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April 26, 2008
BOOK REVIEW: Swim
Against the Current: Even a Dead Fish Can Go With the Flow
By Jim Hightower with
Susan DeMarco
 By
Candace Talmadge
Swim Against the
Current: Even a Dead Fish Can Go With the Flow is dedicated to the late political columnist Molly Ivins.
She would have been proud of the mention and of the book, and probably
is, wherever she may be now, still raisin’ a ruckus.
This book is co-written by a Texas populist who was twice elected (with
my vote both times) the state’s agriculture commissioner. It encourages
readers (us) to get out of our nine-to-five ruts. It provides plenty of
concrete examples of Americans who don’t have megabucks or political
connections but who nonetheless have bucked big business and big
government to make happier, more sustainable livelihoods for themselves
and/or to right some wrongs.
Kudos to authors Jim Hightower and Susan DeMarco. We so much need
practical optimism in these discouraging and dispiriting times. They
show us on every page how not to give up on the possibility of healing
our lives and, in doing so, helping to make our beloved nation just a
little bit calmer and saner. That is an enormous contribution to our
collective well-being in these stressful, crazy-making times.
Best of all, they do so with that dry Texas humor that Ivins made so
well known in her columns.
The book is divided into three sections – business, politics and life.
In business, the authors start by quoting our most taciturn president,
Calvin Coolidge. He said more than just, “The chief business of the
American people is business.” He offered these additional comments: “Of
course, the accumulation of wealth cannot be justified as the chief end
of existence. It’s only natural that people seek some level of wealth,
but there are many other things we want very much more. The chief ideal
of the American people is idealism.”
In
that vein, the authors describe business without greed, such as a fair
trade coffee cooperative, an organic dairy products farm cooperative,
micro-lending to the poor and for projects such as affordable (and
profitable) housing, workers who acquired their cab company and
transformed it.
For the politics part, Hightower and DeMarco relate the story of a herd
of Jersey and Angus cows in Southern California that broke free a number
of years ago and have eluded capture ever since, roaming the Santa
Monica Mountains north of Los Angeles.
Their point: We, the voters, can either remain passive bovines to be
milked by politicians representing special interests, or we can take
action on our own behalf, including running for political office,
supporting clean election laws to get public financing for state and
local campaigns, organizing to fight for a “living wage” as opposed to
minimum-wage increases and protesting war in a creative manner, as did a
group of grannies. Then there’s the chapter about the politics of fun,
which helps those unfamiliar with Southern culture by providing the
different definitions of the words “naked” and “nekkid” (see the book
for details, Nosy).
Finally, the section on life discusses various issues, such as the
complete disconnect between those who make public policy and those who
suffer the consequences of said policies – and the climate situation and
the growing Christian evangelical environmental movement. While I don’t
agree with Hightower and DeMarco that carbon dioxide emissions from
human activity are the primary causes of warming global temperatures, I
cherish and applaud their deep commitment to stop harming our Earth. We
are the stewards – not the dominators – of this planet and our lives
will improve immeasurably if we start behaving accordingly.
After each section, the authors provide invaluable contact information
for every organization or person they write about. DeMarco includes a
recommended reading list, which should include this book. All in all,
this is nonfiction at its finest.
Rating: 5 Stars (out of
5)
Title: Swim Against the Current—Even a Dead Fish Can Go With the Flow
Author: Jim Hightower with Susan DeMarco
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Publication Date: March, 2008
List price: $25.95 (hardcover)
Pages: 212
ISBN: 978-0-470-12151-1
© 2008 North Star Writers
Group. May not be republished without permission.
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