Deceit And Denial: The Deadly Politics Of Industrial Pollution (California/Milbank Books On Health And The Public) Download Free (EPUB, PDF)
Deceit and Denial details the attempts by the chemical and lead industries to deceive Americans about the dangers that their deadly products present to workers, the public, and consumers. Gerald Markowitz and David Rosner pursued evidence steadily and relentlessly, interviewed the important players, investigated untapped sources, and uncovered a bruising story of cynical and cruel disregard for health and human rights. This resulting exposé is full of startling revelations, provocative arguments, and disturbing conclusions--all based on remarkable research and information gleaned from secret industry documents.This book reveals for the first time the public relations campaign that the lead industry undertook to convince Americans to use its deadly product to paint walls, toys, furniture, and other objects in America's homes, despite a wealth of information that children were at risk for serious brain damage and death from ingesting this poison. This book highlights the immediate dangers ordinary citizens face because of the relentless failure of industrial polluters to warn, inform, and protect their workers and neighbors. It offers a historical analysis of how corporate control over scientific research has undermined the process of proving the links between toxic chemicals and disease. The authors also describe the wisdom, courage, and determination of workers and community members who continue to voice their concerns in spite of vicious opposition. Readable, pathbreaking, and revelatory, Deceit and Denial provides crucial answers to questions of dangerous environmental degradation, escalating corporate greed, and governmental disregard for its citizens' safety and health.
Series: California/Milbank Books on Health and the Public (Book 6)
Paperback: 428 pages
Publisher: University of California Press; First Edition, First Printing edition (September 15, 2003)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0520240634
ISBN-13: 978-0520240636
Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.2 x 1.1 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
Best Sellers Rank: #338,646 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #98 in Books > Business & Money > Industries > Manufacturing #106 in Books > Business & Money > Industries > Industrial Relations #110 in Books > Textbooks > Medicine & Health Sciences > Administration & Policy > Health Policy
I really enjoyed -- if that is a word you can use when describing the satanic greed of corporations -- this work. The two authors present an exhausting history behind the lead and vinyl chloride industries and their penchant for trying to buy science and keep the public and government misinformed, decade after decade, about the toxicity of their products.One aspect of the ongoing struggle with corporate giants that the authors point out is that these industries often enjoy immense tax relief, especially in states like Louisiana, as the following excerpt indicates:". . . "For example, IMC-Agrico, which received $15 million in property tax relief between 1988 and 1997, was a major polluter in Louisiana, releasing 12.8 million pounds of toxic chemicals in the manufacturer of fertilizers and other chemical products; Rubicon, Inc., a chemical company in Geismar, released 8.4 million pounds of chemicals and was exempted from $9 million in property taxes; Monsanto released 7.7 million pounds of toxic chemicals, but Lousiana 'excused Monsanto from payment of $45 million in property taxes over the past decade.'" [page 275]One can easily see the inversion of the idea of corporate responsiblity in the above excerpt. Rather than government(s) charging more to companies that spew their toxins everywhere, they charge less! It is as if the national policy could thus be expressed as "Help and show compassion to those who hate you and lie to you, and whose chemical waste products may kill you. This is the established and true way!"Yet, as the book points out, so called "libertarian" organizations like the Cato Institute usually argue on the side of the corporations. This holds true not only in terms of human rights in general, but also in simple economics. It is the corporations who violate most egregiously the principle of a flat, equitable, and level tax (or equitable anything). I've also seen this penchant for defending corporations repeatedly in the Reason Foundation's writings. This is depressing for me, as I not only favor a libertarian philosophy, but for years voted libertarian and was a member of both the state and national parties. One is suckered into the libertarian culture by the rationality and commonsense against such atrocious policies as the drug war, and then one is confronted with the opposite of intelligence in other matters, much as democrats have suckered folks into the idea that they don't aid foreign despots (they do!), or that Republicans are for limited government (ha!).(Fortunately, I voted for Ralph Nader in the last election).But regardless of ones politcal sympathies and/or affiliation, this book is a masterpiece, and should be consumed by we "consumers" like the way marathon runners guzzle liquids to prevent dehydration. Enjoy!
Deceit and Denial is an exceptionally well researched book that lays bare the astounding extent of American corporate and political malfeasance with regard to industrial pollution in the 20th century, specifically focusing on the lead, chemical, and plastics industries. The authors' use of hitherto unseen primary source documents from corporate archives to make their case adds tremendous weight to the argument that industrial pollution damages not only people's physical health and the environment in which they live but that it also undermines our country's social and democratic institutions.Deceit and Denial eloquently and thoroughly expounds on the proposition that corporate self-regulation is dangerous and that "when it comes to public health, the society has a right to insist that the community's interests come before the shareholders' profits." The reader is also reminded of a notion that has fallen by the wayside in post-9/11 America: it is "absolutely essential to have as much openness and free access to information as possible."These ideas may not be new but you would be mistaken in thinking that this book is the product of a radical left-wing or environmentalist agenda. This is scholarly research of the first order. Deceit and Denial succeeds in being not only a damning indictment of past corporate machinations and political complicity but a lucid exposition of the critical issues that industry and our nation currently face in the 21st century.
we must not forget what Industry has done to human kind. we must be aware of the past to prepare for current & future. great insight into shenanigans behind the scenes of big time petro chemical industries and they're avoidance of injury & death for profit. It took 100 years for the poisons of Lead to finally be admitted by those in the industry, Ghastly! we must be made aware.
This is an extraordinary book. Unlike other books that address the corruption of industry, this book has the documents and information that you really need. Few stories of environmental duplicity ever provide this kind of detail and data.But most importantly, it reads like a detective story, which, in fact, it is! Bill Moyers is absolutely correct in his cover blurb! What a joy to read.
Book was exactly as expected and more. The people really need to know how the things we induldge ourselves in are the things making us environmentally ill in many cases. But then again how many will believe it?
This is an extraordinary book. Unlike other books that address the corruption of industry, this book has the documents and information that you really need. Few stories of environmental duplicity ever provide this kind of detail and data.But most importantly, it read like a detective story, which, in fact, it is! Bill Moyers is absolutely correct in his cover blurb! What a joy to read.
I read this book about 2 years ago after my manager gave it to me. It is an excellent, non-sensationalized, review of historical actions of large corporations which compromised the public health of our citizens. It is well supported by cited references. A must read for occupational health professionals who are working to protect employees against little known hazards.
This book is absolutely rage-inspiring, if a little dry.
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