Described by Cornel West as "the most acute observer and insightful analyst of the 'Obama Phenomena,'" Paul Street is the author of seven books, numerous project studies, and hundreds of articles published around the world. His publications include the prophetic, "lucid and penetrating" (Noam Chomsky) volume
Barack Obama and the Future of American Politics (2008), described by John Pilger in 2009 as "perhaps the only book that tells the truth about the 44th president of the United States." Street's
Crashing the Tea Party (2010, co-authored with Truthout contributor Anthony DiMaggio) is "essential reading for anyone concerned about the changing nature of American politics" and helped solidify Street's status as one of "America's most important social and political critics" (Henry Giroux).
No longer content to limit his focus to one side of the dominant and narrow US political spectrum - either Obama Democrats or Teapublicans - Street has turned his attention to the plutocratic American system as a whole. Below we post the introduction to Street's latest and most important and sweeping book yet:
They Rule: The 1% v. Democracy (Paradigm Publishers, September 2014). Inspired in part by the Occupy movement or "moment" of 2011, Street's new volume harkens back to John Carpenter's campy but classic film
They Live (1987). Carpenter portrayed the United States as subject to invasion and control by alien invaders who wore corporate suits, distributed wealth and power upward, subverted democracy, managed minds and warmed the earth's climate - all in the name of free enterprise and economic growth.
They Rule moves from Reagan era science fiction to the nitty-gritty details of how the US ruling class rules and why it matters in our current 21st century New Gilded Age. According to Gar Alperovitz,
They Rule is "aserious, useful, and well-written and well-researched guide to the challenges we face and the genuine options we have as American corporate capitalism and its politics continue to decay."
Comment: By Saturday, September 20, the number of Syrian refugees rose to 60,000 now that the flood gates are open. It is noted that this turn of events has not been entirely popular in Turkish society. They fear that it will bring IS to their borders and the war to their doorstep. Over the past three days IS expanded its captured Kurdish villages from 16 to 60.