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Title details for Nemesis by Chalmers Johnson - Available

Nemesis

The Last Days of the American Republic

by Chalmers Johnson
Tom Weiner
Audiobook
1 of 1 copy available
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1 of 1 copy available

This final volume of Chalmers Johnson's bestsellingBlowbacktrilogy confronts the overreaching of the American empire and the threat it poses to the republic.

In his prophetic bookBlowback, Johnson linked the CIA's clandestine activities abroad to disaster at home. InThe Sorrows of Empire, he explored how the growth of American militarism has jeopardized our security. Now, inNemesis, he shows how American imperialism undermines the republic itself, both economically and politically.

Drawing comparisons to empires past, Johnson explores in vivid detail the likely consequences of our dependence on a permanent war economy and what it will mean when the globe's sole "hyperpower," no longer capable of paying for the vaulting ambitions of its leaders, becomes the greatest hyper-debtor of all time. In his stunning conclusion, Johnson suggests that the crisis of a financial breakdown could ultimately prove to be the only path to a renewed nation.

  • Creators

  • Series

    Blowback Trilogy

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    January 1, 2006

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9781483050843
      • File size: 345286 KB
      • Duration: 11:59:20

  • Languages

    • English

  • Levels

    • Text Difficulty: 9-12

  • Reviews

    • AudioFile Magazine
      We are, the author contends, headed for monumental economic disaster because of selfish, secret, and reckless military spending. As Johnson outlines the "dangerous path" the United States has forged., narrator Tom Weiner's steady, deep voice offers comfort to a rocky journey. The book's only flaw is the extent of the author's tangential explanations. But the gem is the section on the erosion of freedom of information. The author's theme is clear early on: "Imperialism requires that a . . . domestic democracy change into a domestic tyranny." Weiner's voice of reason resonates as listeners are left questioning our future. M.B. (c) AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine
    • Publisher's Weekly

      January 29, 2007
      Like ancient Rome, America is saddled with an empire that is fatally \t\t undermining its republican government, argues Johnson (The Sorrows of Empire), in this bleak jeremiad. He \t\t surveys the trappings of empire: the brutal war of choice in Iraq and other \t\t foreign interventions going back decades; the militarization of space; the \t\t hundreds of overseas U.S. military bases full of "swaggering soldiers who brawl \t\t and sometimes rape." At home, the growth of an "imperial presidency," with the \t\t CIA as its "private army," has culminated in the Bush administration's resort \t\t to warrantless wiretaps, torture, a "gulag" of secret CIA prisons and an \t\t unconstitutional arrogation of "dictatorial" powers, while a corrupt Congress \t\t bows like the Roman Senate to Caesar. Retribution looms, the author warns, as \t\t the American economy, dependent on a bloated military-industrial complex and \t\t foreign borrowing, staggers toward bankruptcy, maybe a military coup. Johnson's \t\t is a biting, often effective indictment of some ugly and troubling features of \t\t America's foreign policy and domestic politics. But his doom-laden trope of \t\t empire ("the capacity for things to get worse is limitless.... the American \t\t republic may be coming to its end") seems overstated. With Bush a lame duck, \t\t not a Caesar, and his military adventures repudiated by the electorate, the \t\t Republic seems more robust than Johnson allows.

    • Publisher's Weekly

      January 1, 2007
      Like ancient Rome, America is saddled with an empire that is fatally undermining its republican government, argues Johnson (The Sorrows of Empire
      ), in this bleak jeremiad. He surveys the trappings of empire: the brutal war of choice in Iraq and other foreign interventions going back decades; the militarization of space; the hundreds of overseas U.S. military bases full of "swaggering soldiers who brawl and sometimes rape." At home, the growth of an "imperial presidency," with the CIA as its "private army," has culminated in the Bush administration's resort to warrantless wiretaps, torture, a "gulag" of secret CIA prisons and an unconstitutional arrogation of "dictatorial" powers, while a corrupt Congress bows like the Roman Senate to Caesar. Retribution looms, the author warns, as the American economy, dependent on a bloated military-industrial complex and foreign borrowing, staggers toward bankruptcy, maybe a military coup. Johnson's is a biting, often effective indictment of some ugly and troubling features of America's foreign policy and domestic politics. But his doom-laden trope of empire ("the capacity for things to get worse is limitless.... the American republic may be coming to its end") seems overstated. With Bush a lame duck, not a Caesar, and his military adventures repudiated by the electorate, the Republic seems more robust than Johnson allows.

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

Levels

  • Text Difficulty:9-12

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