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AudibleInk - Give Me Liberty: A Handbook for American Revolutionaries
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List Price: $13.95
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Manufacturer: Simon & Schuster
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FREE SHIPPING on Orders over $25!
Average Customer Rating:  
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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 323.60973
EAN: 9781416590569
ISBN: 1416590560
Label: Simon & Schuster
Manufacturer: Simon & Schuster
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 400
Publication Date: 2008-09-16
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Studio: Simon & Schuster
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Editorial Reviews:
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As the practice of democracy becomes a lost art, Americans are increasingly desperate for a restored nation. Many have a general sense that the "system" is in disorder -- if not on the road to functional collapse. But though it is easy to identify our political problems, the solutions are not always as clear. In Give Me Liberty: A Handbook for American Revolutionaries, bestselling author Naomi Wolf illustrates the breathtaking changes that can take place when ordinary citizens engage in the democratic system the way the founders intended and tells how to use that system, right now, to change your life, your community, and ultimately, the nation.
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: She Does It Again!
Comment: Ms. Wolf has a knack for being ahead of the crowd and with this book, she maintains her position in the vanguard of American political activists.
This work, coupled with her last book, are an effective call to arms for Americans to act aggressively and effectively as citizens who are frustrated with the past 20-30 years trend in American political life. Citizens in a democracy have the responsibility to act and participate in the civic discourse and Ms. Wolf challenges all of us take this responsibility seriously. This would be a great book for high school and college students as well as adults.
And instead of a mere rehash of the usual liberal complaints, Ms. Wolf nails the real issues on the head and then gives the reader a full menu of options and activities. At their core, her recent works send the message that the clock is ticking on saving the American Experiment and that it is high time that citizens take back their government by action. The time for complaining are over. It is time for civic action, action that works and that has results. And that is what Ms. Wolf lays out effectively in this new book.
She has given us a much-needed practical and down-to-earth read on the situation that faces us as Americans. And Ms. Wolf has provided us with a civics lesson (when was the last time you heard civics being taught in school?) about our responsibility to act. Not our responsibility to complain and grumble, but our responsibility to act.
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Summary: The right to liberty is universal
Comment: Naomi Wolf's pamphlet is one long cry for freedom and its political expression `democracy', which is the only means to defend individual liberty, the right to be safe against unreasonable searches of bodies, houses, papers, computers and possessions and against illegal spying.
Analysis
N. Wolf rightly states that `life without freedom is not worth having it'. The US founders did not create liberty for America, but America for liberty.
Today, in the face of the `war on terror', liberty is portrayed as a threat to security. Those in power want blind loyalty, unconditional support for US militarism and commercial imperialism, a tyranny of Christian fundamentalism and the silencing of dissent.
They encourage people not to vote, because the `government is the problem. It can't solve problems. So, don't bother to get involved.' As former President Jimmy Carter remarks: `the US voting system is flawed with severe discrimination against poor people.'
More, the population is conditioned `not to think'. The information channels are gagged. As some journalists say: `there is direct intervention in news gathering and reporting.'
The whole US society risks to become a new version of a closed society controlled by a wealthy oligarchy (Plato revisited).
What to do?
People should not be recipients of the deliberations of an elite.
The rulers must respect the rule of law and should not reign according to a faith-based ideology.
There should be a rigorous wall between the State and the Church. No religion should be demonized.
People have to know that `votes trump money'. Voting fraud should be made impossible by all means.
N. Wolf asks for the introduction of national referenda like in Switzerland.
She also provides useful information for enhancing the democratic process through the creation of non-profit organizations and political movements and the organization of protest demonstrations or the writing of petitions.
This book is a must read for all those who want to live in a better and more human world.
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Summary: Wolf's heart is in the right place
Comment: "Give Me Liberty" begins with a scathing indictment of the current state of the federal government, describing in detail the usurpations of power that certainly did not begin 8 years ago, but that have accelerated ever faster since then. The fact that the nationalization of entire sectors of the economy (aka the "bailout") has occured since then, much of it on the say-so of the Fed and the Treasury alone, only reinforces Wolf's thesis of a "fascist shift". It is a stirring call to action to patriots who love liberty, regardless of their party registration.
Wolf is on the left, but is not the stereotype of the dogmatic, knee-jerk leftist. Nevertheless, her political orientation does lead to some head-scratchers. For example, after accurately identifying that state power increases as a result of empire-building overseas, a later chapter lays the blame for the current imperial project exclusively on corporations. And there is the non-ideological head-scratcher that a restriction against blocking traffic is somehow the most crippling restriction among the thicket of rules that govern protest in the U.S. But these are nitpicks that do not affect the basic thesis of this book.
An interesting companion book to this would be Ron Paul's "A Revolution," which identifies virtually the same problems as Wolf did here, and also calls for citizen engagement to restore our liberty.
"Give Me Liberty" is a good choice for anyone concerned that our freedom is rapidly eroding, regardless of what political party you support.
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Summary: Patriots protect their country from its government
Comment: With GIVE ME LIBERTY, Naomi Wolf applies what she teaches in her previous book, THE END OF AMERICA. You could consider THE END OF AMERICA the theory class and GIVE ME LIBERTY the practicum.
Author Wolf reports on modern-day patriots standing up to American government oppression in GIVE ME LIBERTY. However, several of the stories are first-hand accounts. For example, Ms. Wolf shares the powerless feeling she has attending a demonstration where police keep the activist so far from the institution they protest, it seems as though demonstrators are just talking to themselves.
As I write this in December 2008 the good citizens of Greece are standing up to government authority that has gone too far. When will more Americans show the strength of their numbers? To help answer that, GIVE ME LIBERTY closes with a user's guide for activists who have the will and want to learn the way to exercise their power.
Read GIVE ME LIBERTY.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Motivates to take Action
Comment: "Handbook" is a good description. After making a convincing argument that it is our duty to make some noise and get involved, Wolf gives specific advice and resources to have our voices heard. One thing lacking is addressing the importance to really be informed. It appears to me that the people who know the least are the ones who talk the most and have the strongest opinions. Emotions run high and it is hard to have productive deliberation with people. Addressing this would have added an important element to the conversation.
It is scary to me that most people I talk to are willing to accept our government's lawlessness because they somehow think that it secures their safety. After reading this book I have a firmer belief and understanding of the meaning of rule of law and why our safety lies within the rules instead of the rulers.
Wolf outlines how to be a revolutionary in ways that may land you in jail and therefore gives advice for what to do if you are arrested. I don't think I will be taking to the streets in protests, but I am much more motivated to understand our constitution and become more involved in understanding what my representatives are doing in Washington. If government knows that "we the people" are watching closely, it will probably generate better behavior in government. Even though I am not willing be a revolutionary to the extent that would risk imprisonment, this book has motivated me to get off my duff and at least be present.
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