Our nation faces bankruptcy. Our people are divided. Our elections are riddled with corruption, confusion and mismanagement. Our Bill of Rights is under assault. The Forever Wars are never ending. Our shadow government is a criminal enterprise milking the working class of their hard-earned taxes. 

Just as technology, science, and medicine have advanced, so too must our government evolve to meet the needs and demands of our time. The “Constitutional Republic” envisioned by our founding fathers 250 years ago is now outdated. It was designed for a fledgling nation with the population of modern-day Toledo, Ohio. Our Constitution remains the bedrock foundation of our nation, but its application needs to be reformed to reflect the realities of today’s United States. 

This book presents a bold vision for Direct Democracy, offering a clear path to reclaim our nation’s future. Together, we can create a government that truly serves its people. We can fix it, we the people, and the time is now.

“In 1776, the population of the entire United States was less than the population of Toledo, Ohio today. In 1776, without cars, electricity, internet, or advanced technology, and with such a small population, a “Constitutional Republic” made sense. It was a revolutionary leap away from the rule of Kings. It was a successful model that suited the times and it worked. But it has become obsolete. By clinging to an outdated, anachronistic mode of governing, we are creating a monster. And that monster will devour us if we don’t get it under control.”—Joseph Jenkins

The post Direct Democracy first appeared on Chelsea Green Publishing.

“This is an amazing book . . . [Desmet is] one of the true geniuses I’ve spoken to . . . This book has really changed my view on a lot.”—Tucker Carlson

“[Desmet] is waking a lot of people up to the dangerous place we are now with a brilliant distillation of how we ended up here.”—Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.

The world continues to exist in the grips of mass formation—a dangerous, collective type of hypnosis—as we bear witness to loneliness, free-floating anxiety, and fear giving way to censorship, loss of privacy, and surrendered freedoms. It is all spurred by a singular, focused crisis narrative that forbids dissident views and relies on destructive groupthink.

Desmet’s work on mass formation theory was brought to the world’s attention on The Joe Rogan Experience and in major alternative news outlets around the globe. Read this book—now in paperback, ebook, and audiobook—to get beyond the sound bites!

Totalitarianism is not a coincidence and does not form in a vacuum. It arises from a collective psychosis that has followed a predictable script throughout history, its formation gaining strength and speed with each generation—from the Jacobins to the Nazis and Stalinists—as technology advances. Governments, mass media, and other mechanized forces use fear, loneliness, and isolation to demoralize populations and exert control, persuading large groups of people to act against their own interests, always with destructive results.

In The Psychology of Totalitarianism, world-renowned Professor of Clinical Psychology Mattias Desmet deconstructs the societal conditions that allow this collective psychosis to take hold. By looking at our current situation and identifying the phenomenon of “mass formation”—a type of collective hypnosis—he clearly illustrates how close we are to surrendering to totalitarian regimes.

With detailed analyses, examples, and results from years of research, Desmet lays out the steps that lead toward mass formation, including:

• An overall sense of loneliness and lack of social connections and bonds
• A lack of meaning—unsatisfying “bullsh*t jobs” that don’t offer purpose
• Free-floating anxiety and discontent that arise from loneliness and lack of meaning
• Manifestation of frustration and aggression from anxiety
• Emergence of a consistent narrative from government officials, mass media, etc., that exploits and channels frustration and anxiety 

In addition to clear psychological analysis—and building on Hannah Arendt’s essential work on totalitarianism, The Origins of Totalitarianism—Desmet offers a sharp critique of the cultural groupthink that exists throughout society. He cautions against the dangers of our current cultural landscape, media consumption, and reliance on manipulative technologies and then offers simple solutions—both individual and collective—to prevent the willing sacrifice of our freedoms.

“We can honor the right to freedom of expression and the right to self-determination without feeling threatened by each other,” Desmet writes. “But there is a point where we must stop losing ourselves in the crowd to experience meaning and connection. That is the point where the winter of totalitarianism gives way to a spring of life.”

“One of the most important books I’ve ever read.”—Ivor Cummins, The Fat Emperor Podcast

The post The Psychology of Totalitarianism first appeared on Chelsea Green Publishing.

“Hine’s brilliant book demands we stare into [the] abyss and rethink our securest certainties about what is actually going on in the climate crisis.”—Brian Eno, musician

“Maybe it’s time to stop talking about climate change?”

For two decades, the writer and social thinker Dougald Hine has been among the most influential voices in the environmental debate. Then one day, he heard these words come out of his mouth—and realized that he would have to explain himself. 

At Work in the Ruins tells the story of how our ways of talking about the world’s troubles end up making everything worse. In eloquent, deeply researched prose, Hine traces the consequences of our over-reliance on the single lens of science and opens a window onto other ways of seeing the crises around and ahead of us. This is an invitation to find the paths that lead beyond panic and polarization, to take up the work that is worth doing in the ruins.

“One of the most perceptive and thought-provoking books yet written about the multiple intersecting crises that are now upending our once-familiar world. . . . Essential reading for these turbulent times.”—Amitav Ghosh, author of The Great Derangement

“[A] rich book, which like a poetic or religious text deserves multiple readings.”—British Medical Journal

“A deep reflection on the foundations of the destructive path humanity has been pushed on.”—Dr. Vandana Shiva, author of Terra Viva

“Let [Hine’s] song of loss and longing, his call to fugitivity, dispossess you of your steady gait and poise. Perhaps then we, collectively infected, might together witness the incomprehensible.”—Bayo Akomolafe, author of These Wilds Beyond Our Fences

The post At Work in the Ruins first appeared on Chelsea Green Publishing.

“This book gave me a new lens to see the world.”—Robert Krulwich, former co-host of WNYC’s Radiolab

Layoffs upend people’s lives, cause enormous stress, and lead to debilitating personal debt. The societal harm caused by mass layoffs has been known for decades. Yet, we do little to stop them. Why? Why do we allow whole communities to be destroyed by corporate decision-makers? Why do we consider mass layoffs a natural, baked-in feature of modern financialized capitalism?

In Wall Street’s War on Workers, Les Leopold, co-founder of the Labor Institute, provides a clear lens with which we can see how healthy corporations in the United States have used mass layoffs and stock buybacks to enrich shareholders at the expense of employees. With detailed research and concise language, Leopold explains why mass layoffs occur and how our current laws and regulations allow companies to turn these layoffs into short-term financial gains.

Original and insightful, Wall Street’s War on Workers places US labor practices in the broader context of our social and political life, examining the impact financial strip-mining and legalized looting are having on party politics, destroying the integrity of democratic institutions. Leopold expertly lays out how the proliferation of opioids coupled with Wall Street’s destruction of jobs in West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin have led to widespread mass layoff fatalism. Democrats have unarguably lost the longstanding support of millions of urban and rural workers, and Leopold points out how party leaders have been wrong about the assumption that the white working class is becoming less progressive and motivated to abandon the Democratic Party by reactionary positions on divisive social issues.

With deep analyses, stark examples, and surprisingly simple proactive steps forward, Leopold also asserts that:

• • Surviving and thriving in a competitive global economy does not require mass layoffs.

• • A new virulent, financialized version of American capitalism is policy driven.

• • To end mass layoffs, Wall Street’s domination of our economy must end.

• • The accepted “wisdom” about white working-class populism is wrong.

• • Ending stock buybacks and changing corporate officers’ pay structures could eliminate mass layoffs.

• • Mass layoffs are not the result of inevitable economic “laws” or new technologies like artificial intelligence.

Both groundbreaking and urgent, Wall Street’s War on Workers not only offers solutions that could halt mass layoffs but also offers new hope for workers everywhere.

“Leopold offers a contrarian yet compelling take on America’s “white working class” . . . [and says] Democrats in 2024 ignore this massive, potentially sympathetic voting bloc at their peril.”—Booklist (starred review)

The post Wall Street’s War on Workers (Audiobook) first appeared on Chelsea Green Publishing.

From New York Times bestselling author Naomi Wolf, Facing the Beast is a devastating, detailed account of wrongthink, deplatforming, and an unexpected political, personal, and spiritual transformation that followed during one of the most divisive times in American history.

In this uncompromising investigation into today’s most urgent issues, Naomi Wolf uses her own wildly politicized pilgrimage—from New York Times bestselling author and high-level Democratic consultant to a journalist cast out from the elite political and social circles she once moved through—as a stunning narrative framework that is both chilling and incisive.

Wolf’s sin? Doing the job that good journalists once prided themselves on: asking questions, challenging authority, and, during one of the most politically divisive moments in modern history, exposing the many failures of the public health response during the COVID-19 pandemic by chronicling the dangerous descent of our democracy into tyranny, censorship, and totalitarianism.

Unable to remain silent in the shadows and unwilling to collude with the mainstream, Wolf bravely covers topics that few other writers dare to address critically for fear of being deplatformed. Facing the Beast explores reproductive rights, medical freedom, the uncurious thought-policing of the “progressive” left, the Second Amendment, the criminal relationship between the FDA and Pfizer—Wolf’s clear writing repeatedly shines light in the dark corners of our fractured society.

A decades-long champion of free speech, freedom of the press, and the Constitution, Wolf found herself not only in the midst of a political rebirth but a spiritual transformation as well—one in which the events of the day could only be described in terms of good, evil, and a metaphysical quest on the nature of reality.

For readers of Matt Taibbi, Glenn Greenwald, and Bari Weiss, Facing the Beast is a fearless indictment of legacy media and the political class, as well as a brutal reminder that searching for and defending the truth can be dangerous.

“Naomi Wolf is one of the bravest, clearest-thinking people I know. The reason you hear the forces of repression so desperately trying to dismiss her is because she is right.”—Tucker Carlson

The post Facing the Beast (Audiobook) first appeared on Chelsea Green Publishing.

“This book gave me a new lens to see the world.”—Robert Krulwich, former co-host of WNYC’s Radiolab

Addressing the pressing issues affecting everyday Americans during an election year is essential—and one of our nation’s most profound challenges is the devastating impact of mass layoffs. Layoffs upend people’s lives, cause enormous stress, and lead to debilitating personal debt. The societal harm caused by mass layoffs has been known for decades. Yet, we do little to stop them. Why? Why do we allow whole communities to be destroyed by corporate decision-makers? Why do we consider mass layoffs a natural, baked-in feature of modern financialized capitalism? And what are our elected officials going to do about it?

In Wall Street’s War on Workers, Les Leopold, co-founder of the Labor Institute, provides a clear lens with which we can see how healthy corporations in the United States have used mass layoffs and stock buybacks to enrich shareholders at the expense of employees. With detailed research and concise language, Leopold explains why mass layoffs occur and how our current laws and regulations allow companies to turn these layoffs into short-term financial gains.

Original and insightful, Wall Street’s War on Workers places US labor practices in the broader context of our social and political life, examining the impact financial strip-mining and legalized looting are having on party politics, destroying the integrity of democratic institutions. Leopold expertly lays out how the proliferation of opioids coupled with Wall Street’s destruction of jobs in West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin have led to widespread mass layoff fatalism. Democrats have unarguably lost the longstanding support of millions of urban and rural workers, and Leopold points out how party leaders have been wrong about the assumption that the white working class is becoming less progressive and motivated to abandon the Democratic Party by reactionary positions on divisive social issues.

With deep analyses, stark examples, and surprisingly simple proactive steps forward, Leopold also asserts that:

• Surviving and thriving in a competitive global economy does not require mass layoffs.
• A new virulent, financialized version of American capitalism is policy driven.
• To end mass layoffs, Wall Street’s domination of our economy must end.
• The accepted “wisdom” about white working-class populism is wrong.
• Ending stock buybacks and changing corporate officers’ pay structures could eliminate mass layoffs.
• Mass layoffs are not the result of inevitable economic “laws” or new technologies like artificial intelligence.

Both groundbreaking and urgent, Wall Street’s War on Workers not only offers solutions that could halt mass layoffs but also offers new hope for workers everywhere.

“Leopold offers a contrarian yet compelling take on America’s “white working class” . . . [and says] Democrats in 2024 ignore this massive, potentially sympathetic voting bloc at their peril.”—Booklist (starred review)

“Wall Street’s War on Workers  the book neither party wants you to read . . . [It] penetrates one of the chief media deceptions of the 21st century, namely that working-class voters are driven by racism and xenophobia, and not by a more simple, enraging motive: they’ve been repeatedly ripped off, by the wealthy donors to both parties.”—Matt Taibbi

The post Wall Street’s War on Workers first appeared on Chelsea Green Publishing.

From New York Times bestselling author Naomi Wolf, Facing the Beast is a devastating, detailed account of wrongthink, deplatforming, and an unexpected political, personal, and spiritual transformation that followed during one of the most divisive times in American history.

In this uncompromising investigation into today’s most urgent issues, Naomi Wolf uses her own wildly politicized pilgrimage—from New York Times bestselling author and high-level Democratic consultant to a journalist cast out from the elite political and social circles she once moved through—as a stunning narrative framework that is both chilling and incisive.

Wolf’s sin? Doing the job that good journalists once prided themselves on: asking questions, challenging authority, and, during one of the most politically divisive moments in modern history, exposing the many failures of the public health response during the COVID-19 pandemic by chronicling the dangerous descent of our democracy into tyranny, censorship, and totalitarianism.

Unable to remain silent in the shadows and unwilling to collude with the mainstream, Wolf bravely covers topics that few other writers dare to address critically for fear of being deplatformed. Facing the Beast explores reproductive rights, medical freedom, the uncurious thought-policing of the “progressive” left, the Second Amendment, the criminal relationship between the FDA and Pfizer—Wolf’s clear writing repeatedly shines light in the dark corners of our fractured society.

A decades-long champion of free speech, freedom of the press, and the Constitution, Wolf found herself not only in the midst of a political rebirth but a spiritual transformation as well—one in which the events of the day could only be described in terms of good, evil, and a metaphysical quest on the nature of reality.

For readers of Matt Taibbi, Glenn Greenwald, and Bari Weiss, Facing the Beast is a fearless indictment of legacy media and the political class, as well as a brutal reminder that searching for and defending the truth can be dangerous.

“Naomi Wolf is one of the bravest, clearest-thinking people I know. The reason you hear the forces of repression so desperately trying to dismiss her is because she is right.”—Tucker Carlson

The post Facing the Beast first appeared on Chelsea Green Publishing.

A defense of agroecological, small-scale farming and a robust critique of an industrialized future.

“As a breakdown of the climate, state power and globalized markets pushes us toward an epochal transition, Chris Smaje offers us a hopeful vision of a relocalized, self-sufficient world.”—David Bollier

One of the few voices to challenge The Guardian‘s George Monbiot on the future of food and farming (and the restoration of nature) is academic, farmer and author of A Small Farm Future Chris Smaje. In Saying NO to a Farm-Free Future, Smaje presents his defense of small-scale farming and a robust critique of Monbiot’s vision for an urban and industrialized future.

Responding to Monbiot’s portrayal of an urban, high-energy, industrially manufactured food future as the answer to our current crises, and its unchallenged acceptance within the environmental discourse, Smaje was compelled to challenge Monbiot’s evidence and conclusions. At the same time, Smaje presents his powerful counterargument – a low-carbon agrarian localism that puts power in the hands of local communities, not high-tech corporates.

In the ongoing fight for our food future, this book will help you to understand the difference between a congenial, ecological living and a dystopian, factory-centered existence. A must-read!

The post Saying NO to a Farm-Free Future (Audiobook) first appeared on Chelsea Green Publishing.

From farmer, lawyer, and political activist John Klar comes a bold, solutions-based plan for Conservatives that gets beyond the fatuous pipe dreams and social-justice platitudes of the dominant, Liberal “Green” agenda—offering a healthy way forward for everyone.

While many on the Left have taken up the mantle of creating a “green” future through climate alarmism, spurious new energy sources, and technocratic control, many on the Right continue to deny imminent environmental threats while pushing for unbridled deregulation of our most destructive industrial forces. Neither approach promises a bright future.

In a time of soil degradation, runaway pollution, food insecurity, and declining human health, the stakes couldn’t be higher, and yet the dominant political voices too often overlook the last best hope for our planet—supporting small, regenerative farmers. In fact, politicians on all sides continue to sell out the interests of small farmers to the devastating power of Big Ag and failed “renewable energy” incentives.

It’s time for a new vision. It’s time for bold new agriculture policies that restore both ecosystems and rural communities.

In Small Farm Republic, John Klar, an agrarian conservative in the mold of Wendell Berry and Joel Salatin, offers an alternative that puts small farmers, regenerative agriculture, and personal liberty at the center of an environmental revival—a message that everyone on the political spectrum needs to hear.

The post Small Farm Republic (Audiobook) first appeared on Chelsea Green Publishing.

“Everyone in the food business needs to read this book. . . . [A] lively and superbly written polemic.”—Joel Salatin, co-founder of Polyface Farm

*Named the Inc. Non-Obvious Book Awards “Best Books of 2023”

A defense of agroecological, small-scale farming and a robust critique of an industrialized future.

One of the few voices to challenge The Guardian‘s George Monbiot on the future of food and farming (and the restoration of nature) is academic, farmer and author of A Small Farm Future Chris Smaje. In Saying NO to a Farm-Free Future, Smaje presents his defense of small-scale farming and a robust critique of Monbiot’s vision for an urban and industrialized future.

Responding to Monbiot’s portrayal of an urban, high-energy, industrially manufactured food future as the answer to our current crises, and its unchallenged acceptance within the environmental discourse, Smaje was compelled to challenge Monbiot’s evidence and conclusions. At the same time, Smaje presents his powerful counterargument – a low-carbon agrarian localism that puts power in the hands of local communities, not high-tech corporates.

In the ongoing fight for our food future, this book will help you to understand the difference between a congenial, ecological living and a dystopian, factory-centered existence. A must-read!

“Chris Smaje has laid down an indictment – as unremitting as it is undeniable – that cuts through the jargon-filled, techno-worshipping agricultural futurists who promise silver-bullet fixes for having your cake and eating it too. This brilliant and compelling book is at once hopeful and persuasive about the future of food.”—Dan Barber, chef at Blue Hill and author of The Third Plate

The post Saying NO to a Farm-Free Future first appeared on Chelsea Green Publishing.