rating System:
1 star = The wood pulp would have been better utilized as toilet paper.
2 stars = Don't bother, clean your bathroom instead.
3 stars = Wasn't a waste of time, but it was time wasted.
4 stars = Good book, but not life altering.
5 stars = This book changed my world in at least some small way.
Summary of The Umbrella of U.S. Power: The Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Contradictions of U.S. Policy (The Open Media Pamphlet Series, 9)
The United States government often invokes a moral imperative to honor human rights as justification for its foreign-policy decisions. But, according to Noam Chomsky, America's actual track record falls far short of the principles iterated in 1948's Universal Declaration of Human Rights--the accepted international standard. This slim but passionate volume lists case after case in which the United States has provided aid to grossly abusive regimes--among which Chomsky includes Israel and Indonesia--and examples of how the American government seeks to limit the human rights of its own citizens. With equal criticism for Democrat and Republican administrations, The Umbrella of U.S. Power refuses to remain silent about "the things it 'wouldn't do' to mention" as it works to expose the contradictions between what government leaders tell their people and what they actually do. --Ron HoganIn The Umbrella of U.S. Power, Chomsky refers to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as a "Path to a better world," while chronicling how far off the trail the United States often is with respect to actual political practice and conduct. Analyzing the contradictions of U.S. power while illustrating the real progress won by sustained popular struggle, Chomsky cuts through official political rhetoric to examine how the U.S. not only violates the Universal Declaration, but at times uses it as a weapon to wield against an ever-changing set of enemies.
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