People "occupying" various cities are unhappy with a financial system they see favoring the few over the many.
Do many of them even know how the financial system works?
Half the time I can't figure it out.
Cognito, a financial sector PR agency, is here to help with a reading list for Occupy Wall Street!
"We spend our lives trying to get people interested in the financial industry, and now all these folks are outside our office talking about nothing else," says Cognito VP Loretta Mock. "We appreciate the interest and admire the energy, but from a PR standpoint their messaging could use a little tightening."
Since it looks like this protest is going to go on for some time, Mock thought maybe those camping out will have time on their hands.
So she developed a reading list for them.
Here's Cognito's "Occupy Yourself—Recommended Reading for Revolutionaries":
- The ABCs of the Economic Crisis: What Working People Need to Know by Fred Magdoff and Michael D. Yates
- The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Actby Chris Dodd and Barney Frank (from Jane: A sure way to end the protest because demonstrators reading this will be bored to death.)
- The Great Financial Crisis: Causes and Consequencesby John Bellamy Foster and Fred Magdoff
- Keynes Hayek: The Clash that Defined Modern Economics by Nicholas Wapshott
- How to Succeed in Business Without Really Tryingby Shepherd Mead and Stanley Bing
- Liar’s Pokerby Michael Lewis
- How to Win Friends & Influence Peopleby Dale Carnegie
- Organizing For Dummiesby Eileen Roth and Elizabeth Miles
- Poor People's Movements: Why They Succeed, How They Fail by Frances Fox Piven and Richard Cloward
- Protesting Power: War, Resistance, and Law by Francis A. Boyle
- Too Big to Failby Andrew Ross Sorkin (from Jane: Watch him on Squawk Box instead.)
- Your Dream Career For Dummiesby Carol L. McClelland and Richard N. Bolles
- When Genius Failed: The Rise and Fall of Long-Term Capital Management by Roger Lowenstein Dealbook.nytimes.com
- Eight Days: The Battle to Save the American Financial System by James B. Stewart , The New Yorker, September 21, 2009
Well...
I hate to burst Cognito's bubble, but some Occupiers already have a reading list. You won't find "Liar's Poker" on it.
Here's the recommended reading on the OccupyLA site:
- Parecon: Life After Capitalismby Michael Albert
- Communism and Anarchyby Peter Kropotkin
- Potlach (See what that is by clicking here.)
- Memories of Drop Cityby John Curl
- Civil Disobedienceby Henry David Thoreau
- "Waging Non-Violent Struggle in the 21st Century" by Gene Sharp
Cognito may have an uphill battle winning converts. I don't see Dale Carnegie and Peter Kropotkin finding a lot of common ground.
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