Betraying the national interest

by Frances Moore Lappé

Debates over whether more aid should be spent or more demanded of the receiving countries in return and outlines a constructive aid policy less likely to undermine U.S. foreign interests

180 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 1987

About the author

Frances Moore Lappe--author of fifteen books, including three-million-copy bestseller Diet for a Small Planet --distills her world-spanning experience and wisdom in a conversational yet hard-hitting style to create a rare "aha" book. In nine short chapters, Lappe leaves readers feeling liberated and courageous. She flouts conventional right-versus-left divisions and affirms readers' basic sanity - their intuitive knowledge that it is possible to stop grasping at straws and grasp the real roots of today's crises, from hunger and poverty to climate change and terrorism. Because we are creatures of the mind, says Lappe, it is the power of "frame"--our core assumptions about how the world works--that determines outcomes. She pinpoints the dominant failing frame now driving out planet toward disaster. By interweaving fresh insights, startling facts, and stirring vignettes of ordinary people pursuing creative solutions to our most pressing global problems, Lappe uncovers a new, empowering "frame" through which real solutions are emerging worldwide."
Frances Moore Lappé is married to Dr. Marc Lappé a former experimental pathologist interested in the problem of environmental contamination.

Reviews

[Matthew Hajicek · Rating 5 out of 5]

Although published in the late 80's, this book reveals concepts that are pertinent in a hegemonic-capitalist country such as the USA. Advocating for an isolationist-esque economic system, this book displays why providing unrelenting foreign aid and using it as a crutch for struggling countries has no real solution other than a parasitic dependence.