Chris,

Is it almost time to start voting? Middle of the month now and little/no activity in terms of recommendations or nominations recently. Shipping always adds a second delay anyway so the sooner the better for me. Ditto on the Fiction selection.

Thanks.

March is almost a week away, can we vote now?

This outstanding book effectively explains the contemporary political climate, especially in constitutional democracies around the world. The book's realist perspective is refreshing and reminds the reader that no matter the ideals, hopes, and goals of a person, if that person is not accustomed to making these ideals reality, then all is lost. Making ideals reality, and bringing about one's goals (hopefully virtuous) in today's increasingly complicated world is the subject of this book. The depth and explanation of many nuances and obscurities in our bureaucratic governments and administrations is extremely impressive. This book is for any idealist who really wants to change the world for the better, because the book explains the tools that are available for those in power to bring about and manifest these ideals. Truly extraordinary!

This is another truly brilliant book in the explanation of the current international climate and how it came about in recent history. The author explains of the emergence of a global elite that is increasingly being less dependant on the United States for its interests. This elite, as written in the book, took its root in Reagan-Thatcher Laissez-faire ideology (neoliberalism) and its interests are now diverging from the American people's interests. Thus, neoliberal policies like NAFTA, globalization, and the WTO, as explained by the author, are bad for Americans as well as the rest of the world and, how the lack of an international governing body over this elite, is rendering them more and more powerful thus further exacerbating the divide between rich and poor. This realist and pessimistic perspective is backed up by many facts and a framing in history. Indeed, this book is a must read for anyone who wants to know why the current global and financial crisis REALLY came about. But, unfortunately, the author does a poor job in providing a solution to this global problem. It is still a must read and rather made me almost throw up due to the ruthlessness of how the elite is sucking more power from the bottom and how the world's power and resources are increasingly becoming more centralized.

I'll jump into this thread today and get the poll process started. All my time has gone towards the server change issue, but I think I can handle this poll now.

Hi all,

Is there a poll to vote for a non-fiction book? If so, how do I vote. I just registered yesterday and I am not familiar with the ins and outs of the website. Thanks...

Bobby,

You're at only 3 total posts so far so you're not permitted to vote in the book selection polls. Don't take that personally, please. We have the rule that only those members with 25 or more posts can vote because we get a large number of transients that like to suggest books and then never post again. We try to keep our polling as pure and honest as possible.

So keep posting on the forums and you could actually qualify to vote in this poll. 25 - 3 = 22 more posts to qualify. Of course, only quality posts will be counted so jump into some discussions and get your feet wet. The whole point is to prove that you're serious and fully intend to participate in the book discussions. It wouldn't be fair to allow people to impact our book selection process if they aren't actually going to participate. Make sense?