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jpowerj's review against another edition
5.0
It's one of those rare books that makes you feel like there are still humans left in the world who recognize and actually *care about* the injustices forced upon us all by capitalism
sling's review against another edition
3.0
Two and a half stars, rounded to three. Not because of the argument but because of the writing. It was pretty heavy-handed and full of the author's exclamations.
I prefer my non-fiction to guide my thinking, rather than hammer the only possible conclusion over my head.
I prefer my non-fiction to guide my thinking, rather than hammer the only possible conclusion over my head.
stevendedalus's review against another edition
3.0
Ames's book is less a thesis than a screed: Modern capitalism is so mean and dehumanizing that it causes the people it crushes to lash out, whether at the work place or, societally, the school which is a microcosm of the empty capitalist world.
It's not convincing. Ames draws a parallel between modern scattered workplace and school violence and the similar violence during slavery. He maintains that in their times, both are frustrated wails against a paradigm so encompassing that true revolution is unthinkable.
Ames is almost manic in his struggle to force violent outbursts into the mold of true political revolution. These lonely, troubled men are lashing out against the system that has oppressed them, in a sense justifying their violence as an understandable, if reprehensible, response to the hollow and cruel world that they perceive (sometimes rightly) has discarded them.
Ames's analysis has a kernel of truth, but American workplace and school shootings have many other causes: the lessening of the hegemony of straight white men, gun culture, and the fetishization of violence, among many others.
The modern world does cause anxiety and it is mean and inhuman, but these gunmen are not secret revolutionaries. They are trouble people who are taking a culturally specific response to a world that has hollowed them out. Ames wants them to fit his neat narrative of Reagan's America creating unenlightened Marxists, and it is very evident that they do not, especially when he examines school shootings.
The world is a less secure place because of capitalism. But it is also less of a secure place because of the postmodern deconstruction of established hegemonies, because of the rise of competing narratives of oppression and power.
Ames's larger point is that the world is fucked up and these people's response is understandable: true. But this is larger than a mere class war, and Ames misses the bigger picture.
It's not convincing. Ames draws a parallel between modern scattered workplace and school violence and the similar violence during slavery. He maintains that in their times, both are frustrated wails against a paradigm so encompassing that true revolution is unthinkable.
Ames is almost manic in his struggle to force violent outbursts into the mold of true political revolution. These lonely, troubled men are lashing out against the system that has oppressed them, in a sense justifying their violence as an understandable, if reprehensible, response to the hollow and cruel world that they perceive (sometimes rightly) has discarded them.
Ames's analysis has a kernel of truth, but American workplace and school shootings have many other causes: the lessening of the hegemony of straight white men, gun culture, and the fetishization of violence, among many others.
The modern world does cause anxiety and it is mean and inhuman, but these gunmen are not secret revolutionaries. They are trouble people who are taking a culturally specific response to a world that has hollowed them out. Ames wants them to fit his neat narrative of Reagan's America creating unenlightened Marxists, and it is very evident that they do not, especially when he examines school shootings.
The world is a less secure place because of capitalism. But it is also less of a secure place because of the postmodern deconstruction of established hegemonies, because of the rise of competing narratives of oppression and power.
Ames's larger point is that the world is fucked up and these people's response is understandable: true. But this is larger than a mere class war, and Ames misses the bigger picture.
pussreboots's review against another edition
4.0
I was half expecting Going Postal to be a sensationalist history of the most violent of shootings in recent American history. Instead the book is a frank and curious investigation of the psychology behind these acts of violence.
What Mark Ames finds is that most people don't snap no matter how bad the situation is. An otherwise mentally stable human being won't rebel against a bad situation even if an act of rebellion would result in a better situation for himself and others. A mentally ill person though is far more likely to snap and he documents his observation with a number of historical profiles from history. (See Part II: The Banality of Slavery)
If you are interested in what makes people tick and what makes some people snap, Going Postal is worth a read. It's just shy of 300 pages with a lengthy set of end notes. While violent acts are described the are not sensationalized.
What Mark Ames finds is that most people don't snap no matter how bad the situation is. An otherwise mentally stable human being won't rebel against a bad situation even if an act of rebellion would result in a better situation for himself and others. A mentally ill person though is far more likely to snap and he documents his observation with a number of historical profiles from history. (See Part II: The Banality of Slavery)
If you are interested in what makes people tick and what makes some people snap, Going Postal is worth a read. It's just shy of 300 pages with a lengthy set of end notes. While violent acts are described the are not sensationalized.
becquebooks's review against another edition
4.0
I picked this up because of the way it was cited in [b:The Utopia of Rules: On Technology, Stupidity, and the Secret Joys of Bureaucracy|22245334|The Utopia of Rules On Technology, Stupidity, and the Secret Joys of Bureaucracy|David Graeber|https://d2arxad8u2l0g7.cloudfront.net/books/1417415465s/22245334.jpg|41620170]. If you are only going to read one of these two books, I'd tell you to read Utopia of Rules because I think it's a better book with a more complex argument. But this is also great linking the rhetoric, cultural milieu and style of slave rebellions, office shootings, and school shootings, basically arguing throughout that we tend to see these rebellions against an oppressive culture (because we prefer to see these institutions as benevolent) and instead as freak, evil, responses motivated by rage. I'm not articulating that clearly, but it's a compelling argument.
axolotlquestions's review against another edition
4.0
An interesting book. Not sure I agree with his thesis, but it made me think.
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