An All-Access Pass to the Populist
Insurrection Brewing Across the Country
Job outsourcing. Perpetual busy signals at government agencie... read full description
Insurrection Brewing Across the Country
Job outsourcing. Perpetual busy signals at government agencie... read full description
reviews
Mar 26, 2009
Alan
rated it: 
Lately, I've been hearing and seeing David Sirota everywhere, on NPR radio shows, on Salon.com and elsewhere, criticizing President Obama for failing to deliver the kind of radical economic policies he had hoped for. For more on his views, I turned to this book.
Sirota contends that millions of Americans are full of rage at an economic system that is blatantly unjust, delivering the vast bulk of its rewards to a few at the top. So far, I'm with him -- and I give him credit because he appea More...
Sirota contends that millions of Americans are full of rage at an economic system that is blatantly unjust, delivering the vast bulk of its rewards to a few at the top. So far, I'm with him -- and I give him credit because he appea More...
Mar 15, 2010
John
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I think that David Sirota's "The Uprising" is misnamed. It should really be called "Political Power 101", as Sirota does an excellent job of providing an introduction to how political power really works. Ostensibly, Sirota is interested in looking at political power from a particular angle--what he calls the "uprising", but Sirota himself as much as admits that this uprising is fairly ill-defined. This confusion is my only real complaint with the book.
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Apr 04, 2009
Mark
rated it: 
Sirota's a bit too fond of Alinsky for my prejudices. That said, he does give a good tour of the disparate elements (both on the right and the left) rising up against the way business and politics is done in the US.
His treatment of Danny Cantor's efforts in NY state as the executive director of the Working People's Party (did I get the name right?) left me quite hopeful. Cantor is a skilled, intelligent organizer.
The first chapter on Montana's Senator, Jon Tester, should More...
His treatment of Danny Cantor's efforts in NY state as the executive director of the Working People's Party (did I get the name right?) left me quite hopeful. Cantor is a skilled, intelligent organizer.
The first chapter on Montana's Senator, Jon Tester, should More...
Dec 28, 2008
Geof
rated it:
After Nov. 4, The Uprising is somewhat out of date, but it still contains enough interesting anecdotes to make it worth reading for anyone following the nation's shifting political winds.
Sirota covers various populist movements on both the left and the right – from anti-tax efforts in Montana to anti-war groups in Washington to anti-immigration militias in California – all of them aimed at taking down The Establishment. But you won't find any objectivity here. Sirota's blatant bias u More...
Sirota covers various populist movements on both the left and the right – from anti-tax efforts in Montana to anti-war groups in Washington to anti-immigration militias in California – all of them aimed at taking down The Establishment. But you won't find any objectivity here. Sirota's blatant bias u More...
Jul 08, 2011
Jon
rated it:
Saw and talked to Sirota at Elliot Bay Books tonight and was surprisingly impressed. He's not just another glib blowhard who worked on Capitol Hill for a while and is now cashing in (having worked on the Hill, I've seen that and am skeptical that it's what people are doing). Agree with him that economic populism wins and Dems are wrong to run from economic liberalism. Also think he makes sense that people have been voting against their own economic interests because they perceive no differenc
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Jun 04, 2009
AuthorsOnTourLive!
rated it: 
Political organizer and nationally syndicated newspaper columnist David Sirota's first book, Hostile Takeover, was a New York Times bestseller. Sirota blogs at credoaction.com/sirota, and his column runs weekly in the Denver Post, San Francisco Chronicle, and Seattle Times, as well as in other newspapers. He is a senior fellow at the Campaign for America's Future and the founder of the Progressive States Network-both nonpartisan research institutions. Sirota discusses his new book The Uprising:
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Jan 10, 2012
William
rated it:
THe amazing thing about this book is that it was written in 2007 BEFORE the wall Street bailout, housing collapse, Tea party formation, and Occupy Wall Street movement. Its like looking in a crystal ball. The author, a former congressional aide who calls himself left of center, chronicles modern day populist movements on the left and right. He also calls for various reforms to strip the overwhelming power of corporations and solutions for getting democracy back in the hands of the citizens. He t
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Aug 22, 2008
Emily
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This is a good exploration of a variety of grassroots movements all over the USA showing how individuals are actually standing up and doing something about the corporate-government machine which serves the elite and not the people they represent. While I don't agree with some of the movements (ie, citizens patrolling the US-Mexico border with guns and perpetuating racism, while failing to see that corporate and government policies in that country and others lead to poverty and destruction which
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Jan 08, 2010
Adrienne
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This is a great book about grassroots activities. It covers left and right. Great explanations about why things do or don't work. The most important thing is he shows the commonality between this disparate groups.
Aug 02, 2008
Maude
rated it:
If David Sirota can write a best seller, so can I. It's interesting how he pulls together some of the similarities of the different populist movements but I'm distracted by his critique for how the movements are organized (he goes into more detail about the structure of the progressive movement because he's more invested in that movement). Basically he finds the progressive organizational structure too top down and not democratic. I agree, but he doesn't offer a solution. How would he restru
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Jul 27, 2010
Ted
rated it:
Prelude to the development of the WFP and labor's role in gov't. Socialist banter but he called it correctly given recent events.
Jul 23, 2008
Taylor
rated it:
Sirota is the real-deal as far as progressive journalists go. His ideas are fresh and far-reaching, even appealing to the economic populism of Lou Dobbs. But make no mistake, Sirota is uncompromisingly left-wing, and does it better than most of us. He is definitely a step above the rest, and The Uprising is a refreshing reminder of the movement that we are building, and the movement that we should continue to build.
I had the chance to interview him on some populist themes and things More...
I had the chance to interview him on some populist themes and things More...
Jul 23, 2008
Jacket: Insurrection Brewing Across the Country. Job outsourcing. Perpetual busy signals at government agencies. Slashed paychecks. Stolen elections. A war without end, fatally mismanaged. Ordinary Americans on both the Right and Left are tired of being disenfranchised by corrupt politicians of both parties and are organizing to change the status quo. In his invigorating new book, David Sirota investigates whether this uprising can be transformed into a unified, lasting political movement.
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Jan 01, 2009
This is a good reality check to remind you how off-course Washington and electoral politics have become vis a vis the concerns of actual people in this country. It's not terribly scientific, but I do think he's tapped into a real phenomenon (a sort of trans-ideological discontent) with this book. I just wish he would stop capitalizing things in attempts to create his own buzzwords--it gets tired by the later chapters.
Oct 04, 2008
Rick
rated it:
After listening to David Sirota debate Grover Norquist, and soundly trouncing GN. I had to go and hear him at Elliot Bay. After listening to his point of view on the current state of America, I had to buy the book.
So far, it is very interesting.
So far, it is very interesting.
Jun 19, 2010
Heather
rated it:
Refreshingly wide ranging examples of populist activism. Sirota doesn't hide his own leanings, but does a fine job showing the common threads for successful movements. The common stumbling blocks, too.
Aug 18, 2008
Saw this author interviewed about this book on The Colbert Report. Sounded like it was right up my alley. He's also the author of the NY Times Bestseller, Hostile Takeover. So we'll see ! ;-)
Aug 24, 2008
Marc
rated it:
Excellent, clearly written analysis of this moment in America. Looks at multiple ways that discontent with a corrupt political process is expressing itself.
Feb 12, 2012
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