Customer Reviews

Soul of a Citizen: Living with Conviction in Challenging Times

5 star:		(28)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

This incredible book teaches us that everyone can work for social justice and claim their right to participate as a citizen in everyday life. In a time where many small groups of ordinary citizens are choosing to re-engage in American democracy through Salons and Circles, we are grateful for this book to inspire and empower us. Loeb uses storytelling to illustrate how involvement in citizenship is surprisingly powerful and creates a tremendous sense of personal and spiritual growth. This hopeful and transformative book invites each of us to choose to take responsible action instead of choosing the civic apathy that has allowed America's governing bodies to listen to the wishes of the most powerful and profitable over the majority of its people. It is time for each of us to choose a better way -- our children, our communities, our democracy, and our natural world depend on us. This book is a great step in the right direction!

First off, I have to say that this was not a light read. It took me twice as long to read this book as most other books do. I found myself reading and re-reading the early parts of the book. Loeb seemed to me to drift in the early chapters, heading in directions that seemed incongruent. I think the book would have been just as good if it were about 100 pages shorter. The last chapters of the book, from the chapter about burnout on, were very good.

However, having waded through it, I found the message that Loeb was trying to get across hit home with me. While I would not consider myself inactive, I would also not consider myself an activist. Paul Loeb has inspired me to become more of an activist. To find a cause that is most important to me and take a stand. If you are not active now, this book can be the spark to ignite your fire.

My husband and I have always wanted to help improve the world, especially on enviromental and sustainability issues. In the past we have felt overwhelmed to do anything. All issues appeared to big, the gov't too far away and unreachable.

Then we both read the book "Soul of a Citizen" by Paul Roget Loeb, we now know that our efforts do add up and make a difference. We are currently working on a letter writing campaign to get the Children's Enviromental Protection Act passed.

This is an excellent book. Read it today and start changing the world!

I have been reading, Soul of a Citizen, and am incredibly touched by it. Everything Paul Loeb says fits my thoughts and feeling perfectly. I've been looking for this book much of my adult life. It seems to help my frequent sense of hopelessness when it comes to the state of the planet and my 'pet issues.' As I read it, I get more inspiration to do more than I normally do.

This book is a keeper. It's a good, inspiring read, plus it's good to simply have around, reminding you of its contents. It struck me as a political version of Julia Cameron's "The Artist's Way." While she explains that "born" artists are a myth, Loeb describes community activists who aren't saints or crazies. Both writers try to motivate flawed, busy people to forget about perfection and take the plunge-whether it be into playful creativity or a social cause-in order to feel more whole and alive. I recommend this personal guidebook to everyone, to every age and class, from the left to the right.

I LOVED this book! I just finished it and thoroughly enjoyed every word. I loved the way it made me feel--far from hopeless, but inspired, renewed and invigorated. It was philosophical yet practical, and I now somehow have the feeling that even doing a LITTLE to improve the world, is doing a lot. It's strange to read something and actually feel like a "better person" for having done so! I've never had that happen before. I feel better for wanting to become more active, better for being as active as I already am, (even though it isn't nearly as much as I'd like it to be,) and better for wanting to share what I've read with others. This book, which was a gift to me from a dear friend, will now be a gift FROM me to many deserving people!

According to Soul of a Citizen, recognition of the economic and political imbalances in the world will likely result in either cynicism or activism. But only activism, or social involvement, is consistent with our democracy and can result in psychological or spiritual growth. The nature or the scope of the cause to be pursued is basically secondary next to the soul-enhancing nature of activism.

Loeb tells the story of about twenty-five citizens who reacted against some sort of economic or political situation that was thrust upon them by enlisting the aid of other citizens to combat the situation. Loeb is concerned with showing that imperfect knowledge and starting small can effect change. He stresses that activists must be patient, that success may be slow, that support is needed, and that burnout can easily occur.

Loeb trys to link his activists with social movements from the past. But the kinds of systemic change that concerned the Knights of Labor, the Populists, the Wobblies, and the Socialists around the turn of the century are not what the activists that Loeb profiles are all about. In fact, Loeb eschews the detailed critiques of society that those historical groups produced. While Loeb contends that structural changes are needed for our society, he downplays the need to develop the kind of expertise needed to engage in that level of change.

Loeb speaks of the isolating tendencies of television, but says nothing about its potential as a propaganda tool to get across a particular message or to limit the free exchange of ideas. His talk of the village square seems strange in an era of corporate-controlled media and the pseudo village squares of suburban mega-malls. Loeb talks about "our" choices that cause economic harm which neatly obscures the central role of the huge private concerns that dictate economic policy in this country. Loeb's failure to address large and controlling forces in our society gives the impression that piecemeal acts by randomly placed activists have a greater impact than they really do.

Soul of a Citizen has the feel of a self-help book. If one is feeling down about some aspect of society, most any form of activism will help alleviate that personal distress. But for those who accept ideas about a "web of domination" in society, piecemeal actions may not be so satisfying. Of course, Loeb is quick to label those folks as cynics. That is why Soul of a Citizen only marginally contributes to the dialog of significant change.

As we near the end of an electoral season that has been marked by widespread cynicism and apathy--now is the time to turn to a challenging book like Paul Rogat Loeb's "Soul of A Citizen." No matter how the Presidential election turns out, millions of Americans will be convinced that our new leaders are not up to the task of healing our national malaise. But it is not necessary or logical to expect leadership in this task to come from one person, living in a city from which many of us feel remote, even estranged. Loeb's book reminds us that the healing, redemptive task belongs to us as individuals, working in spheres of civic action we have carved out for ourselves. Through our dedication we can not only forge hope for society's future, we can open the door to our own spiritual growth. "Soul Of A Citizen" would be a great holiday gift book this year, or any year. It may confirm the faith of some; and--even more important--it may restore the faith of others.

Loeb writes what most of us feel but fear. He inspires courage to act against destruction and yet he understands the urge to cower at the immensity of need. His approach: "keep it personal" and focus on what matters most to you. Community service or social involvmement is doing what you were made to do. It feeds your soul. Apathy be damned, we can be the hero in our own life story if we are not afraid to get involved.

Paul Loeb's assurances that we need not suffer through the cynicism of our times, but can overcome it through social action, comes at a most welcome time. The most important message in this book, which needs repeating and repeating some more, is that ordinary people who take a stand and organize themselves to work against injustice wherever they are, can produce extraordinary results. If you are interested in leaving a better world than you found, you will find absolute gems within the pages of this book.