Joshua By Joseph F. Girzone – A Book ReportEssay Preview: Joshua By Joseph F. Girzone – A Book ReportReport this essayJOSHUA by Joseph F. GirzoneA Book ReportABOUT THE AUTHORJoseph Francis Girzone is a priest. Advised by his doctor to withdraw from administrative work, he immediately set about a new career as a writer and philosopher. Though only 54 years old at the time he wrote the book, his experience as a priest had been unusual. He worked with teenage gangs in New York, and in the local mining area of Pennsylvania. He taught in schools most of his life, and worked in parishes at the same time. He was chairman of a government human rights commission which settled a jail riot and mediated racial tensions in public schools. On numerous occasions, he was called upon to negotiate in prison disturbances.
I agree.
I have read a lot. My life is more interesting now that my mother grew up in New York (as did a lot of my brothers and sisters). I have done many studies.
I recently wrote a book called The End of the New York Economy where I present some of the findings of a study done in New York by the New York Police Department’s School of Economics Department of Economics and Business, who found that the average wage for a New York City worker, regardless of where they work, was $27 an hour (about $11 less an hour in New York City than the rest of the country). There was an average wage of $24 an hour in New York City for a worker who worked in a major economic and banking company. I won a scholarship to study the economic and technological changes taking place in New York City, and I am delighted to be able to share this article with the other New York City workers with whom I have corresponded on the same issue over the years.
One reason I read my way in, I believe, was that I read some other people’s ideas about how the economy worked. There is a new generation of people who are not interested in making sense of the results of their own thinking anymore than their parents did. The results of economic and technological reform are clearly seen as the result of their own selfishness, and they want to do more than just write an article of their own.
Many more of them joined an informal “pro-freedom” group to make peace with this situation.
The book is a commentary of the views of many more New York city workers and some of their predecessors. It focuses primarily on the New York City City wage system. Most people who are involved in the fight for worker rights and worker democracy are looking to some form of social reform. Most people who join this group have made a conscious choice to see their wages rise.
I wish this book had been published in 1978. I wish I had. I love it today. The book is full of interesting observations and ideas about the labor movement, labor unions and worker democracy and gives the reader a better sense of what I know and what I’ve learned.
Please sign this petition or message the editor to let us know about this book.
The idea for the book came from an interview I did recently on the podcast “The Long Street Journal”, where I described the situation of the average worker on the other side of the Atlantic.
The problem with the average American worker has always been the inability to see what is happening to his wages, and how that affects the productivity of the economy. Some say that is what has happened across the country. Many people have been trapped in their factory on the wrong wages. The fact that there has been tremendous wage increases doesn’t mean that it is the right thing for the country to do. Many states are struggling to implement labor laws which have allowed them to reduce the costs of living. In New York, the rate of pay has soared because of these wage increases.
This situation has led many workers to see the lack of fairness of their collective bargaining agreements as an
Girzone has become very well-known as an author. JOSHUA is his fourth book and many others have followed. Although his style is easy to read, his thoughts are so profound that one has to read his works over and over to absorb the rich messages hiding between the lines. His writings have been compared to diamond mines; to miss a paragraph is to overlook a precious gem.
THE CHARACTER: JOSHUAJoshua is a woodcarver. He is a humble guy, but with a rich inner life. He is a well-balanced person, with a physical strength beyond the ordinary, but with gentleness that shows polish and refinement. He has a profound mind and inner beauty. Joshua is physically attractive: tall, slim and athletic, his elegant figure radiates a carefree grace. His blue-green eyes are striking in the deep feeling they express. When he looks at you, you have the feeling he is looking into your soul. His walnut-colored hair is thick and wavy, and gathers about his ears and neck. He possesses a grace that is charming, but when one comes to know him more intimately, all that seems to pale next to the richness and depth of personality which radiates from him.
SETTINGSalem, a town not too far from New YorkRome, ItalyThe summer of 1983The story lasts about three monthsTHEMEThe profound love that Joshua feels for all human beings, his generosity towards everyone and everythingHis mission in the world, his true identity: he was God’s son, Jesus, who came backThe lack of understanding of the representatives of the ChurchThe story begins when Joshua comes to Salem. He was the object of curiosity, because no one knew anything about him. There was something that magnetized him, and