MI Book Club - See What We've Been Reading

The Minuteman Indivisible Book Club provides the opportunity to discuss books that can inform our strategy and actions and help us achieve our goals. We meet monthly and new members are always welcome. Use this link to see what books our members have recommended, suggest a new title, or RSVP for our meetings.

Daring Democracy

In January, Minuteman Indivisible partnered with First Parish Church in Lexington to discuss Daring Democracy by Frances Moore Lappé and Adam Eichen. Daring Democracy outlines the current threats to our democracy and focuses on grassroots movements that have sprung up to preserve and strengthen it. The book highlights recent successes including initiatives to strengthen voting rights and promote clean elections at the state level.

The Third Reconstruction

The Third Reconstruction describes how Rev. Barber went from being a preacher to becoming the president of the North Carolina NAACP and the leader of a moral movement fighting for a progressive agenda and against the ultra-conservative philosophy advanced by the dark money interests. The book focuses on the need for both a moral underpinning and a strong coalition to “overcome the politics of division and fear.” The 4 -page appendix of the book distills his advice into “Fourteen Steps Forward Together.”

Dark Money

You’ve already heard of the Koch brothers, Mercers, and Betsey DeVos. Dark Money describes where they came from, what they believe, and how they have been using their billions to fundamentally change American democracy. Through a web of more than 80 non-profit groups, meticulously documented in the book, the Kochs and their network of like-minded donors have helped to engineer the GOP takeover of Congress, stymie progress on climate change, groom conservative judicial candidates, undermine unions, promote right-wing candidates and legislation at the state and local level, and fight the ACA and Medicaid expansion. This interview with the author, conducted shortly after the book came out, provides an overview of its main themes.

Don't Think Of An Elephant

Don’t Think of an Elephant by George Lakoff is a guide for understanding how to discuss political issues so that you effectively promote progressive values and don’t inadvertently reinforce the ideas you are fighting against. As the author states: “It is vital — for us, for our country, and for the world —that we understand the progressive values on which this country was founded and that made it a great democracy. If we are to keep that democracy, we must learn to articulate those values loud and clear. If progressives are to win in the future, we must present a clear moral vision to the country — a moral vision common to all progressives. It must be more than a laundry list of facts, policies, and programs.” The author also has a new podcast focusing on politics and language.

On Tyranny

In the prologue to On Tyranny, Dr. Snyder, Professor of History at Yale, outlines his approach: “In founding a democratic republic upon law and establishing a system of checks and balances, the Founding Fathers sought to avoid the evil that they, like the ancient philosophers, called tyranny…If we worry that the American experiment is threatened by tyranny, we can follow the example of the Founding Fathers and contemplate the history of other democracies and republics.The good news is that we can draw upon more recent and relevant examples than ancient Greece and Rome...Our one advantage is that we might learn from their experience.” For more information, check out this video of the author speaking to an Indivisible group in Connecticut or this article with his thoughts on Trump.