"James Altucher is scary smart, and also a font of great and original ideas. So it's no surprise that SuperCa$h is so much fun to read and so devilishly informative. It is equally full of 'holy cow!' moments and 'why-didn't-I-think-of-that?' moments. A true keeper." —Stephen J. Dubner, coauthor of Freakonomics "Altucher describes in easy-to-understand terms the strategies used by the smartest managers in the world—those who are running the hottest hedge funds—to show how they are making money today. SuperCa$h is a great primer for those who are looking to trade like the pros. And it helps that Altucher writes in a clear and fun style!" —John Mauldin, President of Millennium Wave Advisors, LLC, and author of Bull's Eye Investing As hedge funds have become more mainstream, some of their strategies are less capable of producing extraordinary returns. In response, hedge fund managers and other sophisticated investors have found new ways to turn cash into supercash. Examine these new ways with hedge fund manager James Altucher and supersize your returns.

The period from 1509 to 1688 was one of great social turbulence in Britain, and a key period in the history of political thought. This work covers the major themes of the time, including conceptions of the state and of natural rights, consent and property. It provides an examination of the main texts, situating them in their social and historical context. It looks at the role of the canonical thinkers - Thomas More, Hobbes, and Locke - and the participation of Sir Thomas Smith and radical thinkers such as the Levellers. These figures are viewed in the context both of their time, and of the wider social, economic and political arena. The authors set out to show how specific patterns of historical development relate to distinctive traditions in political thought.

Beginning with the new worlds of the Renaissance and the Reformation, this book traces the growth of liberal doctrine through the advent of the French Revolution. It shows the relationship of liberalism to the emerging economic system of capitalism, and the impact of this relationship upon science, philosophy, and literature. Laski explains how the same causes which produced the socially active aspect of liberalism also inspired the growth of socialism. The contributions of men like Machiavelli, Locke, and Voltaire, the influence of the voyages of discovery, and the effect of the Puritan Rebellion are among the special topics discussed. The Rise of European Liberalism is a historical survey of the development of liberal thought, from its earliest whispers in early Protestantism to its significance in the "Red Decade" of the 1930s. Laski argues that liberalism as a philosophy came into existence with the rise of capitalism and thus functions primarily as an ideological defense of private property in a business civilization. Hence, liberalism's progressive side is doomed to defeat because, throughout its history, the bourgeois nature of the ideology has always prevailed. In the new introduction, John Stanley traces the history and influences of Laski's thought and provides a detailed analysis of Laski's work. The essay provides a coherent study in itself of why Laski is better remembered than widely read. The Rise of European Liberalism is a classic text that deserves rediscovery for historians, philosophers, sociologists, and political scientists of the present day.

"In Screening Social Justice, award-winning anthropologist Sherry B. Ortner presents an ethnographic study of Brave New Films, a nonprofit film production company that makes documentaries intended to mobilize progressive grassroots activism. Ortner positions the work of the company within a tradition of activist documentary filmmaking and within the larger field of "alternative media" that is committed to challenging the mainstream media and telling the truth about the world today. The company's films cover a range of social justice issues, with particular focus on the hidden workings of capitalism, racism, and right-wing extremism. Beyond the films themselves, Brave New Films is also famous for its creative distribution strategies. All of the films are available for free on YouTube. Central to the intention of promoting political activism, the films circulate through networks of other activist and social justice organizations and are shown almost entirely in live screenings in which the power of the film is amplified. Ortner takes the reader inside both the production process and the screenings to show how a film can be made and used to mobilize action for a better world"--

Rocco Fumento and Tony Williams present the final version of Robert Rossen's screenplay for Jack London's The Sea Wolf. Released in 1941, this classic film was directed by Michael Curtiz and starred Edward G. Robinson as Wolf Larsen, John Garfield as George Leach, Ida Lupino as fugitive Ruth Webster, Alexander Knox as writer Humphrey Van Weyden, and Howard da Silva as Harrison. Both the novel and the film feature a hard-luck assemblage condemned either by savage coercion or pure evil fortune to sail aboard the Ghost, a seal-harvesting vessel commanded by a power-mad tyrant -- the aptly named Wolf Larsen. The film, however, necessarily differs from the novel. Discussing the process of turning literature into film, Fumento and Williams analyze in detail the differences between London's Sea Wolf and Rossen's screenplay. One major change is the transformation of the barbarous Wolf Larsen from London's victimizer/victim of capitalistic society into Rossen's thinly disguised European dictator. And because of the star power of Garfield as well as popular taste that demanded a working-class hero, Rossen elevated minor character George Leach into a major player, demoting the aristocratic writer Humphrey Van Weyden to a lesser role. In one important respect, however, Rossen remained true to London: while shifting London's social indictment from amoral capitalism to the dictatorships of Europe, Rossen's script still condemns selfish and brutal individualism. Re-creating the world into which the movie emerged, each editor provides a separate introduction. Fumento analyzes the role of Warner Brothers in determining relevant production and allegorical features of the final film version.Williams describes London's reasons for writing the original novel in 1903, its appeal for the cinema, the different film versions -- at least eight -- that have appeared, and the social and historical context influencing Rossen's screenplay.

Feminist icon and political activist Phyllis Chesler, author of the 2.5-million copy bestseller Women and Madness and the controversial The New Anti-Semitism, calls for an overhaul of the women's movement. In this important book, Phyllis Chesler asks the questions: Within feminism, is there room for free thinkers who oppose the party line? What if a feminist believes in capitalism? God? Patriotism? Chesler is the first to show the crisis in feminism today, which is silencing women and stripping them of power. In order to be a member of the club you must reject capitalism, see religion as a dangerous form of patriarchy, oppose the war, and turn a blind eye to the woman-defeating practices of Islam. The result contradicts the moral and ethical principles feminism was built on. Chesler signals a critical need for women to come together in a pro-individualist form of feminism.

Modern societies currently lack positive alternative visions of the future. Many writers have claimed that the only option is a return to free-market capitalism, in which success and survival depend on being as competitive as possible whether as a nation, firm or individual.; Paul Hirst argues that there are viable alternative futures and widely applicable models that can be used to structure change. Hirst's distinctive approach to political theory reasons from real political problems rather than confining itself to abstract concepts.; Presenting an innovative political position, this collection of essays represents an attempt to re- state a practical third way between the discredited ideals of state socialism and laissez-faire capitalism.

Murray Bookchin was one of the most important radical thinkers of the twentieth century. This is his final book, completed just before he died in 2006. It is the first book to comprehensively explain his political ideas. In the 1960s Murray Bookchin introduced the concept of ecology into progressive politics, and he is widely regarded as the foremost theorist of the green and anarchist movements. Bookchin argued that capitalism and the nation state, as well as oppressive social relations in general, must be abolished if we are to have a rational and ecological society. According to Bookchin, we must fundamentally remake society along ecological lines, based on principles of confederation, humanism, non-hierarchy and direct democracy. In a time when the left is highly defensive, Bookchin's ideas of social ecology present a strong vision of an alternative society. With today's huge improvements in communications, his bold ideas are increasingly practical and, faced with ecological catastrophe, they are increasingly necessary. This is a must-read for students of political theory and anti-globalisation activists.

OMNIPOTENT GOVERNMENT- The Rise of the Total State and Total War BY Ludwig von Mises. Preface: IN dealing with the problems of social and economic policies, the social sciences consider only one question whether the measures suggested are really suited to bringing about the effects sought by their authors, or whether they result in a state of affairs which from the viewpoint of their supporters is even more undesirable than the previous state which it was in tended to alter. The economist does not substitute his own judg ment about the desirability of ultimate ends for that of his fellow citizens. He merely asks whether the ends sought by nations, gov ernments, political parties, and pressure groups can indeed be at tained by the methods actually chosen for their realization. It is, to be sure, a thankless task. Most people are intolerant of any criticism of their social and economic tenets. They do not understand that the objections raised refer only to unsuitable methods and do not dispute the ultimate ends of their efforts. They are not prepared to admit the possibility that they might attain their ends more easily by following the economists advice than by disregarding it. They call an enemy of their nation, race, or group anyone who ventures to criticize their cherished policies. This stubborn dogmatism is pernicious and one of the root causes of the present state of world affairs. An economist who as serts that minimum wage rates are not the appropriate means of raising the wage earners standard of living is neither a labor baiter nor an enemy of the workers. On the contrary, in suggesting more suitable methods for the improvement of the wage earners material well-being, he contributes as much as he can to a genuine promotion of their prosperity. To point out the advantages which everybody derives from the working of capitalism is not tantamount to defending the vested interests of the capitalists. An economist who forty or fifty years ago advocated the preservation of the system of private property and free enterprise did not fight for the selfish class interests of the then rich. He wanted a free hand left to those unknown among his penniless contemporaries who had the ingenuity to develop all those new industries which today render the life of the common man more pleasant. Many pioneers of these industrial changes, it is true, became rich. But they acquired their wealth by supplying the public with motor cars, airplanes, radio sets, refrigerators, moving and talking pictures, and a variety of less spectacular but iv Omnipotent Government no less useful innovations. These new products were certainly not an achievement of offices and bureaucrats. Not a single technical improvement can be credited to the Soviets. The best that the Russians have achieved was to copy some of the improvements of the capitalists whom they continue to disparage. Mankind has not reached the stage of ultimate technological perfection. There is ample room for further progress and for further improvement of the standards of living. The creative and inventive spirit subsists notwithstanding all assertions to the contrary. But it flourishes only where there is economic freedom. Neither is an economist who demonstrates that a nation let us call it Thule hurts its own essential interests in its conduct of foreign-trade policies and in its dealing with domestic minority groups, a foe of Thule and its people...

"The sociologist Daniel Bell was an uncommonly acute observer of the structural forces transforming the United States and other advanced societies in the twentieth century. The titles of Bell's major books-The End of Ideology (1960), The Coming of Post-Industrial Society (1973), and The Cultural Contradictions of Capitalism (1976)-became hotly debated frameworks for understanding the era when they were published. In Defining the Age, Paul Starr and Julian Zelizer bring together a group of distinguished contributors to consider how well Bell's ideas captured their historical moment and continue to provide profound insights into today's world. Wide-ranging essays demonstrate how Bell's writing has informed thinking about subjects such as the history of socialism, the roots of the radical right, the emerging postindustrial society, and the role of the university. The book also examines Bell's intellectual trajectory and distinctive political stance. Calling himself "a socialist in economics, a liberal in politics, and a conservative in culture," he resisted being pigeon-holed, especially as a neoconservative. Defining the Age features essays from historians Jenny Andersson, David A. Bell, Michael Kazin, and Margaret O'Mara; sociologist Steven Brint; media scholar Fred Turner; and political theorists Jan-Werner Müller and Stefan Eich. While differing in their judgments, they agree on one premise: Bell's ideas deserve the kind of nuanced and serious attention that they finally receive in this book"--

With capitalism in deep crisis, this urgent and impassioned book shows how and why growing populist nationalism across the world threatens the bonds that keep our societies prosperous, strong and united.

Frank Chodorov profoundly influenced the intellectual development of the post-World War II libertarian/conservative movement. These essays have been assembled for the first time from Chodorov’s writings in magazines, newspapers, books, and pamphlets. They sparkle with his individualistic perspective on politics, human rights, socialism, capitalism, education, and foreign affairs.

The spread and increasing power of bureaucracy - the accelerated growth of large-scale, centralized administrative structures - is one of the most noticed and discussed phenomena of our time. It now cuts across the distinction between capitalism and communism, democracy and dictatorship, "the Western world" and the organized despotisms of empires and Oriental "agro-managerial" societies. It bids fair to dominate our future, but it has also shaped our past. The concept of "bureaucracy" is as important as its uses are varied, unexamined and confused. In this book, separate chapters describe the ancient bureaucracies of Egypt, China, Mesopotamia and, later, in the New World, the development and perception of bureaucracy in Europe, capitalism and bureaucracy, socialism and bureaucracy in the the post-industrial world. The work seeks both historical understanding and conceptual clarification - it is concerned with bureaucracy as a major and lasting social phenomenon.

The forecast demise of nationalism under the new moral orders of communism and internationalism has proved illusory. In the present century, to an extent greater perhaps than in all others, nationalism has been the dominant force in the affairs of humankind. Why should this have been? Why is it that a national identity should continue to be the aspiration of almost all peoples without one and, at the same time, the justification - in the process of obtaining, securing and expanding it- for casting aside every trace and tradition of civility? In Encounters with Nationalism Ernest Gellner seeks some answers. His approach is to consider first the ideas of the main modern thinkers on the subject, from Marx, List, Malinowski and Carr, to Masaryk, Heidegger, Patocka, Hroch, Havel and Said. He examines the origins, subjects and context of their writings, their interactions with culture and politics, and their influence - both on theory and on events. The range is wide, covering Eastern, Western and Islamic societies, and includes extensive discussions of the related themes of civil society, theocracy, communism, imperialism, capitalism and liberalism. Professor Gellner is never less than trenchant. He is concerned here not only to understand, but to criticize. He confronts several powerful and fashionable notions that fuel and/or attempt to explain contemporary nationalism - among them postcolonialism. On the one hand he exposes their incoherence and irresponsibility; on the other he places them alongside ideas of real currency. Nor does he evade the controversy surrounding the nature of judgement itself: the reader will also find here concise and penetrating discussions of relativism, pluralism, objectivity and the possibility of universal values.

"The formation of the modern state, the rise of capitalism, the Renaissance and Reformation, the scientific revolution and the Age of Enlightenment have all been attributed to the 'early modern' period. Nearly everything about this point in history remains controversial, but one thing is certain: it left a rich and provocative legacy of political ideas unmatched in Western history. The concepts of liberty, equality, property, human rights and revolution born in those turbulent centuries continue to shape, and to limit, political discourse today. Assessing the work and background of figures such as Machiavelli, Luther, Calvin, Spinoza, the Levellers, Hobbes, Locke and Rousseau, Ellen Wood has written a vivid history of the time's canonical thinkers, presenting their thoughts not simply as philosophical abstractions but as passionately engaged responses to the social conflicts of their day."--Page 4 of cover

Rural Revolt in Mexico is a historical investigation of how subaltern political activity engages imperialism, capitalism, and the United States. In this volume, Daniel Nugent has gathered a group of leading scholars whose work examines the relationship of revolts by peasants and Indians in Mexico to the past century of U.S. intervention—from the rural rebellions of the 1840s through the 1910 revolution to the 1994 uprising in Chiapas. Through their studies of social movements and popular mobilization in the Mexican countryside, the contributors argue for understanding rural revolts in terms of the specific historical contexts of particular regions and peoples, as well as the broader context of unequal cultural, political, and economic relations between Mexico and the United States. Exploring the connections between external and internal factors in social movements, these essays reveal the wide range of organized efforts through which peasants and Indians have struggled to shape their own destiny while confronted by the influence of U.S. capital and military might. Originally published as a limited edition in 1988 by the Center for U. S.–Mexican Studies, this volume presents a pioneering effort by Latin Americanist scholars to sympathetically embrace and enrich work begun in Subaltern Studies between 1982 and 1987 by projecting it onto a different region of historical experience. This revised and expanded edition includes a new introduction by Daniel Nugent and an extensive essay by Adolfo Gilly on the recent Chiapas uprising.

During the opening years of the 21st century, anti-­Semitic venom and incidents of violent assault on Jews have begun spreading. They are not a historical aberration. They are fueled by today's capitalist crises and fracturing of the post-World War II imperialist "order," described in recent decades as "globalization." At every turning point in history-from antiquity through feudalism, to capitalism's rise and the imperialist death throes of the past century-Jews have been targets of persecution. Including the genocide cold-bloodedly touted by Hitler as the "Final Solution." Why is Jew-hatred still raising its ugly head? What are its class roots? Why is there "no solution to the Jewish question under capitalism, just as there is no solution to other problems before humanity," without revolutionary struggles that transform us as we fight to transform our world? Abram Leon was killed in October 1944, at age 26, in the Nazi gas chambers at Auschwitz. He left us this book to help answer those questions.

Deals with capitalism. Weaving together economic and political history with the history of ideas, this book ranges across a broad spectrum of debates, from the 'Nairn-Anderson theses' to the contribution of J C D Clark and Alan Macfarlane, and over a wide variety of topics.