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Rating: 
Summary: Great ideas and I love the intentions but
Review: ....However, difficult it could be to change the world we are living in to a better one as the book suggests, it is not just a challenge, but a must try.
I have a feeling though that Michael is not trying to reach the general population but is aiming at the intellectual world. His writing, although very high level, seems to be quite challenging for people of a lesser education or younger age. If we already know that it'll take years to incorporate this new way of living, maybe we should also include a younger audience. Aren't the children of today, the leaders of tomorrow?
Rating: 
Summary: Refreshing challenges
Review: People either like or dislike Rabbi Lerner, who makes no secret about being a liberal, progressive Jew. And whose congregation in San Francisco reflects the wonderful diversity of the city. What I like about his writings is his ability to challenge people. To ask people to get out of their comfort and safe zones be it home, work, community and simply see all of Gods creation and realize that we are all flawed and in need of care, compassion and dignity. That one persons transgressions (I dislike the term sin) are no worse than another's. That any inhumane treatment of another is wrong. Personally I would hope and pray that more religious leaders would embrace the compassion Rabbi Lerner has and cast off the fear, loathing and outright hatred of anyone that doesn't agree with them
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful Book About an Idea Whose Time Has Come
Review: Rabbi Dr. Lerner has written a wonderful book about an idea whose time has come. If the media and politicians would act upon these ideas, our national life would benefit immeasurably. Rancor and discord would be replaced by harmony and dialogue. Senator Hilary Clinton embraced this book, and her espousal of its ideas no doubt helped her win election as our junior senator from New York. Dr. Lerner is in the forefront of Jewish thought today. He seeks to engage the culture at large in a way that is beneficial for Jews and Gentiles alike. His efforts in this book and elsewhere are to be applauded.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful Book About an Idea Whose Time Has Come
Review: Rabbi Dr. Lerner has written a wonderful book about an idea whose time has come. If the media and politicians would act upon these ideas, our national life would benefit immeasurably. Rancor and discord would be replaced by harmony and dialogue. Senator Hilary Clinton embraced this book, and her espousal of its ideas no doubt helped her win election as our junior senator from New York. Dr. Lerner is in the forefront of Jewish thought today. He seeks to engage the culture at large in a way that is beneficial for Jews and Gentiles alike. His efforts in this book and elsewhere are to be applauded.
Rating:
Summary: A vital book for the new millennium
Review: Rabbi Michael Lerner wants to develop a leftist response to the Religious Right. Unfortunately he throws out the baby and _keeps_ the bathwater: retaining a vague veneer of "spirituality," he rejects the political and economic theories that are in fact the Right's real strength.
Proclaiming himself "agnostic about capitalism," he nevertheless proceeds to disagree with capitalism point by point, denouncing the "selfishness" and "materialism" of modern America and decrying the power of the "market" to impose values on its apparently passive victims (shades of Vance Packard!).
Our real problem, he asserts upon astoundingly little evidence, is that we are "systematically misrecognized" by our families, friends and peers; what we need, he says, is a "politics of meaning" that seeks to rebuild community and change the "bottom line" of our culture.
It is unfortunate that he did not feel compelled to study capitalist theory before rejecting it in toto; otherwise, he might have learned that the "market" is precisely a vast network of human beings cooperating in the production of values and that most of the "problems" he cites stem directly from the increasing power of the federal government. But his characterizations of "capitalist theory" suggest that he consulted no higher authority than John Kenneth Galbraith.
If this is the best the Left can do, then the Left is intellectually bankrupt. Anyone interested in "the politics of meaning" should skip Rabbi Lerner's book and instead study the _meaning of politics_, beginning with the Austrian School economists -- Ludwig von Mises, Murray Rothbard, et alia. And maybe a little Ayn Rand too.
Rating: 
Summary: self-proclaimed "moralist"
Review: The author's central premise seems to be that despite a consumer culture run amok and any number of examples of a society unraveled, such as the anonymity of the suburbs, gratuious corporate downsizings, the rise of hate-radio, etc, that the public really does hunger for meaning, spirtuality, recognition, and connectedness. In other words, there is an untapped social solidarity waiting for the right situation to transform society into one that cares for all citizens. The problem is that the author presents little evidence for any such belief other than his desire for this to become a reality. No evidence is presented to indicate that substantial numbers of people even understand the dysfunctionality of their lives and of society and what actions to take both personally and within the larger society. The author does demonstrate the rise of cynical pandering to social discomforts by the political right usually by scapegoating the disadvantaged as well as the government. He should have explored the propagandistic effects of the mass media and the educational system. The author seems to be saying that if we are not really the self-centered, selfish people that we clearly demonstrate on a daily basis, we could have a good society where basic needs for physical and mental well-being could be meant. But that is a big if that the author cannot explain away. His calls for society-enhancing initiatives just have a hollow ring.
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