Monday, September 18, 2017
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
The Battle for Tomorrow - special offer
“Teen fights for equality in power-packed novel”
My new book (a novel) went up on Amazon today. It’s about a sixteen- year-old girl who participates in the blockade and occupation of the US Capitol.
As the story begins, Angela Jones is the primary caretaker of her invalid mother. Having taken on the responsibilities of an adult, she is still treated as a child by law. A 23-year-old political activist opens her eyes to the urgent issues facing humanity, including the sinking economy and catastrophic climate change, problems that will have devastating consequences for Ange’s future.
Ange is arrested during the protest and winds up in a juvenile detention facility. While there, she finds herself fighting for the right to live independently, in opposition to laws that require her to be released to a parent or guardian.
Living overseas has really highlighted for me the massive age discrimination experienced by US teenagers. In most developed countries the school leaving age is 16, also the age when most working class youths get full time jobs and move into their own flats and apartments. In many countries, sixteen-year-olds (as full fledged taxpayers) are allowed to vote. I blog about this at http://stuartbramhall.aegauthorblogs.com/2010/07/17/election-2010-lowering-the-voting-age/
I suspect The Battle for Tomorrow will be controversial because it talks frankly about teen sexuality, contraception and abortion. Americans don’t believe in talking about sex to teenagers, which may be the reason the US has the highest rate of teen pregnancy in the world. According to the Centers for Disease Control, 43% of girls and 39% of boys have had sex by age 18 (http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/series/sr_23/sr23_024.pdf).
I believe The Battle for Tomorrow will be the 21st century Catcher in the Rye, only the hero is a sexually active female and the action takes place in the streets of Washington DC.
To celebrate my new book, I am offering a 2 for 1 offer (expires May 14th) – a free ebook version of The Battle for Tomorrow with purchase of new, used or ebook version of my memoir The Most Revolutionary Act: Memoir of an American Refugee. Email receipt to stuartbramhall@yahoo.co.nz for coupon code for a free download.
Links for The Most Revolutionary Act
(winner of 2011 Allbooks Review Editor’s Choice Award):
New and used print copies: Amazon
ebook (all formats) for $5.99:
http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/55477
Links for The Battle for Tomorrow
softcover $18.95: www.thebattlefortomorrow.com
ebook (all formats) $5.99: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/51531
Link to audio file of Battle for Tomorrow (Chap 1)
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Peter Kropotkin
"The chasm between the modern millionaire who squanders the produce of human labor in a gorgeous and vain luxury, and the pauper reduced to a miserable and insecure existence, is thus growing wider and wider, so as to break the very unity of society-the harmony of its life-and to endanger the progress of its further development.”
Peter Kropotkin, born to Russian royalty, is arguably one of the most notable Russian anarchists (Contending with Emma Goldman) ever to come out of the Motherland. Born to Prince Alexei Petrovich Kropotkin, who owned huge tracts of land and 1200 serfs, Peter was rarely allowed any interaction with his father and thus he was educated and raised by the nurses and servants. It was this, along with his dwelling in Moscow, that has sparked an interest in the peasantry which, as some may know, has formed the foundation of nearly every revoltution.
Kropotkin read simply on his own accord. He especially possessed a particular interest in French history and gave much attention to French encyclopaedists. It was probably his interest in French history that also contributed to his interest in Anarchism (keeping in mind the French Revolution and the Paris Commune). The years 1857-1861 beheld an affluent growth in the intellectual contingent during which Liberal-revolutionary literature had been purchased in Kropotkin's interest, which he felt sufficiently expressed his aspirations.
His views on Anarchism differ from some of his contemporaries (Then again, Anarchism is an elusive praxis; it's definition being subjective to the views of the subscriber). Whereas most Anarchists and even Anarcho-Syndicalists are opposed to Communist ideologies (That is, the authority that Communism instills, the consistent statism that Anarchists seeks to abolish and the ignorance and dismissal of the peasants and poor), Kropotkin embraced the more Socialistic apects: decentralization of workers, worker organization in the workplace, distribution of wealth, the abolition of the state, society owning means of production and so on.
Kropotkin was also the first to scientifically analyze Anarchism, which he did in his book, Mutual Aid. Kropotkin, also a geographer, was the first to find that mountains grow in the direction opposite of that which all previous scientists have noted. Kropotkin was highly intellectual and was a very notable scientist and political theorist, although that word possibly contradicts his belief concerning theory and action. He believes that, in moments of revolt, people who have not yet fully embraced the revolution are much more willing to follow someone who they have seen act than follow someone who quibbles and theorizes.
Suggested Reading:
Anarchism: A collection of Revolutionary Writings
