Shakedown: How the Government Screws You from A to Z (Paperback)

by James Bovard (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Organized by subject, from Affirmative Action to Zoning Laws, a funny but chastening compendium offers absurd and outrageous examples of government ineptitude and intrusion on ordinary Americans' lives, liberties, and property rights. Reprint.

Product Details

• Paperback: 144 pages
• Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics); Reprint edition (October 1, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0140258191
• ISBN-13: 978-0140258196
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,679,979 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Bovard still spanks the ACLU in dealing out jusitice, March 19, 2007

By	Seth Forster "sideburnmikeguitar" (Austin, TX) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

What's great about Bovard is that he seems to have no loyalties or vested interests. He appears to be a true libertarian, even to a fault at times. For the most part this book is good at chronicling these offenses, giving them little bullet points after a brief description of each category. A lot of times that works out better than the huge over-reaching style Bovard tends to use. On the other hand, people might see these as isolated examples of absolute worst of our government. I tend to think they're far more commonplace. A huge fault of the book is the lack of citation!!! Bovard typically does a fine job notating where he got his information within the text as well as by footnote. The other issue is that now and then some of his complaints seem ridiculous or his humor is to dry to know what he's trying to get at. He's no master of sarcasm, but you start to get him after awhile. In such a simple style of writing he's not always able to make his argument as to why the government's really intruding on anything more than principle...which needs to be done from time to time so you can see why that violation might go beyond principle and into an important asset of your life.

Still, it's a good quick reference of some of the many topics you can find on how the government really truly rips off the average joe like it's their job. They're quite good at it and well over half the people in this country appear to be sheep. The ideas that we 1. live in a democracy and 2. always find democracy to be the best form of government are both ludicrous. We live in a Constitutional Republic, by the way and mob rule is NOT always right. You can consider pre-Civil War America as an example of this. Bovard would give you a more descriptive essay on it I bet. Either way, I gotta give him props for getting me to truly think on my own and find the answers instead of listening to the talking heads saying they're on my side and promoting something else. That is what this type of book does. Read it, research it and even disprove it if you can.

3 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting stories of how the government abuses its power., September 7, 1998

By A Customer

I read this book for a government project. It gives ironic stories of government mess-ups. The government has put itself in between a rock and a hard place when it comes to certain acts and laws. Such self-entrapments are:doctors that sue for losing their jobs because they have hepatitis and under the laws, they have the right to claim disability. This book is a quick read and does not seem to give very many sources.