Have you read "A People's History of The United States"

[Cleita]

by Howard Zinn?

If you haven't, pick up a copy. I think anyone who has strong feelings about the immigration issue and labor issues should review what the history of our country was about in regards to those two intertwining issues. The oppressed of other countries immigrated here to help settle the frontier first. Then the industrial revolution brought more opportunities for labor for those immigrants looking for a better life.

This created the usual abuses of labor and the rise of the labor unions. This is how the immigration issue was solved in previous centuries by immigrants. Really, if you haven't read about this do it now and learn why we have had such a properous nation up until this century because of the activism and sacrifices of the workers who came before us.

[Katherine Brengle]

1. I second that -- best thing I ever did for myself was...

buy and then read this book.

Zinn has been accused of revising history... You know what--if looking back at history and NOT automatically assuming that the winners were the good guys is revisionism, then amen.

Read it, learn it, love it, take it to heart.

Rec'd.

[Cleita]

6. Well, most of history chronicles the stories of the kings,

the powerful and the rich. Zinn tells the story of the backbone of this nation, the workers and the immigrants. He tells the story of the suffering of the indigenous people and the slaves brought over here at the hands of the Europeans as well. This was not the Christopher Columbus version.

[Katherine Brengle]

15. Precisely--

usually, the history we learn is told from the POV of the "winners" and not the people.

Zinn is one of my heroes.

[proud patriot]

2. Yes

I have read it twice many years ago .

I plan on reading it more

[WindRavenX]

3. great suggestion

Amazing book. Changed my life :thumbsup:

[deadparrot]

4. Yep. It's one of my favorites.

:hi:

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

5. The new immigrants are facing the same racist crap that the others did.

They were the bogeymen of their day. Stealing jobs, accused of rampant criminality, not learning the language, having divided loyalties, driving down wages, etc.

They fought back and gained their place by fighting back. Just as the new immigrants are doing now.

[Cleita]

10. Even as recent as the last century, people whispered about

Italians and Poles.

[Bozita]

7. Zinn is MUST READ! -- Do you think the Bushbots have ever read Zinn?

After all, it IS a people's history.

[LuckyLib]

8. It's wonderful. And for those who never had a social sciences

course that challenged all the sacred myths, this book is the first step.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

9. I'm on my third copy...

The first two were 'borrowed' and never returned.

[ConsAreLiars]

11. There's an audio version of highlights available at

http://static.thepiratebay.org/hashtorrent/3295224.torrent/Howard_Zinn_-_A_People_s_History_of_the_United_States-Highlights.3295224.TPB.torrent

if you use a BitTorrent.

[WiseButAngrySara]

13. What is a Bit Torrent? Sorry for the ignorance, and TU for the link! n/t

[ConsAreLiars]

20. BitTorrent is a peer-to-peer filesharing technology

which allows large files to be broken down into smaller chunks so that the user can get one part from one person and another bit from another at the same time. If there are a LOT of people sharing it can be very fast, but unfortunately there are very few who have this file, so it is VERY slow. More info here: http://www.dessent.net/btfaq/ It's still a bit techy and experimental, but it works well, even if the authors of the various programs that let you use it tend to talk in Geek.

[LSK]

12. its in my long line of books to read

Currently reading the European Dream by Jeremy Rifkin

Also waiting to get to
Fooled Again by Mark Crispin Miller
The Politics of Truth by Joe Wilson
The Truth with Jokes by Al Franken

So much to read, so little time. :(

[Horse with no Name]

14. I will put it on my list

along with this one:
http://www.utexas.edu/utpress/books/florem.html

[Katherine Brengle]

16. BTW, another great Zinn book worth picking up --

Passionate Declarations: Essays on War and Justice

It's an incredible work--it is very fair minded, written from the POV of a progressive historian who has taken part in a war, very very interesting.

It is a worthwhile read.

[Cleita]

17. I've been meaning to read that.

I haven't yet.

[donheld]

18. It is a MUST READ!

Any american who hasn't read it is just plain ignorant.

[Devlzown]

19. Just finished it a few weeks ago.

I enjoyed it, even though I found it to be rather depressing at times. I wish Zinn would write a history of Europe as well.