Customer Reviews

The Nation

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

While many mainstream publications have been shying away from calling members of the current American government into account for their transgressions - from bribery and theft to misinformation and cover-ups of sexual escapades - "The Nation" has done its job and reported the facts. For its trouble, many of those who lean the same way as the current administration lambast the magazine as "too liberal" and "naively progressive."

So let's put it this way: If you value truth over lies and think the rights of "the little guy" are just as important as the rights of fat cats, you will like "The Nation." But be warned -- "The Nation" is rife with page after thorough page of intense reporters' writings, and even some clever poetry, but only rarely has pictures. Which may be the real reason why right wingers don't like it.

The Nation is a great publication that has featured the works of scholarly writers such as Eric Alterman, Barbara Ehrenreich, Noam Chomsky and Norman Mailer. Though the issues addressed and the opinions expressed are often labeled as leftist, this magazine nonetheless contains some very thought-provoking nuances and propositions for a better America that sound intelligent.

Though many are outraged about some of the stances that the editors and contributors of The Nation have taken, their retorts often fall short of being strong, tangible, clearly expressed responses. From what I see and hear, too many discussions from them center around using diatribes and trying with no success to portray or effectively deconstruct the perceived merits and flaws of this work or the like.

It was from reading nonfiction books by Ayn Rand that I was perpetually presented the term straw man, an argument approach that was, according to Rand, used by those of altruistic and socialistic agendas that stripped mankind of its individual freedoms. With The Nation, there are bits and pieces of anecdotal evidence that might oppose any laissez-faire capitalistic themes championed by Rand, but I cannot say that they are mere straw man commentaries.

I concur that the magazine might be somewhat slanted, as are all other publications. But global and domestic complexities, I believe, are abounding at a rate that not even the most sophisticated philosophies or ideologies from years past can focus upon in adequate context. To me, The Nation is one of those rare, bold sources that unequivocally acknowledge this disturbance.

Among the recurring themes in this publication is that in this twenty-first century, despite the technological advances that have come to fruition, our nation and world are as divided as ever and that economic globalization seems to have married or melded the worst elements of opposing political platforms. To many contributors, it was decades ago that very few envisioned that the powerful from the freest of societies would be expanding their businesses and increasing their wealth by overtly banking upon productivity levels from geographical areas where human rights are minimized or obliterated.

In The Nation, very interesting columns and analyses are provided regarding the living conditions that working class Americans are either embracing or enduring. Suggestions are intermittently proposed regarding higher pay, better health care, and improved living standards through government reforms, often where the efforts from hard-working individuals and the private sector fall short.

As a reader, I do not necessarily agree with the views espoused, and the level to which I do so is not what I find to be the value of The Nation. What is priceless about this publication is that regardless of what school you are from or what think tank you highly esteem, it will either perpetually reinforce your cherished ideals or will make you use introspection, perhaps re-examine what you thought were sound resolutions for a progressive society.

This publication owes nothing to no one. It tackles complex subjects with the assumption that the reader is intelligent enough to follow the text. It is such a joy to read thoughtful indepth articles about the big story--and all the little stories underneath. I read The Nation when I was young and I am still reading it in my middle age. What a pleasure to hear news without catch phrase or the latest missused hyperpole. I donate to this publication and I would think that anyone who discovers it ( or re-discovers it) would do the same. I am so pleased to be part of The Nation's continuing quest to enlighten and challenge.

One of the best lefty publications available. An ideal balance to say the Weekly Standard for the thoughtful few who actually try to stray from the choir of the left or the choir of the right and form their own opinions.
The Nation is well written and read by itself, the Nation has the potential to harden your brain into lockstep with the arguments of the leftwing. It also has the potential to open you brain if you find yourself in a rightwing routine.
Get it, read it and then find a balance.

The author of the Declaration of Independence and promoter of a bill of rights for the U.S. Constitution, Thomas Jefferson once wrote: "I read no newspaper now but Ritchie's, and in that chiefly the advertisements, for they contain the only truths to be relied on in a newspaper." [Letter to Nathaniel Macon, January 12, 1819]

The Nation is not a newspaper. Rather it is a weekly compilation of informed opinion and investigative reportage that reports what the main stream press and infotainment TV doesn't dare to. Those Americans whose minds have been addled by a steady stream of ideological propaganda and lies call The Nation "left wing," "liberal," "radical," etc., etc.

Plato had written 2,300 years ago his Allegory of the Cave: "Behold! human beings living in an underground den, which has a mouth open towards the light and reaching all along the den; here they have been from their childhood, and have their legs and necks chained so that they cannot move, and can only see before them, being prevented by the chains from turning round their heads." Plato's "punchline" was "... And if he is compelled to look straight at the light, will he not have a pain in his eyes which will make him turn away to take refuge in the objects of vision which he can see, and which he will conceive to be in reality clearer than the things which are now being shown to him?"

And so, dear reader The Nation is filled with sunlight that too many Americans cannot stand to look into directly. It is much less painful for them simply to say: "... the Nation's political bias is so far to the Left that it repeatedly errors in its evaluations of the American and world - situation."

For those who wish to know the simple truth of what is going on in America and the world read The Nation. It prints the patriotic, incisive truth.

I have been receiving the Nation for several years. I got started during the Bush years when other media sources seemed to be in lockstep, beating the drum for the (Iraq) war. The rise in popularity of Faux News is inversely proportional to the level of intellectual sophistication of its audience. I have subscribed to several progressive publications but they lacked the seriousness and depth provided by the Nation. The Nation is thoughtful, well researched and well written - an effective and direct antidote to the reactionary mainstream media. I look forward to receiving it, especially when something newsworthy arises. I particularly appreciate the impressive credentials of the Nation's contributors; because today's issues can be complicated and confusing. Especially since power brokers are less than candid. The Nation is critical of all hypocrisy whether it comes from the left or the right. Even though my budget is very tight this is one item I do not consider to be dispensable. I need to be informed and I trust the Nation to help me reach that goal. Beware! After you start reading the Nation everything else will appear dumbed down!

I have been a The Nation reader for at least thirty years, borrowing my father's issue from before the dark days of Reagan/Bush the First, and grateful for this brave little light shining in the darkness of debt and of war ever since, a light which shines forth in the darkness, which the darkness cannot comprehend.

But, well, what immediately always fascinated me was the impossible Crossword on the final page. Frank Lewis may not be as relentless now as he once was, when I would consider it a victory to solve even a few lines before waiting eagerly for the following week's issue to find the solutions, which were always brilliant and often very funny. The Frank Lewis Crosswords from the eighties are probably the finest ever written, involving every kind of word game in the book just to do a crossword, and all beautifully symmetrical. See his great Cryptic Crosswords from The Nation; even a used copy would not be completed!

Yet I have not come to praise the final page, but all of the content.

I remember when Christopher Hitchens had brilliances to say about our country's various crims against humanity under the dark regime of Reagan/Bush, before Hitch burned out and went over to the dark side himself. I have always had the greatest respect and appreciation for the courageous and astute Mr. Cockburn, and rejoiced to meet him in Managua in the late eighties, he who wrote Corruptions of Empire: Life Studies and the Reagan Era (Haymarket Series), and Whiteout: The CIA, Drugs and the Press and a number of other essential essays available very favorably here upon this amazon.

And I remember when Calvin Trillins had the best page of all, dry New York wit, wonderful, this novelist of the brilliant Tepper Isn't Going Out: A Novel, the food writer who properly adores New Mexican pozole, presently relegated to a few lines of hilarious, dry verse whose title often exceeds the verse by several lines, and whose verse may well be read in Deciding the Next Decider: The 2008 Presidential Race in Rhyme. Please do a search upon the amazon with the one parameter trillin and you will find the best writing being written in this past quarter century, including, dare I say, the culinary treat called The Tummy Trilogy American Fried, Alice let's eat and Third helpings.

And still the Nation goes on, telling us what we really need to know, brilliantly. Get the Nation, and know our history in the making.

Be alone no longer; read The Nation. Oh, and of course also the Catholic Worker, delivered to your door!

This is a very "thin" magazine but it packs a lot of very weighty information in it. I bought this as a gift for my Father and he has really enjoyed it.

Great magazine at a great price. The nation's articles are an excellent counterpoint to the mainstream media.
I recommend it to those who seek a different view of the world.

Ordering this subscription here (rather than direct) saved a couple of dollars, but it's going to take over 4 months to receive the first issue. As a gift, this is a bit of a failure.