Nervous States
Democracy and the Decline of Reason
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Narrated by:
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Chris MacDonnell
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By:
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William Davies
About this listen
In this sweeping and provocative work, political economist William Davies draws on a 400-year history of ideas to reframe our understanding of the contemporary world. He argues that global trends decades and even centuries in the making have reduced a world of logic and fact into one driven by emotions - particularly fear and anxiety. This has ushered in an age of "nervous states", both in our individual bodies and our body politic.
Eloquently tracing the history of accounting, statistics, science, and human anatomy from the Enlightenment to the present, Davies shows how we invented expertise in the 17th century to calm the violent disputes - over God and the nature of reality - that ravaged Europe. By separating truth from emotion, scientific, testable facts paved a way out of constant warfare and established a basis for consensus, which became the bedrock of modern politics, business, and democracy.
Informed by research on psychology and economics, Davies reveals how widespread feelings of fear, vulnerability, physical and psychological pain, and growing inequality reshaped our politics, upending these centuries-old ideals of how we understand the world and organize society.
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Essential
- By Herman Utik on 09-19-16
By: Tony Judt
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Adam Smith
- Father of Economics
- By: Jesse Norman
- Narrated by: Jesse Norman
- Length: 13 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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A dazzlingly original account of the life and thought of Adam Smith, the greatest economist of all time. In Adam Smith, political philosopher Jesse Norman dispels the myths and caricatures, and provides a far more complex portrait of the man. Offering a highly engaging account of Smith's life and times, Norman explores his work as a whole and traces his influence over two centuries to the present day. Finally, he shows how a proper understanding of Smith can help us address the problems of modern capitalism.
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Most excellent book!
- By Harish G. Naik on 03-02-19
By: Jesse Norman
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The Precipice
- Neoliberalism, the Pandemic and the Urgent Need for Social Change
- By: Noam Chomsky, C.J. Polychroniou
- Narrated by: Eric Jason Martin
- Length: 13 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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In The Precipice, Noam Chomsky sheds light into the phenomenon of Trumpism, exposes the catastrophic nature and impact of Trump's policies on people, the environment, and the planet as a whole, and captures the dynamics of the brutal class warfare launched by the masters of capital to maintain and even enhance the features of a dog-eat-dog society to the unprecedented mobilization of millions of people against neoliberal capitalism, racism, and police violence.
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Of Incalculable Importance
- By Anonymous User on 12-15-21
By: Noam Chomsky, and others
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Right Here, Right Now
- Politics and Leadership in the Age of Disruption
- By: Stephen J. Harper
- Narrated by: Stephen J. Harper
- Length: 6 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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The world is in flux. Disruptive technologies, ideas, and politicians are challenging business models, norms, and political conventions everywhere. How we, as leaders in business and politics, choose to respond matters greatly. Right Here, Right Now sets out a pragmatic, forward-looking vision for leaders in business and politics by analyzing how economic, social, and public policy trends - including globalized movements of capital, goods, and services, and labor - have affected our economies, communities, and governments.
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Excellent book on Politics for Canadians AND Americans
- By John Fernandes on 10-19-18
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Propaganda
- The Formation of Men’s Attitudes
- By: Jacques Ellul
- Narrated by: Arthur Morey
- Length: 15 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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From one of the greatest French philosophers of the 20th century comes a seminal study and critique of propaganda. Taking not only a psychological approach but a sociological approach as well, Jacques Ellul outlines the taxonomy for propaganda and, ultimately, its destructive nature towards democracy. Drawing from his own experiences fighting for the French resistance against the Vichy regime, Ellul offers a unique insight into the propaganda machine.
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Excellent analysis on the dichotomies of propagandize media
- By Anonymous User on 04-03-21
By: Jacques Ellul
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Someone Has to Say It
- The Hidden History of How America Was Lost
- By: Tom Kawczynski
- Narrated by: Jeff Winston
- Length: 5 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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Starting at the turn of the last century, this book lays out systematically how Americans have lost control of our government, of our civil society, of our schools, of our companies, and in many cases, even our families.
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Great and inspiring book
- By K. E. Davila on 07-09-20
By: Tom Kawczynski
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To Save Everything, Click Here
- The Folly of Technological Solutionism
- By: Evgeny Morozov
- Narrated by: Stephen Hoye
- Length: 15 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
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In the very near future, smart “technologies and big data” will allow us to make large-scale and sophisticated interventions in politics, culture, and everyday life. Technology will allow us to solve problems in highly original ways and create new incentives to get more people to do the right thing. But how will such “solutionism” affect our society, once deeply political, moral, and irresolvable dilemmas are recast as uncontroversial and easily manageable matters of technological efficiency?
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The about face shift in view I've been looking for
- By McKane on 03-18-15
By: Evgeny Morozov
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The Paranoid Style in American Politics
- By: Richard Hofstadter, Sean Wilentz - foreward
- Narrated by: Keith Sellon-Wright
- Length: 10 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
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This timely reissue of Richard Hofstadter's classic work on the fringe groups that influence American electoral politics offers an invaluable perspective on contemporary domestic affairs. In The Paranoid Style in American Politics, acclaimed historian Richard Hofstadter examines the competing forces in American political discourse and how fringe groups can influence - and derail - the larger agendas of a political party.
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Written in the 50s and 60s...
- By Kindle Customer on 11-06-19
By: Richard Hofstadter, and others
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Capitalism
- The Unknown Ideal
- By: Ayn Rand
- Narrated by: Anna Fields
- Length: 14 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
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The foundations of capitalism are being battered by a flood of altruism, which is the cause of the modern world's collapse. This was the view of Ayn Rand, a view so radically opposed to prevailing attitudes that it constituted a major philosophic revolution. In this series of essays, she presented her stand on the persecution of big business, the causes of war, the default of conservatism, and the evils of altruism.
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Ashame this is not taught in our
- By Karen on 08-18-07
By: Ayn Rand
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A Time to Build
- From Family and Community to Congress and the Campus, How Recommitting to Our Institutions Can Revive the American Dream
- By: Yuval Levin
- Narrated by: Ford Enlow
- Length: 6 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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Americans are living through a social crisis. Our politics is polarized and bitterly divided. Culture wars rage on campus, in the media, social media, and other arenas of our common life. And for too many Americans, alienation can descend into despair, weakening families and communities and even driving an explosion of opioid abuse. Left and right alike have responded with populist anger at our institutions, and use only metaphors of destruction to describe the path forward: cleaning house, draining swamps. But, as Yuval Levin argues, this is a misguided prescription.
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Incisive and Illuminating
- By Jakob on 01-26-23
By: Yuval Levin
What listeners say about Nervous States
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- The one and only Michelle
- 06-26-24
Nervous States of America
Explosive insight! Davies has “hit a nerve” with this book. Knowledge and expertise are essential elements for a society and democracy to run well, but as David Hume quipped, “Reason is the slave to passion.” He diagnoses the problem with the rise of feelings in lieu of reasoning during tumultuous times. And shows how this kind of “thinking”leads to a decline in trust for science and democracies, and an increase in conspiracy thinking and authoritarianism. Essential reading for all!
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- Mark Schnell
- 06-28-21
Helpful in gaining perspective on today's issues
Good book with sound structure and relevant historical context citations throughout in order to provide a clear perspective framework for attempting to understand today's political, societal, and global issues.
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- Sirak Siraks
- 09-19-24
Wow, I just can't believe I never read this
This is an amazing performance much needed for a very serious, yet perfectly written take on how we got here, democracy, climate, everything makes sense but the way is all put together here, is extraordinary. I'm already recommending this to everyone around me, its amazing. I loved it and suffered it, literally I cried twice.
I got here because of another book from the same author I was looking for and this seemed more global than "This is not normal" Yet, finishing this one, I just want to read the other one just now.
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