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From:Ron Paul , Grand Central Publishing ,
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User Rating: Amazon Sales Rank:#96 |
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19 of 22 customers found the following review helpful:
multi-functional!!, 2008-04-29
I'm a very enthusiastic Ron Paul supporter, so of course I had to buy several copies of the book along with the audio version. Having the audio allows me to listen to his common sense while I work, while also broadcasting those ideas in my shop to all of my daily customers, hence spreading the message effortlessly. An additional instance occurred as I witnessed my daughter(she's nine) listening to the audio cd's in private with her earphones, while reading along; a great way to expand her economic vocabulary!
Like most Ron Paul supporters, I have heard most of his speeches and read most of his policy papers, and assumed his book/audio would be a re-hashing of those ideas. Boy, was I wrong! The book is fresh and reads quickly and is packed with examples and anecdotes. I recommend everyone to buy this book/audio; one set for themselves and another for a friend or loved one.. free shipping for the pair!
28 of 32 customers found the following review helpful:
Manifesto of Libertarian Resurgance, 2008-04-29
I believe that the 2008 election will be particularly memorable because of Paul. I further believe that this candidacy may well serve as a catalyst for Libertarian resurgence. For that reason alone the book is worth acquiring. Its publication is as prescient in these vaguely fascist times in the same way that Goldwater's "Conscience of a Conservative was during earlier vaguely social-democratic times.
Thankfully this is not simply a campaign tract. This is a well-written and concise book that applies the tenets of modern, unapologetic libertarianism to the issues of the day. Paul addresses the standard issues: foreign policy (non-interventionist), human rights (adamantly for), abortion (adamantly against - but willing to let the states decide), the death penalty (he'd abolish federal capital punishment), Social Security (against), and the welfare state (stifles initiative and voluntary charity); which are the usual fodder in a campaign.
However, Paul addresses each if these issues with a passion that is remarkable in an election-year. He is not merely against the War in Iraq: he is appalled at its illegality and the cowardice of a legislature that acquiesced in a non-declared ware against a non-belligerent. He makes no bones about it - remarkable for a man who is very likely to take his seat within that self-same legislature within a few months. It is not a matter of doing things differently in order to achieve the same outcome, perhaps more humanely or rationally. Paul detests the outcome itself and is forthright in saying so. Likewise with the War on Drugs; Likewise with taxation. There is passion here that approaches the prophetic.
He also addresses Money, which, oddly, rarely figures into the political dialogue, (at least not since Williams Jennings Bryan) yet arguably is the one issue that impacts us all. Whether or not one agrees with his Hard Money stance or his antagonism to the Federal Reserve, he has at least forced a discussion that is long overdue. Vladimir Ilyich Lenin warned that "The surest way to destroy a nation is to debauch its currency". Ron Paul would surely stand in solidarity with Lenin on at least that score. As commodity prices rise across the board and the dollar becomes an international joke - why is Ron Paul the only one speaking about money policy?
Ron Paul has been dismissed as something of a crank - kind of a Ralph Nader of the Right. Like Ralph Nader, Paul is no more interested in pandering to mainstream Republicans than Nader is to Democrats. The difference is that Nader has always been a gadfly. Except for about 20 minutes in 1972, the Democratic Party has never been particularly welcoming of radicals from the Left. (Palmer Raids, HUAC, blacklisting...all Democratic initiatives.)
Paul's book, on the other hand is well within an established tradition of extreme individualism: radicalism on the Right.
He relates that, ironically enough for a party descended from Whigs, the GOP has been an historic home for Jeffersonians and the descendents of the Anti-Federalists for most of the last century. In that sense, unlike Nader and the Democrats, Paul stands squarely within the legacy of the old GOP.
This is demonstrated not only by Paul's book. Readers would to well to supplement Revolution: A Manifesto with Brian Doherty's
Radicals for Capitalism: A Freewheeling History of the Modern American Libertarian Movement,an informative, (and surprisingly entertaining) history of Libertarianism, as well as Justin Raimondo's Reclaiming the American Right: The Lost Legacy of the Conservative Movement, which tracks the non-interventionist , anti-war spirit of older American Conservatism.
These volumes, along with Paul's book portray a conservative legacy that is far older than the current George W. Bush/John McCain brand of National Greatness. So old in fact that the People's Weekly World, that redoubtable publication of Communist Party USA joked: "There is absolutely no argument that Dr. Paul would make the best president of the United States that the 16th century could offer."
One might reply that when we see not only the Constitution, but the Magna Carta under assault by a praetorian guard of theofascists, perhaps a progressive circa 1500 would not be so bad.
Thankfully the CPUSA is about 200 years off insofar as Paul is concerned. Dr. Paul is almost singularly responsible for bringing our uniquely American brand of Revolution...circa 1776...to the attention of a 2008 electorate. In the current climate, this is revolutionary.
Hence, regardless of one's political temperment, Revolution: A Manifesto deserves a reading.
22 of 25 customers found the following review helpful:
a true patriot, 2008-04-28
neo-cons and war/fear mongerers have nothing on Ron Paul. This book provides the American people with truth, the corporate mainstream media will only glaze over, or completly ignore. As a high school student in search of political ideology i was confused with the empty arguments and hypocracy spewed by political pundits and commentators. I assumed that the government had the American people's best interest in mind when waging endless wars and eroding liberty in the name of "safety and security," how naive I was. Dr. Paul opened my eyes and inspired me to stand up for freedom and the Constitution our founding fathers wisely crafted. The manifesto does an excellant job of establishing the facts supporting Paul's political views, in a clear consise manner. The book is enriched with great quotes, that I found myself reading over and over. It is our responsibility to spread Ron Paul's message, if we want to save our country from global fascism
16 of 19 customers found the following review helpful:
Must Read, 2008-04-28
I discovered Ron Paul after 'Benedict Arnold' McCain apparently tied up the nomination.
As a life long conservative, I will no longer vote for the lessor of two evils. I came to this conclusion by asking myself one simple question:
"Are we winning yet?"
When I answered myself with a resounding "NO", I decided to look elsewhere.
I was surprised to discover that Ronald Reagan was a Ron Paul Conservative. No wonder the MSM hate him.
I am thankful to at last have a man of integrity, a man of principal a true statesman I can vote for. Even if I have to write him in.
I am excited, this is the FIRST election since I became eligible to vote in 1988 that I don't have to hold my nose in the booth and regret my choice for the following four years.
Read this book, it is long enough to cover the topics that need to be covered, and short enough you can read it in a few evenings.
You will never be the same.
19 of 21 customers found the following review helpful:
A Manifesto of Freedom, by a Modern-Day Tacitus, 2008-04-28
The ancient Roman historian Tacitus (ca. AD 55-120) is noted for his skepticism in the face of the increasing centralization of power he witnessed during his life. In this book, Ron Paul explains in greater detail than is possible in a stump speech how the greatest threat to our Constitution and our Republic does not come from terrorists hiding out in caves in Pakistan, Mullahs in Iran, or oil-rich despots in Latin America, but from our own government.
When Dr. Paul went to Google to do a Q&A session last summer, a young Google employee prefaced his question by commenting that he was impressed with the way the Congressman always substantiated his points by referring to historical examples. All of us who have taken notice of this quality, all too rare among politicians, will be well satisfied with the good Dr.'s latest offering.
Throughout the seven chapters of this primer on American liberty, Dr. Paul reminds us why we can't help but admire a man who is a living illustration of the supreme importance of studying the past. I was particularly struck by the way he argues for the legalization of drugs, a position to which I was a reluctant convert. He cites St. Thomas Aquinas to make the point that not all vices should be regulated. He goes on to relate the bizarre story of James Munch, the veterinarian whose testimony before Congress in the 30s convinced that body to impose exorbitant taxes on marijuana, and who was subsequently named the chief government "expert" on narcotics.
If the story of Dr. Munch is a foray into the just-plain-strange, then at other points, Paul relates anecdotes that can only be described as sobering in the extreme. Prominent among these is the one in chapter 6 (about monetary policy), where he tells the story of how Alan Greenspan privately stood by the contents of 1966 article he had written in support of a gold standard, but then publicly distanced himself from the views expressed in the very same article.
The whole book is superb, from the chapters on foreign policy and the Constitution, to the one dealing with economic freedom, which for me was by itself worth the price of the entire volume. But it is only the beginning. A reading list at the end points to other resources in "the scholarship of liberty." My only complaint about the book is that the claims made in it aren't backed up with sources. Dr. Paul's many detractors will no doubt find part of it to quibble with, and the lack of documentation will make it harder for lovers of freedom to parry their attacks.
That small criticism notwithstanding, I heartily recommend this appropriately sized manifesto. If you've been impressed with the transparent integrity that Ron Paul constantly displays, and want to find out more about the core convictions that drive him, I know of no better place to do it. I can't help but think that Tacitus would agree.
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