Two months before the 2016 presidential election, an anonymously published essay titled The Flight 93 Election rallied conservatives to charge the cockpit by voting for Trump. Michael Anton, the author of that controversial viral essay, now says that the last few years have only served to prove his Flight 93 thesis: The left has become more aggressive, more vindictive, and more dangerous - and the stakes have never been higher.

To reframe the upcoming 2020 election, Anton looks at California: a state that has descended from a middle-class paradise into crumbling, crowded chaos under unchallenged Democrat rule. Where California goes, so goes the United States of America, Anton argues - unless conservatives take a stand.

Listening Length

16 hours and 52 minutes
Author

Michael Anton
Narrator

Dan Crue
Audible release date

September 1, 2020
Language

English
Publisher

Dreamscape Media, LLC
ASIN

B08DC4QMYG
Version

Unabridged
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Audiobook
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Product details

Listening Length	16 hours and 52 minutes
Author	Michael Anton
Narrator	Dan Crue
Whispersync for Voice	Ready
Audible.com Release Date	September 01, 2020
Publisher	Dreamscape Media, LLC
Program Type	Audiobook
Version	Unabridged
Language	English
ASIN	B08DC4QMYG
Best Sellers Rank	#123,272 in Audible Books & Originals (See Top 100 in Audible Books & Originals) #281 in Conservatism & Liberalism #713 in Elections #1,462 in Political Conservatism & Liberalism

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Bloodhound

The stakes? Very high indeed. We are all-in.

Reviewed in the United States on September 4, 2020

This trenchant, incisive volume offers the deepest and most complete critique of contemporary American politics. By "contemporary" I mean literally up-to-the-minute: Anton was able even to include the earlier stages of the BLM/Antifa riots. As for "critique," I might more accurately have used the military term "sitrep," for this is a strategist's assessment of an ongoing conflict between two camps, and the relative advantages / disadvantages of each. As for "complete," I mean that Anton has synthesized an enormous amount of material: the first chapter, for example, thoroughly analyzes the scandal and disaster of present-day California--a one-party state that has gutted its middle class, destroyed its legacy infrastructure, and abandoned the basic responsibilities of governance to chase ideological will-o-the-wisps--as both a warning to the rest of America (Do Not Do This!!), and as a template which the Progressive ruling class fully intends to replicate nationwide. That analysis rests on, and deepens, the work of authors such as Victor Davis Hanson, who Anton pointedly acknowledges; other chapters develop an analysis of the present ruling class that first reached a wide audience in 2008, when Angelo Codevilla published an essay on the subject, and Rush Limbaugh read it word-for-word to his audience.
Anton's background as a strategist comes most fully to the fore in the last chapters, wherein he assesses different possible scenarios for how a further breakdown of American constitutional norms could turn out. That is, and should be, very scary stuff.
There's not a lot here for an honest, patriotic American to quibble with--although many of the book's threads are invitations to continued conversation; Anton makes clear that he does not think he's written the final words on our republic.
As an example, one question I would ask him directly, on a nightmare scenario that others have also raised: Supposed the US does, God forbid, split up, say, into "Red" and "Blue" countries. The "Red" country will, no doubt, want to maintain and restore the (properly interpreted) U.S. Constitution. But how will that hypothetical new country preserve, protect, and defend that Constitution when the original USA was unable to do so? Will the document itself require additional clauses--more safeguards; more checks and balances? If so, what are they? Or will the new country simply needed a sturdier, more moral and religious culture? How does one order THAT from Amazon?
It's a bit embarrassing to be the first reviewer of a book; I was honored to receive a copy of the galleys several weeks ago (although I have also purchased a hardback copy), so it might as well be someone who has actually read the whole thing. And I was discussing the book's ideas with my trainer two weeks ago; she was interested and asked what the title was. I had a momentary lapse of memory, and she filled the void by offering her own suggested title: "We're F****ed." A little too strong, but she did get the idea. Maybe if Greg Gutfeld had written it....
But "The Stakes" is the right title. We haven't lost the country yet, but the future is much cloudier than we'd like it to be.

197 people found this helpful

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A bookworm in Baku

A tour de force--and a dire warning; Michael Anton nails it

Reviewed in the United States on September 10, 2020

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"The Stakes" is a brilliant, insightful, and deeply disturbing analysis of what is at stake in the 2020 elections. Michael Anton's withering dissection of "the ruling class" (building on the indespensable work of the same name by Angelo Codevilla) will make you angry. Our elites have plans for you--and if they get their way, most people will not like them. Turning the rest of America into California will mean one-party rule, absurd energy and environmental policies, dysfunction, an obsession with "wokeness," and no regard for the lives of ordinary middle class people.

Our current immigration policies will ensure that a permanent Democrat majority is inevitable. Flip Texas or Florrida from red to blue, and it is over for Republicans. They will never win a nationwide election again. And once Democrats control the White House and Congress, they will make changes to voting laws and the Electoral College that will result in California-style landslide victories everytime.

Anton's contempt for the ruling class does not spare Republicans, who seem to serve the interests of the donor class and neglect their own voters, heedlessly contributing to their own demise.

The utter dishonesty of the media comes under close scrutiny in this infuriating expose. If you detested the mainstream media before, you will think even less of them now.

Is there hope of turning things around? Anton paints a bleak, even apocalyptic portrait of where we are and where present trends will lead. If you read one book this election season in order to understand what is really at stake, this is the book to read.

80 people found this helpful

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BeachComber

The stakes are high indeed ...

Reviewed in the United States on September 5, 2020

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If you love the vision that our founders had for the United States of America, please read this book. It won't make you comfortable, and it won't give you any joy, but it may wake you up and perhaps give shape to some of the nagging fears and anxieties that have been playing in the background of your mind. Hopefully, it will rouse us to prudent and wise action. I don't agree with everything the author says (but then, I'm by nature a contrarian). Sadly, however, I fear his basic premise is accurate. Even if some of the author's positions are a little strained or exaggerated for effect (I don't think that's his intent), the odds are clearly long against restoring a real balance of power in this country. I like the outline of his prescriptions for change, but as he himself admits, the how is lacking. My thought is that we're going to need the help of Divine Providence and be willing to make some personal sacrifices to make any meaningful changes. The one thing that really bothered me was that, after rightly bashing the rapacious billionaires of this country, he then seems to expect them to fund the solutions to the woes they have created for us. I think a better prescription is for those of goodwill and modest means among us to put aside our differences and band together with the tools and resources we have at hand (our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor would be a good start) and do the hard work ourselves. Rich men primarily get that way by being selfish, not by being altruistic, but if any are people of goodwill and want to help, we can use all the allies we can find.

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Carl Schmidt

Können die Konservativen die USA noch retten?

Reviewed in Germany on October 19, 2020

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Michael Anton hat hier ein interessantes Buch vorgelegt, in dem er die Schwächen der USA analysiert und Lösungen anbietet. Dabei ist er fest davon überzeugt, daß die USA vor einem Zusammenbruch, zumindest aber dramatischen Niedergang stehen, sollte "Woke-America" nicht nur die faktische Herrschaft über das Land behalten, sondern bei den anstehenden Wahlen sogar wieder einen "demokratischen" Präsidenten stellen.

Am Beispiel des bevölkerungsreichsten US-Bundesstaats Kalifornien beschreibt er dezidiert den Niedergang, der überall in den USA in mehr oder weniger schlimmer Ausprägung beobachtet werden kann. Es ist schon erschütternd, wie schnell Kalifornien sich von einem Traumland, einem Paradies, in ein "Third-World-Shithole" verwandelt. In wenigen Jahrzehnten wurde das Land derart herunterregiert, daß es zumindest für Weiße immer weniger attraktiv ist. Seine Zukunft ist düster.

Anton analysiert gnadenlos, kenntnisreich und mit einem scharfen Blick die wichtigsten Problemfelder der USA, wobei der "Einwanderung" auf Grund der besonderen Relevanz ein eigenes Kapitel gewidmet ist. Wen wundert es, wenn er angesichts der "falschen" und zu hohen Einwanderung Illegaler und Legaler am liebsten Null Einwanderung hätte?

Nach der Analyse des gegenwärtigen Zustandes, der von einem tiefen, weitverzweigten System Linker und Liberaler geprägt ist, die selbst Trumps Präsidentschaft unterminieren, versucht Anton die verschiedenen aus seiner Sicht möglichen Szenarien der kommenden Zeit darzustellen und weiter zu denken.

Diese Erörterung der wahrscheinlichsten Szenarien ist im Falle bleibender Trends und noch negativerer Entwicklungen sehr weitreichend und teilweise äußerst spekulativ, jedoch durchaus plausibel vermittelt.

Das Hauptproblem sieht Anton in der Koalition zwischen "Oben" und "Unten" gegen die "Mitte". Das von ihm beobachtete Phänomen einer Allianz der Herrschenden, vor allem des Finanzkapitals, mit Liberalen und vor allem Linken aller Schattierungen, ist absolut zutreffend und wurde auch schon bei uns in der BRD beobachtet. Die Ausblutung des Mittelstandes sowie die dramatische Auseinanderentwicklung des Vermögens, sind ebenfalls nicht USA-spezifisch. Anton versucht auch zu erklären, was die linke Seite dazu bewegt, als Juniorpartner des Finanzkapitals sich in eine immer ungleichere Welt einzufügen. Das J-Wort sucht man hier vergebens. Für Anton ein zu heißes Eisen?

Ein Punkt der Kritik an dem Verfasser muß erwähnt werden: Als "Konservativer" ist seine Analyse der Bevölkerungsentwicklung und deren Konsequenzen absolut zutreffend. Er kann jedoch nicht über seinen konservativen Schatten springen. Somit bietet er keine Lösung dafür an, daß die USA schon Ende dieses Jahrhunderts bevölkerungsmäßig überwiegend ein Land der 3. Welt geworden sein werden. Folgt man seinen Vorschlägen, wird diese Entwicklung - wie wir es bei allen Konservativen finden - nur gebremst und das Ergebnis einer Tranformation eines weißen Landes in ein farbiges bleibt bestehen.

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Seshu kumar

Excellent book

Reviewed in India on September 15, 2020

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The last chapter offers hope to an otherwise gloomy state of affairs. His analysis starts of weak, but picks up power as you go through the book and I would highly recommend anyone who bought it to stick with it till the end.

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