Jeff Bergner

Despite good intentions, American government policies often fail. One major reason is that they are almost always predicated on the idea that the (only) way to change peoples' behavior is to change their economic circumstances. This kind of economic determinism was originally the product of Marxist thought. Practicing Marxists like Lenin and Mao, however, did not adopt this view in practice. They employed ideas, education and propaganda to achieve their ends. They were not in this way very good Marxists. But this was not the end of the notion of economic determinism. It has found a home in commercial republics like America, especially those heavily influenced by progressivism. This book explains the ways American domestic and foreign policies, as well as intelligence assessments, are shaped by economic determinism. As such, their too-narrow view of the springs of human action often lead to policy failures. Too much is promised and too little is delivered.

The late twelfth and early thirteenth centuries were a turning point in the thought of the west. This was the age of Averroes, Maimonides and Aquinas, each of whom struggled to reconcile their respective faiths of Islam, Christianity and Islam with ancient Greek pagan philosophy. This was also the age when each faith discovered that the others were engaged in the very same process. Much intellectual borrowing took place, especially from Arab thought to Judaism and Christianity. There was scarcely an intellectual figure in this period of any consequence, or a subject of any importance which was unknown to Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II and in which he did not play a leading role. It was not without reason he was called during his lifetime stupor mundi (wonder of the world). Is the world eternal or created? Can something be created from nothing? Does God's existence have a purpose? Are all descriptions of God simply qualities which humans admire? Does God necessarily act from reason? Can God's omnipotence and human free will be reconciled? Can there be a proper name for God? Does God exist in a place, or everywhere and nowhere? Do heaven and hell exist in a place? Can we learn ethics from reason alone? These are among the questions which this dialogue of Frederick II addresses.

The late twelfth and early thirteenth centuries were a turning point in the thought of the west. This was the age of Averroes, Maimonides and Aquinas, each of whom struggled to reconcile their respective faiths of Islam, Judaism and Christianity with ancient Greek pagan philosophy. This was also the age when each faith discovered that the others were engaged in the very same process. Much intellectual borrowing took place, especially from Arab thought to Judaism and Christianity. There was scarcely an intellectual figure in this period of any consequence, or a subject of any importance which was unknown to Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II and in which he did not play a leading role. It was not without reason he was called during his lifetime stupor mundi (wonder of the world). Is the world eternal or created? Can something be created from nothing? Does God's existence have a purpose? Are all descriptions of God simply qualities which humans admire? Does God necessarily act from reason? Can God's omnipotence and human free will be reconciled? Can there be a proper name for God? Does God exist in a place, or everywhere and nowhere? Do heaven and hell exist in a place? Can we learn ethics from reason alone? These are among the questions which this dialogue of Frederick II addresses.

American voters will be empowered by this revealing, behind-the-scene exposé of the marketing strategies and tactics political candidates use to win their hearts, minds, donations, and votes. Branding the Candidate: Marketing Strategies to Win Your Vote was written to empower voters to become sharper, more informed political consumers. It does that by taking a close look at political marketing strategies, especially those used by the Obama presidential campaign, which took marketing to a new level of sophistication. Specifically, the book discusses the creation of the Obama brand; how the Obama campaign used database-driven, political microtargeting and high-tech digital media to reach various market segments; and the campaign's development and implementation of new political fundraising techniques. The book also discusses how a candidate who is created as a "brand" must cope with the challenges of "brand management" once in power. Finally, the authors counsel voters on how to arm themselves against the branding and marketing techniques that will be employed by candidates in the 2012 election, and they reflect on what the widespread extension of these techniques to the political process means for American democracy.