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41 of 43 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
GREAT IDEAS AND EYE OPENING FACTS, October 6, 2002
This review is from: Showdown: Confronting Bias, Lies, and the Special Interests that Divide America (Hardcover)
Larry Elder is a libertarian, and powerfully documents his thesis that the country and its citizens would be better off if we returned to the type of limited government and personal responsibilty envisioned by the founders of our country as outlined in the Constitution. As he states, "Americans are good enough, smart enough, competent enough, and forward-thinking enough to control their own lives with little government interference". He provides extensive examples of how most government programs limit our freedoms, reduce our wealth, and usually are counterproductive due to their unintended consequences. No topic is off limits to the author, the host of a top rated LA radio talk show who overcame an attempt by pressure groups opposed to his views to organize an advertiser boycott and drive him off the air. After all, a Hollywood celebrity who is a libertarian is threatening enough to the ""toe tag liberals" and victicrats; when he is black it is imperative that he be discredited or silenced since he is viewed as a "traitor to his race" in Larry's words. The book strongly makes the case that the terrorist attacks of 9/11 should cause us to focus our efforts on the country's self defense and should have made us aware of how the involvement of the federal government in areas that are Constitutionally defined as the responsibilty of individual citizens or local officials has led to the diversion of both personnel and financial resources away from its primary duty of the protection of its citizens. Among the issues that the book discusses are the problems of our educational system, race relations and environmental policy. It illustrates how media bias interacts with the desire of both major political parties to retain their power and thus creates the pressure for an ever expanding role for the federal government.It shows how the threat of terrorist action is likely to accelerate these tendencies. His historical analysis is quite interesting and he takes no prisoners, Republican or Democrat. I tremendously enjoyed the book, and even though I am politically active and very interested in public policy the book includes many fascinating facts and quotations of which I was not aware. (All of which are meticulously footnoted.) I did not rate it five stars because I thought that at times it jumped around rather than concentrate on facts and arguments furthering his main point.While these were interesting and often outrageous, they actually diverted the reader's attention. Several of the chapters should have been more focused; in this regard his previous book THE TEN THINGS THAT YOU CAN'T SAY IN AMERICA was much better at making his points. At times SHOWDOWN almost seemed more like the transcript of an excellent radio talk show than a book. Also, while I share the author's beliefs in the need for limited government, a return to Constitutional principles, the counterproductive nature of such programs as the war on drugs, and the innate goodness and ability of the American people to solve their own problems and manage their lives, I think his call to President Bush and the other politicians currently in power to voluntarily reverse the course started upon by FDR is naive. We probably need structural reforms enacted to accomplish his goals and he does not touch on these and the real showdown that would accompany their implementation.
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38 of 40 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
THE WRONG PEOPLE ARE READING THIS BOOK, October 29, 2002
This review is from: Showdown: Confronting Bias, Lies, and the Special Interests that Divide America (Hardcover)
Everyone who respects Larry Elder and has similar views will enjoy this book because it exposes the myths of the liberal agenda while reinforcing conservative values and beliefs. Unfortunately the people who need to read this book the most...namely liberals, leftists and what Larry refers to as "victocrats" will not read it, because it undermines and disproves their fundamental beliefs.
Give this book to your liberal friends and watch their jaws drop when they read it. If you can't convince them by yourself, let Larry help you. I've added Larry's book to my liberal conversion kit which consists of books by Shelby Steele, Walter Williams, Thomas Sowell and Dinesh D'Sousa.
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20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Larry Elder's Solutions to the Problems Facing America, July 19, 2005
Larry Elder hosts a popular radio talk show in the Los Angeles, California area and he is known for his outspoken yet respectable commentary on the social and political issues of the day. Elder caused quite a stir a few years back when he published a book titled "The Ten Things You Can't Say in America". In that book, he spoke plainly and directly about many controversial subjects such as racism, family, media bias, the welfare state, and gun control. In "Showdown", he basically talks about the same topics with some more facts and additional commentary on each.
Elder feels that much is wrong with the political and social state we live in. He proposes several steps to remedy the negative situations and they all involve a return to personal freedom and the personal responsibility that goes with it. Elder feels we should rollback the welfare state and return to a nation where people are self- sufficient. He feels we should reject those individuals like Jesse Jackson who extort money from corporations using exaggerated and/or false claims of racism. He feels that a traditional two- parent family is important to the well- being of children. To sum it up, Elder takes a Libertarian stand on political and social issues and if you think in terms of liberty and personal responsibility, you should have no problem figuring out his positions on important issues without even opening this book.
Much of this same material was covered in Elder's last book. But there is one thing that makes this book a little different and Elder mentions it throughout: The attacks of September 11, 2001. Elder feels that fighting terrorists is paramount to our survival as a nation and he feels we should fight with all our power to defeat those who commit these heinous acts. He doesn't specifically say what should be done; how to pay for it; or how to reconcile this "war" with his own principled stand on personal liberty. But you can tell that this event had had a profound impact on Elder, much like it did with other political commentators, because he makes mention of it many times as you read.
Elder spends most of this book rehashing what he talked about in his last book, and this made the book a little less enjoyable than it otherwise would have been. I got a copy of Showdown and opened it up hoping for some new, fresh material complete with Elder's own pro- freedom diagnosis. Instead, the book touched on the same subjects that were discussed last time around, including racism, affirmative action, illegitimacy, gun rights, liberal media bias, etc. The only thing that was really different was the inclusion of the "war on terror" and how it has impacted the way we, as Americans, must now look at the world.
Elder is libertarian, but in this book, his approach seems slightly different from that of a few years ago. Now, Elder's political stands seem more conservative- like he has moved in a southeasterly direction on the political Nolan chart and has found a new home bordering on right- conservative. He still criticizes Bush and other Republicans and he doesn't accept the socially conservative agendas of these and other political figures completely. But it's obvious that he is moving closer to the Republican Party and this has been confirmed by Elder's "after word" section in later releases of Showdown where he refers to himself as a Republican. I'm a little surprised that Elder would do this, considering the harsh words he has leveled against Republicans over the years. But I assume he felt that since he is more of a Republican than a Democrat, he might as well give in and choose one of the two major parties to call his home.
Overall, "Showdown" is a good book, with many sensible solutions to the political and social problems that Americans face in the twenty- first century. It isn't quite as good or as fresh as Elder's "Ten Things you Can't Say in America", but this is still a good book to read for its common sense analysis and its dry, often sarcastic wit. The book places an emphasis on liberty and responsibility, challenging Americans and their political leaders to reexamine they way they view the world and it makes a good choice for intellectual reading.
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