Indispensable Enemies: The Politics of Misrule in America [Paperback]

Walter Karp (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 2010

Indispensable Enemies sheds light on political power in America. The reason we no longer understand why things happen as they do has one, and only one, source. We no longer understand who really has power in America. This book is an attempt to show as clearly as possible where power lies in twentieth-century America.

Product Details

• Paperback: 327 pages
• Publisher: Franklin Square Press; 1st edition (January 1, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1879957132
• ISBN-13: 978-1879957138
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #92,063 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The only great book I know about modern American politics, January 24, 2000

By 

Chris Peters - See all my reviews

This review is from: Indispensable Enemies: The Politics of Misrule in America (Paperback)

For me, the major impression left by this book was it's massive originality. Every page was the equivalent of opening your lunchbox in expectation of the usual bologna sandwich, and finding instead a skyscraper, the Hope diamond, or Elvis' twitching torso. Karp looks at the theories of American politics and attempts to overturn every accepted explanation, always suggesting complex, subtle and powerful alternatives. Whether he succeeds or not you can judge for yourself, but he somehow manages to be always unique on ground previously trodden by so many feet. Yet, he isn't merely a contrarian. His intricate theory retains remarkable consistensy throughout this book and his other three books on politics.

The previous reviewer sums up one of the books main ideas very well. Another argument of the book is that power in America is almost totally monopolized by the two parties -- contrary to most opinion today which seeks to blame anyone and everyone for our problems except the most obvious suspects, the politicians who pass laws and frustrate reform. Since so many pundits blame either the "liberal media elite" or monopolistic corporations for our woes, Karp details the ways in which both groups are under the complete domination of the two parties (his analysis of the media is part of a separate book _Buried Alive_). As Karp points out, the idea isn't new. Madison, Jefferson, Washington, et. al. shouted until they were hoarse about the necessity of zealously watching politicians and rulers. They had little if any concern about journalists, manufacturers and bankers, except insofar as they might become willing tools for would-be despots and oligarchs. But no one except Karp has thoroughly explored the implications of this founding belief in the modern political context.

23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best political science book you'll ever read, July 11, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Indispensable Enemies: The Politics of Misrule in America (Paperback)

I learned more from this book then I did in all the classes I was required to obtain my political science degree. The main premise of the book is that the Republican and Democratic party leaders collude to keep power, often by not contesting elections that could easily be won with any money or effort expended. A quick example from today,25 years after the book was published: in my home state of Florida, half the congressional seats this year will not even be contested (several other "contests" simply have write-in candidates with zero chance of winning). Yet, the public perception is that the parties fight like dogs to win elections at all possible costs. Karp sees what pundits today can't: the goal of party leaders is to maintain control of their organizations,not to win elections. One quote from former Democratic speaker Sam Rayburn demonstrates this principle;when faced with a coming landslide for his party and a gain of many seats for his party,he ruefully says :"I'd just as soon not have that many Democrats, they'll be difficult to control." This is the shocking but real story of how politics in America really works.

28 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Down With Despotism, July 17, 2002

By 

Karen A. Decoster (Detroit, MI) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Indispensable Enemies: The Politics of Misrule in America (Paperback)

Karp not only pulls back the curtain on the evils of partisan politics, but goes on to propose a Jeffersonian style of self-government. Some of my favorite analysis from this book includes the following:

* Party oligarchs and their Cold War statism highlights his "principle of waste."

* A State inherently tends toward collusion and monopoly-granting, and therefore expansion, and this necessarily leads to war.

* Special privilege is in direct odds with liberty and self-rule, and only serves to further entrench a ruling political elite. And this he says, is a result of the "Hamiltonian tradition."

* Political ideology necessarily takes the form of the ruling bureaucracy.

*Decentralization [and hence, secession] is the key to breaking the back of the Hamiltonian system.

Karp, a revisionist historian, takes on such sacred cows as FDR, Wilson, Johnson, McKinley, Hamilton, and trade unions (gasp!). It's one of the best books ever on raw political machinations.