Consequences of Capitalism

Manufacturing Discontent and Resistance

By: Noam Chomsky, Marv Waterstone

Narrated by: Donald Corren

Length: 14 hrs and 10 mins

Publisher's Summary

Brought to you by Penguin.

An essential primer on capitalism, politics and how the world works, based on the hugely popular undergraduate lecture series 'What Is Politics?'

Is there an alternative to capitalism? In this landmark text, Chomsky and Waterstone chart a critical map for a more just and sustainable society.

COVID-19 has revealed glaring failures and monstrous brutalities in the current capitalist system. It represents both a crisis and an opportunity. Everything depends on the actions that people take into their own hands.

How does politics shape our world, our lives and our perceptions? How much of 'common sense' is actually driven by the ruling classes' needs and interests? And how are we to challenge the capitalist structures that now threaten all life on the planet?

Consequences of Capitalism exposes the deep, often unseen connections between neoliberal 'common sense' and structural power. In making these linkages, we see how the current hegemony keeps social justice movements divided and marginalised. And, most importantly, we see how we can fight to overcome these divisions.

©2020 Noam Chomsky (P)2020 Penguin Audio

A Necessary Read

Unilateral, though. All those democracies destroyed by the US which never recovered, compared with ones under the iron curtain, which fought to integrate into whichever structure available.
In short, criticizing the US is important, but insufficient. US doesn’t act in a void and democracy is not a one time thing. It is the only reasonable path we have.

Chomsky finally has his narrator!

I don't normally leave reviews but for this audiobook I had to make an exception.

The book, by Professors Chomsky and Waterstone, comes from their Uni. of Arizona politics course (which I have taken) and it is great to have it in print, and now on audio.

Both professors cover a lot of ground, and their knowledge and occasional humour make it a fascinating and enjoyable read.
I won't go into detail on the contents as you can easily look that up with the print version.

However, what has moved me to write this review is Donald Corren.

Donald Corren's narration is nothing short of exceptional.
He manages not only to read the work, but his tone, inflections, pauses, emphasis, and so on, make it seem like he's the one giving the lecture. It is a remarkable bit of acting. You have complete confidence that Corren understands what he is saying, rather than merely reading aloud.
I also like his voice. He is very clear, warm, and friendly.

I see that Donald Corren has narrated one other of Chomsky's books (Requiem For A Dream), so I will be getting that, and I hope he will narrate many more, as he has the perfect voice for Chomsky's (and Waterstone's) words.

This relatively new book didn't age well

With the covid narrative unraveling and the war un Ukraine this book needs a rewrite.
It blames capitalism for so many unrelated phenomina and is too anti Trump to take seriously.
Much of the research and observation is good but the conclusions are predictable and left biased.

The correct title is…

… everything wrong with the USA, which is also - to a certain extent and among other things - related to capitalism.

This was an exhausting listen but one must always push oneself to broaden and challenge their world view and Noam Chomsky’s name’s on the cover so I stuck with it. Yes, they highlight the fundamental issues of capitalism, but it’s suffocating under the weight of political views. It’s one sided and hardly constructive - yes, the current form of capitalism sucks, but what could be the alternative or how could we fix the most blatant issues?

the book is also blindly focused on the USA and especially US politics. Thus the opportunity to compare US capitalism to the capitalism of Scandinavian welfare states or Japan, and to China and some failed attempts at socialism is very much lost. Which is a shame as it would add so much more layer and direction to the topic than the excess of US examples highlighting that money drives politics. And beside space there’s the axis of time, we could have explored what the world was like before capitalism. What capitalism changed and what remained unchanged or returned under a new name. Because there are problems that play on repeat in slightly different shapes and forms since the birth of human civilizations so capitalism, albeit heavily flawed and in dire need for refinement, isn’t actually the root of all evil.

At least this is the train of thought I was hoping for. But at least now I know a bit more about the USA than I did - and a lot more than I care.

A must listen!

The book itself is an amazingly enlightening read which is both terrifying and timely … and this Audible version conveys both elements majestically. Anybody not familiar with Noam Chomsky would do well to listen to this by way of an introduction - Marv Waterstone as well - to get a sense of his towering intellect.
By way of a commentary on the state of the world without including the current war in Ukraine it stands on its own. The evidence of the inequalities that have led to this state of affairs is laid out and analysed concisely and with clarity … capitalism is broken and we are too scared to fix it.
The message is a clarion call to arms that we ignore at our peril - a masterful book and a super production by Audible.

A must-read. It will open up your thoughts

I loved it and it has just let me see the world from a different lens. Beautiful.

Great listen.. Depressing though

Interesting and great book for referencing other people's work of you do want to follow up for more.
Did not like that each chapter is 2 talks, on the same topic but separate talks in the same chapter so you can't tell how long each talk is.

Articulate and informative

This is key knowledge for our current political and societal situation. The authors show how we got to this point, what predicament we are in, and the hopes for the fightback.

Revelation, worth every second!

For your own dignity, this is a must read today such a good book