The Utopia of Rules
On Technology, Stupidity, and the Secret Joys of Bureaucracy
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Narrated by:
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Mike Chamberlain
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By:
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David Graeber
About this listen
From the author of the international best-seller Debt: The First 5,000 Years comes a revelatory account of the way bureaucracy rules our lives.
From where does the desire for endless rules, regulations, and bureaucracy come? How did we come to spend so much of our time filling out forms? And is it really a cipher for state violence?
To answer these questions, the anthropologist David Graeber - one of our most important and provocative thinkers - traces the peculiar and unexpected ways we relate to bureaucracy today and reveals how it shapes our lives in ways we may not even notice...though he also suggests there may be something perversely appealing - even romantic - about bureaucracy.
Leaping from the ascendance of right-wing economics to the hidden meanings behind Sherlock Holmes and Batman, The Utopia of Rules is at once a powerful work of social theory in the tradition of Foucault and Marx and an entertaining reckoning with popular culture that calls to mind Slavoj Zizek at his most accessible.
An essential work for our times, The Utopia of Rules is sure to start a million conversations about the institutions that rule over us - and the better, freer world we should perhaps begin to imagine for ourselves.
©2015 David Graeber (P)2018 TantorListeners also enjoyed...
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- Unabridged
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Who needs philosophy? Ayn Rand's answer: Everyone. This collection of essays was the last work planned by Ayn Rand before her death in 1982. In it, she summarizes her view of philosophy and deals with a broad spectrum of topics. According to Ayn Rand, the choice we make is not whether to have a philosophy, but which one to have: a rational, conscious, and therefore practical one, or a contradictory, unidentified, and ultimately lethal one.
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Deep and provocative
- By Sierra Bravo on 05-21-09
By: Ayn Rand
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The Demon in Democracy
- Totalitarian Temptations in Free Societies
- By: Ryszard Legutko, John O'Sullivan, Teresa Adelson
- Narrated by: Liam Gerrard
- Length: 9 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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Ryszard Legutko lived and suffered under communism for decades - and he fought with the Polish anti-communist movement to abolish it. Having lived for two decades under a liberal democracy, however, he has discovered that these two political systems have a lot more in common than one might think. They both stem from the same historical roots in early modernity, and accept similar presuppositions about history, society, religion, politics, culture, and human nature.
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Important book on political philosophy
- By Wayne on 08-02-19
By: Ryszard Legutko, and others
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The Voice of Reason
- Essays in Objectivist Thought
- By: Ayn Rand, Leonard Peikoff
- Narrated by: Bernadette Dunne
- Length: 15 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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In the years between her first public lecture in 1961 and her last in 1981, Ayn Rand spoke and wrote about topics as different as education, medicine, Vietnam, and the death of Marilyn Monroe. In The Voice of Reason, these pieces are gathered together in book form for the first time. Written in the last decades of Rand's life, they reflect a life lived on principle, a probing mind, and a passionate intensity. With them are five essays by Leonard Peikoff, Rand's longtime associate and literary executor.
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Explains Everything Of Today
- By L. Nicholson on 11-20-15
By: Ayn Rand, and others
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Dark Star Rising
- Magick and Power in the Age of Trump
- By: Gary Lachman
- Narrated by: Jason Culp
- Length: 9 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
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Within the concentric circles of Trump's regime lies an unseen culture of occultists, power-seekers, and mind-magicians whose influence is on the rise. In this unparalleled account, historian Gary Lachman examines the influence of occult and esoteric philosophy on the unexpected rise of the alt-right.
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Step Right This Way!
- By Brad on 06-03-18
By: Gary Lachman
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In Defense of History
- By: Richard J. Evans
- Narrated by: Julian Elfer
- Length: 7 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
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Richard J. Evans shows us how historians manage to extract meaning from the recalcitrant past. To materials that are frustratingly meager, or overwhelmingly profuse, they bring an array of tools that range from agreed-upon rules of documentation to the critical application of social and economic theory, all employed with the aim of reconstructing a verifiable, usable past. Evans defends this commitment to historical knowledge from the attacks of postmodernist critics who deny the possibility of achieving any kind of certain knowledge about the past.
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Enlightening
- By David A on 07-03-18
By: Richard J. Evans
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Fools, Frauds and Firebrands
- Thinkers of the New Left
- By: Roger Scruton
- Narrated by: Rory Barnett
- Length: 13 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
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From one of the leading critics of leftist orientations comes a study of the thinkers who have most influenced the attitudes of the New Left. Beginning with a ruthless analysis of New Leftism and concluding with a critique of the key strands in its thinking, Roger Scruton conducts a reappraisal of such major left-wing thinkers as E. P. Thompson, Ronald Dworkin, R. D. Laing, Jurgen Habermas, Gyorgy Lukacs, Jean-Paul Sartre, Jacques Derrida, Slavoj Žižek, Ralph Milliband, and Eric Hobsbawm. Scruton delivers a critique of modern left-wing thinking.
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Deconstructing the New Left
- By Wayne on 01-17-20
By: Roger Scruton
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The Tyranny of Clichés
- How Liberals Cheat in the War of Ideas
- By: Jonah Goldberg
- Narrated by: Jonah Goldberg
- Length: 11 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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According to Goldberg, if the greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn’t exist, the greatest trick liberals ever pulled was convincing themselves they’re not ideological. Today “objective” journalists and academics and “moderate” politicians peddle some of the most radical arguments by hiding them in homespun aphorisms.
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I enjoyed it...and I'm a Democrat!!
- By Private. on 05-14-12
By: Jonah Goldberg
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Irrationality
- A History of the Dark Side of Reason
- By: Justin E. H. Smith
- Narrated by: Jeff Harding
- Length: 13 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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Discovering that reason is the defining feature of our species, we named ourselves the “rational animal”. But is this flattering story itself rational? In this sweeping account of irrationality from antiquity to today - from the fifth-century BC murder of Hippasus for revealing the existence of irrational numbers to the rise of Twitter mobs and the election of Donald Trump - Justin Smith says the evidence suggests the opposite.
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A good brain workout
- By ThomasC on 04-09-19
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The Landscape of History
- How Historians Map the Past
- By: John Lewis Gaddis
- Narrated by: Jack Chekijian
- Length: 6 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
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What is history, and why should we study it? Is there such a thing as historical truth? Is history a science? One of the most accomplished historians at work today, John Lewis Gaddis, answers these and other questions in this short, witty, and humane book. The Landscape of History provides a searching look at the historian's craft as well as a strong argument for why a historical consciousness should matter to us today.
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Excellent Book!
- By Billy on 09-15-18
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The End of History and the Last Man
- By: Francis Fukuyama
- Narrated by: L. J. Ganser
- Length: 15 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
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Ever since its first publication in 1992, The End of History and the Last Man has provoked controversy and debate. Francis Fukuyama's prescient analysis of religious fundamentalism, politics, scientific progress, ethical codes, and war is as essential for a world fighting fundamentalist terrorists as it was for the end of the Cold War. Now updated with a new afterword, The End of History and the Last Man is a modern classic.
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An important discussion expertly narrated
- By Kevin Teeple on 06-27-19
By: Francis Fukuyama
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Really strange narrator
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Blackshirts and Reds explores some of the big issues of our time: fascism, capitalism, communism, revolution, democracy, and ecology. These terms are often bandied about but seldom explored in the original and exciting way that has become Michael Parenti's trademark. Parenti shows how "rational fascism" renders service to capitalism, how corporate power undermines democracy, and how revolutions are a mass empowerment against the forces of exploitative privilege.
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Have you ever heard a news reporter say "the Dow rose 300 points today" and had no clue what they meant? If the answer is yes, you're not alone! Most people are taught nothing about investing or the stock market while they are in school. In Why Does The Stock Market Go Up?, Brian Feroldi demystifies the stock market by explaining what it is and how it works using easy-to-understand terms and simple examples. This book was designed to arm ordinary people with the knowledge that they need to build extraordinary wealth.
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Great breakdown
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Mind-blowing
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I wish this book was in American high schools.
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In this combative, controversial book, Terry Eagleton takes issue with the prejudice that Marxism is dead and done with. Taking 10 of the most common objections to Marxism - that it leads to political tyranny, that it reduces everything to the economic, that it is a form of historical determinism, and so on - he demonstrates in each case what a woeful travesty of Marx's own thought these assumptions are.
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Oh God avoid
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It is an axiom of American life that advantage should be earned through ability and effort. Even as the country divides itself at every turn, the meritocratic ideal - that social and economic rewards should follow achievement rather than breeding - reigns supreme. Both Democrats and Republicans insistently repeat meritocratic notions. Meritocracy cuts to the heart of who we are. It sustains the American dream.
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A well-argued theory
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Gripping and seamless
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A Primate's Memoir
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"I had never planned to become a savanna baboon when I grew up; instead, I had always assumed I would become a mountain gorilla," writes Robert Sapolsky in this witty and riveting chronicle of a scientist's coming-of-age in remote Africa. An exhilarating account of Sapolsky's twenty-one-year study of a troop of rambunctious baboons in Kenya, A Primate's Memoir interweaves serious scientific observations with wry commentary about the challenges and pleasures of living in the wilds of the Serengeti-for man and beast alike.
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One of the best books I've ever read.
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Inglorious Empire
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In the 18th century, India's share of the world economy was as large as Europe's. By 1947, after two centuries of British rule, it had decreased six-fold. Beyond conquest and deception, the Empire blew rebels from cannons, massacred unarmed protesters, entrenched institutionalized racism, and caused millions to die from starvation. British imperialism justified itself as enlightened despotism for the benefit of the governed, but Shashi Tharoor takes on and demolishes this position, demonstrating how every supposed imperial "gift" was designed in Britain's interests alone.
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An entertaining and provocative history
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What listeners say about The Utopia of Rules
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- Mia
- 05-25-24
Grabers best book imo
This book is so funny and informative!
Having a hyper intelligent person break down why the DMV is a horrible experience is so satisfying.
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- Lance Taylor
- 07-10-22
Great content
Overall very dry, would have loved to see him compose this content in individual books. For example his book ‘Bullshit Jobs’ was well thought/written, had me wanting to read the next chapter.
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- TheFrozenBiscuit
- 03-10-23
Spectacular!
It was amazing from start to finish. The narration was perfect as well which is rare for any audiobook. I haven't read a Graeber book I didn't like.
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- Bacchus Davis
- 02-10-24
Useful analysis of modern society
useful lens for viewing American society and it's many illusions of self that appear real.
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- Matthew P. Blanchard
- 12-28-21
Excellent, mind-expanding
Not just about bureaucracy!! I particularly enjoyed the final chapter on the Nolan Batman films - what a ridiculous reactionary mess they were - and how Graeber is able to link these to the overall assumptions of the comic book genre and associated political implications. In each chapter Graeber is able to illuminate aspects of culture and the underpinnings of law. This book is above all else just plain fun to read.
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- C. Reck
- 09-22-20
Mandatory lecture
No matter where on the political spectrum you stand, this should be mandatory lecture in schools.
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- Basem Aggad
- 09-21-19
eye opening commentary
use of popular culture references ease the otherwise complex constructs the author tries to illustrate, yet at times felt illusive still and feels a bit left out at times. but the books wraps up quiet nicely towards the end with the supplement essay
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- Edwin
- 10-25-18
Very Insightful
I love when an author is able to show you the world from a different perspective then what is taught in schools. His thought provoking insights will become classics in the next generation. Thank you David!
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7 people found this helpful
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- Ashley
- 02-21-20
Hate forms and lines? read this book!!
Explains complex theories of societal relations and perhaps how to change them, through something we experience (and get irritated by) everyday: forms, lines, rules. The range of essays are both entertaining and thoughtfully accessible in good plain language. I feel like this writer has the reader's learning and best interests in mind, not merely to show off his intellectual aptitude.
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- Jay
- 08-30-22
Always a Pleasure to..
Always a pleasure to read a David Graeber book. He really has a great way of making you question your surroundings and critically think about them under different rays. I'm off to the next David Graeber book! lol for anyone reading. If you havent already, ready Bullshit Jobs as well!
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