Customer Reviews

Sissy Nation: How America Became a Culture of Wimps & Stoopits

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

 

 

The author has it right and lays it out in a no-holds-barred fashion. There will definitely be something in this book that will offend, but that's entirely the point. Sometimes one has to be shocked into awareness, something we're resistant to these days. We have become a weak and flabby nation, and are becoming a weak and flabby world; physically, emotionally, intellectually, and spiritually. It's subtle and it has occurred over a long period of time, but it is very real. People are easily slighted and chronically dissatisfied. Kids (and adults) have come to expect rewards and praise for simply doing the right thing (or for doing nothing), as a result there is nothing to really strive for. Everybody demands their 15 minutes of fame and they demand it now, even if they really have nothing to offer. Essentially, that is what this book is about. Sure, it's a bit of a rant and not every idea is examined in the detail I would have liked, but once I started I read it right through -- I couldn't put it down. We, as a nation, need to hear more of this sort of thing, particularly our kids. I'm grateful the author had the courage to write this book.

Apparently, Americans have become a nation of sissys because we refuse to adopt all basic tenents of the democratic party, to include gun control, open borders, communism, and we don't have cool tattoos. If you are a hip manhattanite convinced of your self-worth, you will find the book an amusing criticism of the fly-over states. If you think that the steady erosion of individual resposibility may have a role, then this book is not for you.

I heard John Strausbaugh talk about his book on BookTV, which has become a new and valid medium in its own right. An author talking about his or her book is not the same as an audio book or a "reading". The written word is meant to be read, not listened to. It has its own kind of rhythm and texture. But an author giving a more or less spontaneous talk explaining what his or her book is about--as well as answering questions from the audience-- is very easy to listen to and follow, and you can actually get quite a good feeling for the book itself in as little as 30 minutes to an hour. [But even though I'm excited about this new medium, I'm certainly not praising the programming at BookTV, which in my opinion features too much material that is politically conservative or Republican-slanted.]

I thought the title "Sissy Nation" was a little silly, but I was surprised by how much I enjoyed the author's talk and agreed with everything he said. He's saying the same kinds of things as the social/cultural criticism in my self-published book (that no one has read), "Entropy and Alchemy", but in my opinion he doesn't go nearly far enough. It's not so much that we've become a nation of "sissies", but that we live in a huge technological society that not only coddles us but smothers us. Fitting into this huge society usually requires we play some minute role in it and relinquish our individuality. Instead of being autonomous, whole, and truly free individuals, we become part-time or weekend individuals. As a substitute for true individuality, we become obsessed with superficial self-expression. This is our attempt to escape the anonymity and uniformity that pervades the mega society we live in, one that has been created through a combination of population growth and technology. Mankind has grown huge, while men (and women) have grown small. But it's also a part of the Age we live in, an electronic age where everyone and everything is equal, and we have no higher image of what it means to be human that we can strive to live up to. We live in an insatiable culture that sucks the meaning out of everything. Whatever briefly appears as authentic or original is seized upon and devoured. Whoever rises above the crowd is quickly over publicized and scrutinized until we see how they themselves are only too human after all. So there are no heroes anymore and in fact the word "hero" itself becomes trivialized until it's meaningless. Our culture consumes itself; it consumes meaning. Quantity divides quality into countless little pieces. The technological medium drowns out the message. Everything becomes noise. Individuals crave symbolic meaning. They need validation. They want to be recognized as unique human beings, but when millions of people want the same thing, how is it possible to do it in a positive way? And so we have increasing numbers of disturbed people who one day take their guns into the mall, classroom, or the workplace, and finally they have their say and get some brief attention. This kind of thing might be a warning sign, just like 9-11 was. There are a lot of warning signs all around us, but instead of doing something about it, we try to remain safe, protected, and isolated, and thus make our world even more boring and watered down, while the temperature in this huge fish aquarium steadily keeps rising.


Entropy and Alchemy: The Problem of Individuality in an Age of Society

Must say that I enjoyed John Strausbaugh's book a great deal. Seldom has common sense been so eloquent. YES, it is humorous, but far from satire -- this is a serious issue that the locksteping automaton sheeple are loathe to address (it "hurts their widdle feelings" and isn't "politically correct"). TRUTH is only objectuionable to those who fear it.

Strausbaugh boldly speaks his mind about "groupthink," politics, fundamentalism, obesity, anti-depressants, public education, the Interweb, and a number of other valid and timely topics . . . and I'm in agreement with over 90% of it.

HOWEVER, being a sheltered cityboy has insulated him from more than a few things, and I did note 2 glaring errors of fact:

1.) Strausbaugh naively lumps ALL gun owners in with mentally ill mass shooters and sociopathic gangstas who empty their Tec-9s over hurt feelings. He seems to think that Amerika would be a better place if everyone would just turn in their guns -- and blames "Joe Average" for supporting the criminal misuse of illegal firearms simply for refusing to waive his own 2nd Amendment right. He makes the "generic sissy argument" that the gun is a symbollic phallus used only to assauge one's feelings of inadequacy . . . riiiiight. I'M not a sissy. I own a gun because in MY neighborhood ALL the criminals carry illegal guns -- and there are about 5 shootings a week. They'll shoot you AFTER they've taken your wallet here. Not a nice place. I'm not about to let some smirking gangsta do whatever he likes to me and my friends just because HE has a gun and we don't. Grow up, John.

2.) Strausbaugh further posits that the "noble" illegal immigrants from Mexico simply want to earn pennies doing the jobs no-one else wants. Unlike the South, NYC has not experienced the devastation caused by the massive influx of illegal Mexicans. They are not travelling here to pick vegetables and scrub toilets -- no, they're working at skilled trades (fiberoptic cables, telecommunications wiring, masonry, construction) and making over minimum wage to do it. Subcontactors rake in huge profits by not only hiring, but transporting and housing them. These are not jobs that "nobody wants" -- they are Union jobs that you need a license to practice, and the wages are typically quadruple what the Mexicans are getting paid. Not only that, but they're not paying taxes . . . and using the SSNs of taxpayers to work here . . . and those innocent taxpayers get notice from the IRS that they owe taxes on the money "they" allegedly were paid for laying cable in NC while they were simultaneously waiting tables in CA! While the Mexicans are the administration's current whipping boy (i.e., distraction from Iraq and the economy), they are far from harmless innocents.

Even though I disagreed very strongly with those two points of fact, the remainder of this book was outstanding, and I recommend it highly. A wake up call that ought to be mandatory reading for all citizens.

More self-flagellation for Western white guys? How many Men-Are-Jerks opuses can we withstand? Apparently, one more.
This book contains some of the best writing on the subject, however, it's something like an Elvis Presley movie soundtrack album: for every terrific song, there's three that are uninspired drivel - there are many great statements (such as those in the author's summation of the post-1969 space race) which are somewhat devalued by lines like this, in reference to our unnecessarily hgh-tech. common appliances: "It's not just the revenge of the nerds, it's the holocaust of the geeks". Meaning, those folks who apparently design stuff to be brought back to them when they don't work right.
Sissy Nation could have been chiseled down (1950s manufacturing expression) to a lengthy essay for The New Yorker or the New York Times Magazine. Remove some of that narcissistic excess that Strausbaugh himself rails against.

Not everybody is going to get this book. The rigid, closed-minded, scared-of-his/her-own thoughts, group-thinking, group-speaking, dependent--um--next-door-neighbor-of-yours' fanatic will find this book downright revolting. We really don't need any more of those people around anymore anyway. But, don't build a fence. It's time to move on. Let's climb one notch higher on the scale of evolution. I'm not sure that Americans have ever really thought for themselves. Strausbaugh says they did, once. And he points out a whole lot of things we currently "believe in", mindlessly, that may seem obvious once laid bare. The point is, Strausbaugh has I.D.'d them all--not you and not me. Strausbaugh's writing is so sharp it makes everything look easy--like the reader actually thought of it himself. Effortlesss writing. And effortless to read, until you put it down. Yeah, you've been reading it in the tub (or wherever), and now you're just floating there, so you stop to think about it. Watch out, it just might steep into that sissy mind of yours. You're in good company. Strausbaugh himself admits to being an American Sissy.

"Sissy Nation" refers to the end of empire, specifically to the end of the American Empire. Strausbaugh is quick to point out that much of the western world isn't far behind in the unraveling of the personal integrity, individualism and gumption that made America great. He stresses that the "ideals" of America are sound, and that they have served as an excellent model upon which to build a nation, but that the average American's dependence upon virtual reality, consumer goods and branding, escape, and just wanting to be entertained is leading to the decay of the nation and the emergence of a new breed--the American Sissy. According to Strausbaugh, we choose "sissy leaders" who, at best, tell us whatever we want to hear in order to get elected, and at worst, lie to us and manipulate us in accordance with our fears. And our fears, fueled by the popular press, are many.

"Sissy Nation" is filled with humor. But the book is deeper than it appears on first reading. Read it twice. There's a rather remarkable brain at work behind the "out there" rant. You can find out more reading Strausbaugh's online blog at www.sissynation.us. Dissing this book is like saying Mick Jagger (whether you like him or not) wasn't, at least at one time, a great performer.

John Strausbaugh's "Sissy Nation" is laugh out loud, stomach hurting, tears flowing funny!!!! His flair and often insight commentary is just downright hilarious. The book starts out on a fat, oh, I mean fast pace. At some points in this book, I was doubled over laughing trying to catch my breath. His observations on lazy, fat, stoopid Americans flows form one issue to the other.

There were some things I wholeheartedly agreed with and a few I didn't, but, since I'm not a sissy, I wasn't offended and since I disagree with him on some parts (God's defenders actually winning the debates in modernity, Swinbourne, Plantinga, et al), I was not offended, but still found myself laughing about his overall point regarding post-modernity. Hence, I'm not a sissy because I do not fall into "groupthink" and I can distinguish the main from the side points (it is nice to know after reading this book I was not a sissy, at least by his definition).

He briefly, but humorously tackles obesity, college campus, post modernity, and government stoopidness (is that a word?). This book really is laugh out loud funny - I advise all people, men, women, and others, read this book now and laugh out loud. You won't agree with everything and if you do, you may be a sissy. If you don't and you're offended, you may be a sissy. And if you can't read, you just may be stoopid.

Do you remember the Kurt Vonnegut short story from the early 60s, "Harrison Bergeron"?

Well, this is it... expanded, updated, and more scary.

Sissy Nation is a great read. It's an interesting perspective of todays USA. We are a sissy nation. I believe it. Some words are harsh but heck he's right.
You can read this book within a day, pass it around to your friends or sell it back on Amazon, I think everyone needs to understand where we have come from and where we are going.. five stars for John and look forward to a another book in ten years from him called " Hell they read my book and we now on the righteous path"

Suckered into buying this one by hype. It's just a screed with a few clever keywords tossed around. Sounds like something some nitwit would write in blog comments, though at greater length. An idea in search of a book. Even at 164 small-sized pages, it's 5 times too long.