Customer Reviews

Restoring the American Dream

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I read this book when it was first written, and found it to be an excellent introduction to libertarian principles, one that gets across the important principles in a non-academic way. It's an easy read, while being quite convincing.

Robert Ringer points out a lot of problems in the financial state of the government. Many of the fiscal ideas he has are sound and common sense. He accurately calls the American political parties the "Demopublicans." (I like the term "Republicrat") His views are definitely Libertarian.

Here's the reason I couldn't give the book 5 stars: He states that he believes that when people know the true, right way to things, they will DO IT RIGHT. Although I am not cynical about humanity in general, I still don't share this positive view. I believe that there are people out there who jolly well know the right thing to do and they deliberately choose NOT to do it. In fact, anybody who has ever raised children and/or taught in a classroom in a public school knows that.

However, if enough people begin doing the right thing, it will make a difference in society. So -- read the book and make what you feel are the right choices.

This book finally convinced me to become a libertarian, or, more appropriately, made me realise I already am one. The basic premise is that nothing is more precious than individual rights. Freedom is more important than equality (the two ideals are actually antithetical and incompatible), more important than the "social safety net," even more important than "love of country." I urge anyone who feels our freedoms are being taken away from us to read this book ASAP. It's very much a rallying cry to return to limited government and individual liberty.

Being a diehard conservative before reading this book, I am now convinced that despite present efforts by the Republican party to lower taxes (ESPECIALLY for the "wealthy one-percent of America" - yes, thats a good thing) and to hand over the welfare function of government to charities (please see Marvin Olasky's "Compassionate Conservatism") that enough is not being done fast enough, as too many citizens continue to slip into the trap of 'government stealing for all' being a good thing. Even though Gingrich and the '94 Congress "reformed" welfare, we are now seeing a move toward socialized "healthcare" and other misnomers of our welfare state. If you liked Gingrich's "To Renew America," you will love "Restoring the American Dream". I am 17 and will be able to vote soon, I am now considering registering as a libertarian instead.

This is a good introduction to Libertarianism. In fact, I first read it when I was 18, just before I was to register to vote. And because of it, I registered as a Libertarian. I'm still a Libertartian. But I wouldn't register as a Libertarian if I were to register again. I'm in my 30's now, and my faith in humanity in the years in-between has diminished considerably. You really have to have faith in humanity to think that giving people free, laissez-faire, reign is a good idea. A lot of freedom is the way to go, absolutely. But there has to be some control. Anyway, whatever your political stance, RESTORING THE AMERICAN DREAM is worthwhile reading.

This book is on one level a superb popular-level book on libertarianism. It covers everything from monetary policy to the role of expediency in government. However, overall I don't think that this is the best introduction to libertarianism out there, as this book contains numerous significant issues, such as a lack of philosophical rigor, several serious omissions, and obvious logical errors. For example:
- The pervading moral relativism in the book flatly contradicts his emphasis on Natural Law. Just by way of example, at one point the author literally insists that it's immoral to impose your personal morality on someone else. (I almost choked when I read that; this is special pleading at best and outright self-contradiction at worst).
- His Natural Law theory is, in general, not especially well supported in the book. At one point, for example, he insists that we can't base our civil laws on God's law because there are too many competing interpretations of it; without commenting on whether or not we should base civil laws on Biblical law, following the author's logic, how many competing interpretations of Natural Law Theory are there? So how can he be justified in basing his conclusions on natural law?
- He largely ignores the area of foreign policy. Yes, I do realize he does this deliberately because it's such a large topic, but blowback from U.S. foreign policy is the elephant in the room (not to mention the enormous human and economic cost of war) that no one wants to talk about. This topic is far too important to ignore, especially in an introduction to libertarianism.
- His discussion of the anarchist/minarchist debate is a bit of a cop-out. The closest he gets to addressing that is basically "let's get rid of the things we agree should be abolished and then decide what to do with the rest." For example, he does insist that taxation is theft and explains how to get rid of most of it but never really explains how to get rid of all of it.

In many ways, I preferred Murray Rothbard's "For a New Liberty" as more thorough, logical, and consistent. This book is a good starting point if you've never considered libertarianism before or if you haven't done much reading on the topic; otherwise you may be somewhat disappointed. You might also consider Ron Paul's "The Revolution: A Manifesto" as a good starting point.

WHAT YOU DON'T KNOW ABOUT POLITICS IS PRESENTED HERE.

A MUST READ FOR ALL AMERICANS, YOUNG AND OLD.

I first read this thirty years ago, before I knew what the word "libertarian" meant. Reading it now is almost terrifying, considering that what Ringer wrote so long ago is becoming more and more the hideous reality of our world. If average Americans could understand the message of this book and embrace its principles, perhaps our country might actually have a possiblility of not going the way of the Roman Empire.

Outstanding!! More relevant today than in the '70's. A very easy read on what's really going on with Goverment, and its relationship with "we the people"
Take the time to read it. You wont regret a minute of it!

I just found a signed copy of this book in my dad's house. Surprised that it was written so long ago. With the passage of the Patriot Act, the author's words seems timeless...

"I have written this book because I believe ... that we are moving ever more rapidly in the direction of other liberty-starved nations around the globe. I am concerned that our government like all government throughout history, is winning its long-standing tender offer to it citizens: 'security' in exchange for freedom. The people of this country must come to understand that the 'free lunch' is a myth. The American Dream was not about government's taking huge sum of money (under the label of 'taxation') from citizens by force. The American Dream was about individualism and the opportunity to achieve success without interference from other. It is my sincere hope that this book will motivate you to join with me in helping to restore the American Dream.
My hand in yours,
Robert J. Ringer"