Opposing the System

Addressing practical questions of economics and politics raised in his 1970 youth-consciousness bestseller, The Greening of America, Reich here critiques ``the System''-the nexus of governmental, corporate and media power that, he argues, nullifies democracy and dominates our lives. Our societal goal of profit cannot serve human needs, he stresses; nor does a focus on economic growth consider costs like urban decay and family breakup. A visiting law professor at Yale, Reich argues that the Bill of Rights, should be applied in the workplace, where it is regularly violated, and that the war against crime also violates the Constitution. He trenchantly suggests a ``new map of reality'' to recognize the costs imposed by our current ``economic tyranny'' but proposes, quixotically, a program that includes constitutional guarantees of economic rights and a rejiggering of the economy to focus on human needs. We need a new consciousness, Reich finally urges, but his ethereal book says nothing about the current disarray on the multicultural left or the international trend away from statist government. (Oct.)