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America Besieged

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what many already know or suspect about corporate capitalist control of our economy and therefore, to a great extent, our lives. I think it was George Orwell who once said: "The greatest threat to Democracy is the notion that we have already achieved it." This book (as well as Parenti's others) should blow away once and for all that false idea that we live under a system of government "of, by, and for the people". That quote should be amended to read: "of, by, and for the rich." American's suffer from mass delusions and illusions about capitalism and Marxism due to decades of indoctrination and propaganda, I think mainly through TV commercials that portray corporations as "friendly" entities "serving the public". And then there are the politicians, the executive committee of the ruling class. To my further dismay, Parenti and others like him, are often "preaching to the choir"; that the people who most need to hear him, the one's who rarely, if ever, question the conventional (corporate media) "wisdom", will not come in touch with this book. But it's one that deserves to be a national bestseller. Unfortunately, because it talks openly of the class system and class rule in America, it will not. Parenti says it all in a very compelling down-to-earth style.

A reader can learn more about how the system works from this one book than from a standard four-year course in political science at a respectable university. I know I did. Not that my eyes were opened by Parenti's insights, good as they are. Most have been around for some time. What the author has done instead is present them in highly readable and accessible style that both illuminates and persuades. There is more floodlight wattage in Parenti's single bulb, than in the paid-for dimness of the professional journals of American political scientists combined.

From its DNA imperative to produce profits or die, to its spread through politics and culture, we see how capitalism as an organizing principle systematically dehumanizes people and devastates the land, while rule by its moneyed elite crouches behind a thin veil of democacy. This is not fantasy, folks. It's reality, and the next time you get ripped-off on the job, see an election rigged, or watch pristine countryside get eaten up, think about it. We don't have to act this way toward other people, other creatures, or ourselves. The commies may not have had the best solution, but like it or not, they understood the problem. As Parenti shows, that problem is now metastizing across the globe under a variety of ugly acronyms, GATT, IMF, NATO, and a host of other anti-democratic covers. If people can devise better tools, we can devise better ways of living together. Apathy is not an option.

Great book!

Michael Parenti did it, a great well-organized book which step-by-step examines everything revolving around our life, from the media to the economy, to the politics, and relates it to how all these three strangleholds on society are manipulated and/or owned by capital and corporations. Parenti also confronts capitalism as an "system without a soul or humanity" which reduces every human activity to market profitablity. This book really does go to the core of America and emphasizes that democracy has not been achieved, that democracy is only for the rich and the owning class, from the two-party system where both parties are pro-corporation, which supresses left wing ideology by various ways in history, as well as tactics still being practiced today. Overall, this book is a summary of all the problems that are happening in the US that most of the rich do not know or want to admit are happening. I recomend this book as a vivid overview of the supressed problems in todays society to any open minded reader.

Every American who is not independently wealthy should read this book. Michael Parenti makes sense out of why the "American Dream" is evaporating for so many of us; what GATT and NAFTA really mean to the average American; in what ways, and why, politicians are so out of touch with the American people; and what we can do about the growing income disparity.

Michael Parenti's America Besieged is a wonderful book. It is a political science type book that tells what's really going on in America. Parenti focuses on America and what is really going on behind closed doors. He reminds us of how democracy really works in the USA. This book is organized in five parts. It doesn't go easy to hard stuff, but from how politics work to how things are really run. Parenti dives into how well we are protected from certain problems that might occur at certain times. He also tells about those things, that we really aren't supposed to know about. Raids on certain protect organizations in the US in the 1960s and 1970s, and the reasons for the raids. Parenti also gives examples of how certain ethnic groups in Europe, and in the Middle East aren't allowed into America because of political ideology. How certain security agencies in the US have files on numerous people who don't believe in American beliefs.

Parenti looks at all branches of government, and what they really do for Americans. He tells the real job of the President, and how the economy really runs. Parenti goes on to remind us that the rich are the ones that are in a Democracy, not the lower class Americans. He ties this in with the media and how they shift things to make a certain group look better, instead of telling it without bias. How they always do this no matter what the cause or problem is. Overall, this book is wonderful. I think anyone that really wants to know about America's secrets should read this. The insight that Michael Parenti gives is immeasurable.

Michael Parenti poses the right question: cui bono?
In the US for the wealthy few, not the many. The many are besieged in their own country by the few.
The few control the democratic process via a political duopoly and a near media monopoly. This monopoly brings another one in mainstream media ideology.
Michael Parenti is deadly right: democracy is based on distrust, not on yes-men who preach the same gospel.
The many are also besieged through the US budget, where a very big chunk goes to massive defence spending with juicy contracts and fat margins.

This book contains for me some extremely surprising facts. So is the First Amendment protection not valid for private-sector employees. They can be fired for their political views. Also, foreigners can be denied a visit to the US for ideological reasons.
On another level: Bill Clinton, like Jimmy Carter, is a member of the Bilderberg group.

I have nevertheless reservations for some extreme viewpoints of the author.
I agree with him that the market is not free, but more or less rigged by oligopolies. But I don't agree with him on his totally anti-market stance. Only, the oligopolies should be broken.
I am equally not against transnational companies. On the contrary, I agree with Susan Strange that these companies are one of the major sources of higher living standards in the world, through their delocations, investments and technology transfers. I agree that this is (was) in their own interest, but the effect is the same (Adam Smith revisited).
I am also not against GATT. It should be changed from within. We need more open markets for all countries and all players.

As other writers (Domhoff, Vidal) stated: it will be very difficult to change the actual situation. Therefore we need Michael Parenti's voice for more democracy.

This book deals with essential problems and has the same high standard as the vitriolic books of Gore Vidal. Not to be missed.

In a timely analysis and polemic, Michael Parenti in 206 pages discusses who owns America and pretty much the lives of its citizens. Written before the United States Supreme Court handed G.W. Bush the U.S. presidency, Parenti's book makes this process more understandable -- and in retrospect, seemingly "natural." If there were ever some doubt that democracy has become one dollar one vote then that should have dispelled it!

U.S President Franklin Delano Roosevelt defined in 1939 (after Benito Mussolini and his Black Shirts took over Italy while Adolf Hitler and his Brown Shirts took over Germany) that, "Fascism is what happens when corporations own the state." That's a quote! While Parenti's book stops short of making that charge, perhaps it approaches Roosevelt's observations.

Excellent accompaniments for reading AMERICA BESIEGED are Robert McChesney's, "Rich Media, Poor Democracy : Communication Politics in Dubious Times (The History of Communication)," and Nancy Snow's, "Propaganda, Inc.: Selling America's Culture to the World," the Foreword for which was written by Michael Parenti. That's the full dose for mourning America's languishing democracy. However, there is still an idealistic democratic spirit alive in America which can be witnessed in director Shaya Mercer's award-winning documentary film, "Trade Off;" ... The issues raised by Parenti were peacefully but vigorously aired during December 1999 in Seattle by the 50,000 American citizens demanding to get their democracy back; who were promptly marginalized by the very same corporate media discussed in AMERICA BESIEGED .

To get the full picture both figuratively and literally you'll have to read Parenti's AMERICA BESIEGED as a primer, and also the other two books and VHS mentioned above. The good news is, Snow's pamphlet (actually) is an easy to read 80 pages and costs only a few €'s or £'s at Amazon.co.uk. But then you'll have to read (or re-read) Thomas Jefferson's instructions in the Declaration of Independence and in the letters to his friend James Madison [collected in "Thomas Jefferson : Writings: Autobiography / Notes on the State of Virginia / Public and Private Papers / Addresses / Letters" --- avalable here ] for discovering what Yank citizens can and must do about it. However, for beginning to understand what's going on "over there" now, one simply must read Parenti's, AMERICA BESIEGED.

Dr. Parenti makes a clear explanation in his book of how the U.S. government has been misleading its own citizens for years. From all aspects of public life, Parenti shows that the U.S. government uses excusses and scapegoats for all her problems and sideeffects of our capitalistic mentality. The book is very enjoyable and reads quickly, it should be read by everyone who can read and has a couple of hours to spare!

I would personally not recommend this book. Mr. Parenti seems to have combined a dozen book summaries into this one book. Topics run wild and the short arguments are not backed up by anything but blatantly obvious manipulations of statistics. Mr. Parenti seems to be displeased with everyone and everything that has to do with America. As a leftist, he gives us a bad name by putting down EVERYTHING the right does and praising (as one does to God) the left. His arguments are not fair criticisms nor are they very convincing. The topics give a tremendous opportunity for some great discussion but unfortunately it was missed