Give Me Liberty: Freeing Ourselves in the Twenty-First Century [Paperback]

Gerry Spence (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 15, 1999

Here, in this landmark personal work, Gerry demonstrates how, despite the democratic rhetoric we hear and believe, we have become enslaved. All of us are trapped by a complex web of corporate and governmental behemoths he calls the "New Slave Master" That today controls our airways, educates our children, and manages every facet of our lives.

Yet, far from being a pronouncement of gloom, Give Me Liberty! is an inspiring and visionary work. In the spirit of his bestselling How to Argue and Win Every Time, Spence expounds on his philosophy, thus empowering us to:

Liberate the slave within, redefine success, unchain the spirit, escape the religions of work and beliefs that enslave us, free ourselves with what he calls our "magical weapon."

Like Thomas Paine's Common Sense, Give Me Liberty! captures the underlying malaise of a country, transforming it into a national dialogue that promises a groundswell for a meaningful democracy in America in the coming years.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

"We are slaves. All of us," writes Wyoming superlawyer Gerry Spence with his trademark exuberance. "The New Master is an entanglement of megacorporations on the one hand and an omnipresent national government on the other, each stuck to the other like a pair of copulating dogs, each unable to move without dragging the other behind it, each dependent upon the other, hating the other, but welded to the other in a dissolute enterprise."

This decidedly offbeat manifesto will make Spence--who comes across as a left-leaning Ross Perot on steroids--friends and enemies at every point along the political spectrum. Among his tamer suggestions are a call to criminalize campaign contributions, forced voting for all citizens, and the drafting of judges for temporary assignment from a pool of trial lawyers. In case these ideas don't go far enough, Spence also wants to rewrite the U.S. Constitution. Liberal populists will cheer Give Me Liberty! for its unremitting audacity; conservatives will chafe at Spence's fundamental radicalism. --John J. Miller --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

Lawyer, writer and television pundit Spence starts his scathing critique of American society with Goethe's famous statement, "No one is as hopelessly enslaved as the person who thinks he is free." This is a wide-ranging polemic but at its heart it reflects Spence's claim that Americans of all walks of life have been enslaved by the New Master, "the sum total of an amoral coupling between government and business." Anticipating criticism, Spence (How to Argue and Win Every Time) suggests that while the lives of African American slaves were obviously worse than those of what he deems contemporary corporate slaves, "a comparison is in order." Despite the tactlessness of this approach, Spence does offer a refreshing condemnation of Americans' obsession with work and the accruing of wealth. Many other of his subjects, however, have been covered often and are simply given a fresh gloss through Spence's slave metaphor. His "Twenty Childish Questions," for example, range from why America cannot educate its young to why imprisonment rates have risen exponentially. Spence never hesitates to depart from the highway of his argument for an interesting side road; while the force of his homespun rhetoric makes for an entertaining read, these deviations detract from the book's focus. The ability to raise important social questions and attack rampant complacency while simultaneously recalling Ruby Ridge and Waco reveal Spence as an unlikely cross between a progressive lawyer and a Western populist.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin; 1st edition (October 15, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312245637
• ISBN-13: 978-0312245634
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #902,097 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Gerry Spence has been a trial attorney for more than five decades and proudly represents "the little people." He has fought and won for the family of Karen Silkwood, defended Randy Weaver at Ruby Ridge, and represented hundreds of others in some of the most notable trials of our time. He is the founder of Trial Lawyer's College, a nonprofit school where, pro bono, he teaches attorneys for the people how to present their cases and win against powerful corporate and government interests. He is the author of fifteen books, including The New York Times bestseller How to Argue and Win Every Time, From Freedom to Slavery, Give Me Liberty, and The Making of a Country Lawyer, and is a nationally known television commentator on the famous trials of our time. He lives in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good Brain Food for those worried about current trends., November 4, 2002

By 

Erich Dieter Groebe (Springfield, Missouri United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Give Me Liberty: Freeing Ourselves in the Twenty-First Century (Paperback)

I have read several of Gerry Spence's books, some of which I loved and some of which bored me to sleep at night. This one is definately a must buy!
I am a 39 year old US Citizen who returned to the USA just 2 years ago after living from age 18-26 in Soviet Occupied East Germany and age 29-35 in "Reunified" Germany with the in between years spent in Hungary, South Africa and The United Arab Emirates. Upon my return to this country I was floored by just how similar the US has become to many of those countries whose governments I viewed as "police states".
In this book, Gerry Spence responds to many of my concerns, points out many recent dangerous precedents and sounds the alarm that our freedoms and Rights really are in jeopardy! For the first time since my return to the USA I realize that my observations are in fact valid and that there are others out there who are well travelled, educated and/or observant enough to see what is really going on.
Gerry likes to be a poet and he likes to spin fine webs of utopian bliss but he is also a very observant and astute critic of American ideals and images VS the reality behind them. Give the book a read! What else can you get for $2.00 that might just change your perception of life in the USA?

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Spence begins what should be a serious debate., November 5, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Give Me Liberty: Freeing Ourselves in the Twenty-First Century (Hardcover)

No one says Gerry Spence is a great writer; his prose is overblown, more suited to the novelists' courtroom than a serious book, but his ideas will surely upset the status quo. Good. His statements that American workers who have less control over their own lives than ever before have become slaves to the--whatever, be it culture, government, corporation or all of the above is one that many Americans will agree with if they are brave enough to admit it. He advocates taking back that control we should have in a democracy through several methods--the first of which is to live simply so that the corporation/government handouts are less necessary for your livelihood, and the second is to seriously look at the way big money and government control everything in this country. We have a duty to overthrow a corrupt and onerous gov't according to the constitution, says Spence and he lays out his ideas about how to go about that. I particularly like his idea of a voting lottery (with a stick and a carrot to spur voters to take responsibility for themselves and their government.) Bravo to Spence for writing something that steps beyond what today's political leaders put forward as radical changes yet have the end result of maintaining the status quo. He really thinks we can CHANGE things and be powerful and independent again.

21 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Man Who Loves His Country, October 29, 1998

By 

taking a rest - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Give Me Liberty: Freeing Ourselves in the Twenty-First Century (Hardcover)

To prepare for this book I recommend reading, "ClosedChambers", by Edward Lazarus. It is not a light romp, theinformation is too disturbing, as he reveals for us the 9 Wizards Of Oz that literally enter the courtroom of "our" highest court from behind a curtain. "Give Me Liberty!" is understandable, not because it's structure or ideas are simplistic, rather because a Master Storyteller by the name of Mr. Gerry Spence has amongst his gifts the ability to pull back the curtain and show all of us the basic concepts that we think we live under. Mr. Spence loves this Country, and I believe he is driven by a deep sadness to write this book because he knows what this Country can be, what it should be. But all he can do is write a book, subject himself to critics who, not satisfied with attacking his ideas, attack him. I love this book, probably more than all his other works. He shares with us how we have gotten to where we are, and for the moment, in my opinion, let's put it aside for a bit, and read, contemplate and dream with Mr. Spence. I want to be part of his vision, do you? EARN WHAT IS YOURS! END