Vilija's Updates en-US Sun, 06 Apr 2025 13:41:26 -0700 60 Vilija's Updates 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg ReadStatus9278687056 Sun, 06 Apr 2025 13:41:26 -0700 <![CDATA[Vilija started reading 'Harriet Tubman: Live in Concert']]> /review/show/6931653990 Harriet Tubman by Bob the Drag Queen Vilija started reading Harriet Tubman: Live in Concert by Bob the Drag Queen
]]> ReadStatus9278583112 Sun, 06 Apr 2025 13:15:34 -0700 <![CDATA[Vilija wants to read 'No One Is Illegal: Fighting Racism and State Violence on the U.S.-Mexico Border']]> /review/show/7467708364 No One Is Illegal by Justin Akers Chacón Vilija wants to read No One Is Illegal: Fighting Racism and State Violence on the U.S.-Mexico Border by Justin Akers Chacón
]]> ReadStatus9278565131 Sun, 06 Apr 2025 13:11:08 -0700 <![CDATA[Vilija wants to read 'Undocumented: How Immigration Became Illegal']]> /review/show/7467696410 Undocumented by Aviva Chomsky Vilija wants to read Undocumented: How Immigration Became Illegal by Aviva Chomsky
]]> Review3792767436 Sat, 29 Mar 2025 07:56:24 -0700 <![CDATA[Vilija added 'Post-Scarcity Anarchism']]> /review/show/3792767436 Post-Scarcity Anarchism by Murray Bookchin Vilija gave 4 stars to Post-Scarcity Anarchism (Working Classics) by Murray Bookchin
"A century ago, scarcity had to be endured; today, it has to be enforced"

Bookchin was an environmentalist way before it was cool. He envisioned a future in which society goes beyond consumption for the sake of consumption in order to achieve a more equal and prosperous life for all. He argues that capitalism is inherently anti-ecological, plundering nature with no regard for the long-term effects on the ecosystem of our planet. He was right about the devastating consequences of mindless production of goods back in the 60's, when global warming hadn't even been named yet.

As is often the case in leftist writing, the technological details take up a large chunk of Bookchin's texts. Needless to say, the technology he's praising as the possible means of liberation has grown exponentially since the 60's while the overall wellbeing of humanity has not improved but, in many respects, gone drastically down. Most prominently, we have managed to run the environment into the ground. There seems to be no end to the overproduction and overconsumption that defines our existence in the 21st century.

Echoing the dadaist slogan "Unemployment for all!" Bookchin aptly notes: "When modern industry can provide abundance for all, nothing is more vicious to poor people than a lifetime of poverty." As a poor person who's painfully aware that the problems we, the poor, are facing stem not from scarcity of resources but from humanity's inability to share equally and consume sensibly, I am neither angry nor disappointed. I'm just done. ]]> Rating831810549 Sun, 02 Mar 2025 12:32:25 -0800 <![CDATA[Vilija liked a review]]> /
Vilija liked Jolanta (knygupė)'s review of Nomadland: Surviving America in the Twenty-First Century:
Nomadland by Jessica Bruder
"3.9*/5*
"The capitalists don't want anyone living off their economic grid." - Anonymous commenter

Si knyga issipletojo is autores straipsnio "The End of Retirement" isspausdinto HARPER'S zurnale (2014).

2008 m. krizes padariniai (JAV) stipriai paveike pagyvenusius zmones, kuriems nepasiseke su visokiais pensijiniais planais ir t. t., ir kurie prarade namus, darbus buvo priversti patapti nomadais (klajokliais).

Ir cia nera jokios romantikos. Nors toks gyvenimo budas siuo metu (bent jau Amerikoje) virsta kaip ir nauju trendu, kuriami TV show apie 'tiny house' etc. Vienok, sioje knygoje autore apraso kita realybe, be jokiu fancy schmancy. Tokiam gyvenimo budui reikalingi pinigai. Elementariai. Reikia maitinti ir remontuoti save ir savo ratus, moketi uz parkingus... Va cia ir prasideda tikri sunkumai su kuriais susiduria pensijinio amziaus Amerikos "klajokliai". Va cia juos gelbeja ir alina Amazon ir kt. kompanijos, samdancios pagyvenusius zmones darbams, kurie jau akivaizdziai nebe ju jegoms.

Tarp kitko, si nomadu "gentis" su nedidelem isimtim -balta. Pairodo, tai dar ir pavojingas gyvenimo budas. Neturejimas adreso Amerikoje, transformuoja tave i netikra pilieti, potensialiai pavojinga visuomenei objekta...ir balta odos spalva labai pravercia.


J. Bruder tris metus seke ir kalbino sios knygos veikejus. Pati apsigyveno minivene, isidarbino Amazon'e. Zodziu, bande isijausti (kiek tai imanoma) i sios bendruomenes gyvenimo tikrove. Man tekstas nuskambejo pakankamai empatiskai. Puikus zurnalistines dokumentikos pavizdys.

Knyga, taro kitko, nera niuri. Kazi kaip daug sviesos tuose savotiskai naiviuose zmonese...

"There's a crack in everything. That is how the light gets in." - Leonard Cohen"
]]> ReadStatus9125585870 Thu, 27 Feb 2025 14:21:59 -0800 <![CDATA[Vilija is currently reading 'This Is Not A Drill: An Extinction Rebellion Handbook']]> /review/show/7360681032 This Is Not A Drill by Extinction Rebellion Vilija is currently reading This Is Not A Drill: An Extinction Rebellion Handbook by Extinction Rebellion
]]> Review7344888245 Thu, 27 Feb 2025 10:07:52 -0800 <![CDATA[Vilija added 'Invisible Doctrine: The Secret History of Neoliberalism']]> /review/show/7344888245 Invisible Doctrine by George Monbiot Vilija gave 5 stars to Invisible Doctrine: The Secret History of Neoliberalism (Paperback) by George Monbiot
Coincidentally (?) I had just finished reading Slow Down by Kohei Saito when I picked up this book. It turned out to be a fantastic pairing. Both are taking an analytic look at the current political and environmental situation to arrive at similar conclusions: the chances for a liveable future are getting slimmer, the tipping point is in sight, and the one remaining question is whether the world will end before capitalism does. That's, of course, a gross simplification, but the point stands: the change is in political action, not in personal consumption (that is, paper straws and status quo will not undo rampant inequality and the unimaginable consumption of the mega rich).

Invisible Doctrine is a really solid introduction to neoliberalism. It may not be the book for those who buy into the whole pull-yourself-by-the-straps kind of self-made-billionaire story; but this is the book they need the most.

"When you strip capitalism’s justifying myths away, you see something that should be obvious. Capitalism is not, as its defenders insist, a system designed to distribute wealth, but one designed to capture and concentrate it. The fairy tale that capitalism tells about itself—that you become rich through hard work and enterprise—is the greatest propaganda coup in human history."

If you're wondering why universities, hospitals and entire countries are being run like businesses, with their ultimate goal being not education, health or welfare, but PrOfiT... then the answer is neoliberalism. If your choice of higher education was influenced by its potential economical pay-off, it was influenced by neoliberalism. If you work hard with not much besides burnout to show for it, that's just the neoliberal status quo. It's not something obvious but it's always there, shaping your life.

"The ethos of public services shifts to reflect their new role as cash cows for capitalist enterprises. Hospitals are rebranded as “care businesses,� universities become “knowledge businesses.� Humanities and the liberal arts are denigrated, while governments emphasize (but still underfund) “economically useful� subjects: science, technology, engineering, math.The result is widespread institutional failure, with services often driven to the brink of collapse."

Overall, a good choice for an anti-capitalist reading group. ]]> Review7278806743 Sun, 23 Feb 2025 06:42:13 -0800 <![CDATA[Vilija added 'Slow Down: The Degrowth Manifesto']]> /review/show/7278806743 Slow Down by Kōhei Saitō Vilija gave 5 stars to Slow Down: The Degrowth Manifesto (Kindle Edition) by Kōhei Saitō
]]> ReadStatus9102967495 Sat, 22 Feb 2025 08:03:09 -0800 <![CDATA[Vilija wants to read 'The Tenant Class']]> /review/show/7344876168 The Tenant Class by Ricardo Tranjan Vilija wants to read The Tenant Class by Ricardo Tranjan
]]> ReadStatus9102272511 Sat, 22 Feb 2025 03:45:26 -0800 <![CDATA[Vilija wants to read 'Feeling at Home: Transforming the Politics of Housing']]> /review/show/7344388940 Feeling at Home by Alva Gotby Vilija wants to read Feeling at Home: Transforming the Politics of Housing by Alva Gotby
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