Interview with Patrick Andendall, Author of Stupidparty Math V. Myth: Unmasking the Destructive Forces Eroding American Democrac.

Patrick Andendall has always had an interest in politics and, being multicultural, he views issues from a more international perspective. In 2004, five days before the election, he flew to Cleveland and pitched in to help with the political process. What he discovered was the dissolution of the American Dream, which he writes about in his book, Stupidparty.

Educated at English boarding schools from the age of seven, Andendall went on to graduate from Lancing College. He started by sometimes working three jobs at once, trainee Underwriter/claim broker at Lloyd's of London, his own one man cleaning Company (cleaning the very offices of a Reinsurance Company he would transact business at) plus doing seasonal work on various farms.

Having made some windfall profits by borrowing money in order to be a "Stag" to take advantage of opportunities created by Margaret Thatcher's de nationalization policies of the mid 1980's, Andendall evolved into an entrepreneur with a core specialty in Reinsurance in London and New York where he looks for patterns in numbers. Self-employed in a field not normally conducive to self-employment, he is able remain in control, juggle different jobs, travel and pursue his various interests.

Ending up in New York via romance in the African bush, Andendall now lives on Long Island with his wife, two children and two dogs.

For More Information

• Visit Patrick Andendall’s website.
• Connect with Patrick on Facebook and Twitter.
• Find out more about Patrick at Goodreads.
• Contact Patrick.

Can you tell us a bit about yourself? 

I grew up in England and work in reinsurance. I live on Long Island with my family and my dogs.

What is your fondest childhood memory?

It’s probably visiting Piccadilly Circus with my mom and watching all the people. It’s a beehive of activity there—the noise, the smell, the constant motion.

When did you begin writing?

I started tweeting and engaging on social media a few years before I started writing the actual book. This provided the fodder that eventually became the book. In other words, writing the book itself had two different startpoints. I started writing the actual book about two years ago but the process of writing what would become the book started before that. I tweeted in 2008 and 2012 about politics in an effort to get the word out about the myths that were being perpetrated by FOX news and other online forums. This formed the basis for what would eventually become StupidParty Myth vs. Math. I realized that my tweeting only bounced around in the online echo chamber of people who agreed with me so I started writing the book to serve as a resource to prevent an erosion of democracy. I want to get the book out as a collection of material already publicly available to educate voters.

Do you write during the day, at night or whenever you can sneak a few moments?

Writing is an exercise that helps me with my insomnia so I typically write at night. At this stage I’m focusing on writing blog posts and manage about four of those per month.

What is this book about?

The book is about contemporary political discourse and policy. I try to explain why it seems governance is so frustratingly difficult among our two parties. The answer can be boiled down to the Republican electorate not being educated about the issues their party seems to care most about. I use publicly available facts to eviscerate certain notions disseminated by popular Republican figures on television. The Republicans have a mythological version of everything, ranging from global warming, to economic policy, to religion.

What inspired you to write it?   

My experience volunteering on the John Kerry campaign in 2004 as well as living in the American democracy inspired the content for the book. I believe that the most important thing to a healthy electorate is voter education. The people who send the Stupidparty to office time-after-time vote regularly. The people who suffer at the expense of StupidParty policies don’t vote as consistently. I believe this book can be a voter education resource for people across the political spectrum. It might instill urgency to vote among left leaning voters, and it might make people think more critically on the right about the candidates they nominate for office.

Who is your biggest supporter?

My family are my biggest supporters, but I also get a great amount of moral support from my dogs.

Are you a member of a critique group? If no, who provides feedback on your work?

I am not part of a critique group, unless I can put that label on my family’s help (all constructive of course). For this book I invested in an accomplished editor who provided overarching and specific feedback to help shape the content.

Who is your favorite author?

Patrick O’Brian – but I have no delusions about trying to emulate any great author.

Do you have an agent or are you looking for one?

I do not have an agent. I’m not looking for one at the moment.

Was the road to publication smooth sailing or a bumpy ride?

Bumpy. The publication process was more time consuming and complex than I could have possibly imagined. The interactive structure of this hybrid print/ebook put unique pressures regarding formatting and.

It’s also been challenging to ensure print book buyers get access to the ebook for free. Most retailers make this difficult. As an ebook this only really works on a color device, and for the same reasons I have refused to allow a black and white print version. The production cost of the printed color edition causes marketing issues. Originally, I thought that the printing costs would make a color print book a pipe dream, but it was more reasonable than I thought. The extensive use of hyperlinks, color pictures and graphs also made for a massive electronic file and this causes issues. The scale of the project required numerous drafts as each step in the process was likely to cause new unforeseen errors.

If you knew then, what you know now, is there anything you would have done differently?

This being my first rodeo, I don’t have the perspective to do it differently. I reached the point I needed to reach and I have a book to promote and a mission to promote. I have an ebook version that empowers readers to access way more material than your average print edition. I am happy with how things turned out.

Where can readers purchase a copy of your book?

http://stupidpartymathvmyth.com/buy-the-book.html

Do you have a website and/or blog where readers can find out more?

http://stupidpartymathvmyth.com

The website links to my social media accounts where I highlight current happenings in StupidParty affairs.

Do you have a video trailer to promote your book?  If yes, where can readers find it?

Unfortunately, I do not. But you can turn on FOX news or political talk radio to get a sense of what will be addressed in the book.

What is the best investment you have made in promoting your book?

Investing time has been the best thing I can do to promote my book. I am independently published because I found it to be the best avenue to publish both the e-book and printed copy with materials in color and with multimedia. Getting it formatted to accommodate all of these unique additions to the book took a lot of time. Now promoting the book on social media requires consistency, so creating content about what’s happening today requires additional work.

What is one piece of advice you would like to share with aspiring authors everywhere?

Hire a great editor, who asks the right questions, without changing your voice and makes you look smarter than you are.

What is up next for you?

I am continuing my day job and promoting the book as much as possible.

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Books On My Summer TBR List

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish. Each week they will post a new Top Ten list that one of the bloggers at The Broke and the Bookish will answer. Everyone is welcome to join. All they ask is that you link back to The Broke and the Bookish on your own Top Ten Tuesday post AND add your name to the Linky widget so that everyone can check out other bloggers lists! If you don't have a blog, just post your answers as a comment. Have fun with it! It's a fun way to get to know your fellow bloggers.

Some people are focusing on books releasing this summer. I simply need to focus on what I already have here. I must whittle away that list of overdue reviews (though I have included a few newer books).

Top Ten Books On My Summer TBR List

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Book Spotlight: It's Nut Cuttin' Time America! By Patrick Dorinson

Sometimes serious, at all times humorous and filled with satire, It’s Nut Cuttin’ Time is written by someone who just doesn’t comment on politics from the bleachers, but who was actually in the arena for over 25 years.

It’s Nut Cuttin’ Time is an insightful look at the last four years in America and sets the stage for the pivotal 2012 election and what is to come afterwards. It takes aim at the preening politicians of both parties and also takes a swing at our self-indulgent celebrity-obsessed pop culture.

PURCHASE AT AMAZON AND BARNES AND NOBLE!

Patrick Dorinson is a modern day Will Rogers with sharp elbows who’s had an insider’s view of the political system having been on both sides of the aisle and as he likes to say, “in the aisle itself”.

He now is a proud independent and paraphrasing the words of Marx-Groucho not Karl-says he will not join any political party that would have someone like him as a member.

His unique political journey has been a search for real leaders, regardless of party, to move America forward but says in frustration, “I have chased more false prophets than the ancient Hebrews in the Old Testament”.

He says he is still searching and doesn’t expect the 2012 election will end his search.

Patrick Dorinson is a veteran of the political wars, radio talk show host and commentator who unlike many so-called pundits, has actually been in the arena and has the battle scars to prove it. He has been on both sides of the aisle and in the aisle itself, having worked over the last 25 year for Republicans and Democrats in both politics and government.

He now is a proud independent and paraphrasing the words of Marx-Groucho not Karl-says he will not join any political party that would have someone like him as a member.

Patrick’s unique political journey has been a search for real leaders, regardless of party, to move America forward but says in frustration, “I have chased more false prophets than the ancient Hebrews in the Old Testament”.

He is still searching and doesn’t expect the 2012 election will end his search no matter who wins.
After all these years, he has returned to where he began his political odyssey at age 12 as a Goldwater Conservative. Like Goldwater, Patrick believes in limited government in all things and the basic right of all Americans to live their lives as they see fit as long as they abide by the laws of the land. Or put another way, government should keep their hands off the public’s wallet and their nose out of folk’s private lives.

Patrick Dorinson is a modern day Will Rogers with sharp elbows who’s had an insider’s view of the political system and tells it like it is.

Patrick’s cowboy wisdom will make you laugh, make you cry, and most of all, it will make you think. If you’ve had enough of the bloviating blowhards who won’t admit how America got into this mess, or explain how we’ll get out of it, this return to simple common sense is needed now more than ever.

Patrick Dorinson is a columnist for the FOX News.com Opinion on the FOX News website and regular contributor to “The Arena” on POLITICO the #1 political website in the nation. He is the resident political analyst for Morning News on Newstalk 1530 KFBK radio in Sacramento, California. He also appears regularly as a commentator on local television.

Mr. Dorinson has appeared on Sean Hannity’s Great American Panel on the FOX News Channel and on Cavuto on the FOX Business Channel as well as on FOX News.com webcasts.

He is host of weekly radio talk show, The Cowboy Libertarian with Patrick Dorinson. It airs Saturdays from 5 to 6PM Pacific on Newstalk 1530 KFBK.

Dorinson lives on a 15 acre ranch in Nevada City, California with his wife Carol, is an avid student of the West and a pretty fair horseman. And he knows that when learning how to ride, the ground is the best teacher, having the broken bones to prove it.
He enjoys working and riding alongside his friends in the ranching and cattle business whenever he gets the opportunity. And if he had his druthers and could find an outfit to hire him he would make his living on the back of a horse.

Visit his website at www.cowboylibertarian.com.

Interview and Giveaway with Deborah Dupre, Author of Vampire of Macondo

New Orleans native Deborah Dupré reports censored human rights news stories. With Science and Ed. Specialist Grad Degrees from U.S. and Australian universities, Dupré’s been a human and Earth rights advocate over 30 years in those countries and Vanuatu. Her unique humanitarian-based research and development work, including in some of the world’s least developed and most remote areas, led her to write articles appearing in dozens of popular print and Internet media internationally.

Her latest book is the nonfiction, Vampire of Macondo.

Visit her column at Examiner: http://www.examiner.com/user-gdeborahdupre.


Can you tell us a bit about yourself?

In a nutshell, I’m a New Orleans native who reports censored human rights news stories. With Science and Ed. Specialist Grad Degrees from U.S. and Australian universities, I’ve been a human and Earth rights advocate over 30 years in those countries and Vanuatu.

For twenty years, until a few years ago, I was an ex-pat in Australia and the least developing Pacific Island nation, Vanuatu. The World Health Organization was among my research and development clients. I lived in the outback with Australian Aborigines for two years straight after several smaller contracts with them and being formally invited back for more intensive projects. So, I’ve lived and worked in two of the world’s oldest, least developed and most remote indigenous living cultures.

Where did you grow up?

I grew up in south Louisiana’s Cancer Alley. Seeing how the oil mafia rules at just about every level of society there greatly influenced my writing about the BP Gulf oil catastrophe and crime. I was able to include first-hand accounts of life in that environment, ranging from my personal experiences with the most graceful aspects of that setting on bayous to mafia thugs I’ve encountered along the way as a target due to my rights advocacy. Throughout my life, I’ve also watched loved ones die of cancer.

What is your fondest childhood memory?

Visiting relations at Grand Bayou in South Louisiana are the childhood days I still cherish the most. Mama was reared in New Orleans but Daddy grew up on Grand Bayou, first on a “coteau,” an island in the swamp. Memories of Grand Bayou the way it was have been so special to me throughout my life, I included scenes from them in Vampire of Macondo. One such passage follows

“Daddy traveled to school in a pirogue, not unusual back then. When my grandparent’s big, old, cypress house on the coteau burned down, his family moved to slightly higher ground and began their new sustainable life there.

Life there was still paradise, so much so that my great grandfather bought a showboat and named it The Floating Paradise. It traveled Louisiana waterways many moons ago. It has since disappeared, unlike its show tunes down in those parts, same as French, Cajun and even German tunes that linger. You can still hear them down there sometimes, if you’re lucky.

After oil barons discovered oil on our bit of swampland, my folks leased it to them. The bayou we cherished would never be the same: not the fish, fauna, water, music, laughter, frog hunts or anything else that nurtures health and longevity.

That’s part of what drives me to write about south Louisiana. You see, in less than 75 years, our paradise became uninhabitable. My very favorite homes of Papère, Aunt Lou, Uncle Howard J. and Aunt Ally - even much of the land itself - are gone.

In Vampire of Macondo, I answer, “How could Louisiana sweet crude oil have ruined what we most treasured?”

“The answer to that is in the sordid tale that began long ago, featuring primary characters in the Gulf of Mexico Operation today: Big Oil and the U.S. military (PMIC) – its intelligence, troops and codependent contractors and subcontractors. Southerners who’d still not cottoned onto that tale’s messages were learning them the hard way, as of April 20, 2010.

‘When you lose your fish, you lose your culture,’ said Margaret Curole, explaining south Louisiana’s culture in the shadow of the Gulf oil volcano. ‘Your way of life starts to change; your quality of life starts to change. A fishing community and the men who fish - it’s like a continuous chain and now for the first time in five, six generations, the chain is breaking and it’s on their watch and that’s something that goes to the core of who you are as a man and the core of who you are as a community and it’s, it’s, it’s – devastating.’

By then, her voice was cracking with emotion and she struggled to maintain her composure.”

When did you begin writing?

My unique humanitarian-based research and development work, led me to writing news articles that now appear in dozens of popular print and Internet media internationally. I’ve been writing, some people say “prolifically,” since graduate school days at LSU in the late 1980s. I’ve published dozens of research papers, short stories, a children’s book and another book when I lived in Australia, Before Hitting Bottom Down Under.

I’m grateful that gifted and talented writers have surrounded me all my life. My father and closest aunt were gifted writers. My sister is an excellent writer. My husband has written sixty-three scientific papers and three books and edited one. One of my sons, a gifted and talented actor and singer, is also a gifted writer. My other son has made three documentaries on alternative fuels and the crimes of the petrochemical-military-industrial complex (PMIC).

Do you write during the day, at night or whenever you can sneak a few moments?

Sneaking a few moments is not my style. I arise early, between 4:00 and 6:00 when the world is quiet. My creativity is best then. It’s also when I can concentrate without interruption. At the peak of my effort, I often put in 16- to 18-hour days.

What is this book about?

Vampire of Macondo is the first book to detail the human rights abuses of the BP Gulf of Mexico oil crime that began in 2010. Although it took over two years to finish it, it’s still the only book on the market that shows the human side of this horrendous crime.

Vampire of Macondo exposes far more than media, BP, the government or courts are telling about the historic Gulf oil catastrophe that began Earth Day, 2010 and continues to destroy human life and the environment. This event is by United Nations definition, a crime against humanity, as detailed in Vampire of Macondo.

Thousands of survivors along the Gulf coast would testify to this, if given the opportunity. Voices of many of those survivors and some of whom have not survived, are in Vampire of Macondo. Their collective voice in Vampire of Macondo provides insight into the needless suffering of innocent people trampled by the petrochemical-military-industrial complex.

The true story of Vampire of Macondo’s human rights abuses impacts all of us, from most of us who eat poisoned Gulf seafood, to most of us who fill the tanks of gas-guzzlers with blood-tainted gasoline instead of driving sustainable vehicles, to all of us whose taxes support fossil fuel subsidies five times as much as sustainable energy. Most people don’t understand this vicious arithmetic because the powers that be don’t want us to know. Vampire of Macondo provides the public has a chance to learn, and to act.

Often using the road less traveled, most of my life, I’ve worked to identify and fill gaps in my professional human rights advocacy. Media, BP and the government have continually censored the human suffering of thousands of people impacted by BP oil and Corexit for over two years, leaving a gaping hole not only at the floor of the Gulf of Mexico, but also in the public’s understanding of this crime.

In his review of Vampire of Macondo, clinical psychologist Dr. Christof Lehman, editor of NSNBC, No Spin News, stated, “Vampire of Macondo is the shocking truth about a people who have become victims of their government's war against its own people and peoples´ worldwide.”

As a matter of the rights to self-determination and survival amid the U.S. military’s aim of Full Spectrum Dominance, Americans and people globally needed the information in Vampire of Macondo.

Dr. Lehman says in his review that Vampire of Macondo “is not only recommended reading for Americans. It is even more recommended reading and a stern warning for anyone in nations like the Philippines, Vietnam, South Korea, Laos, Myanmar, and people anywhere, where the U.S.A. is exporting its particular brand of freedom, democracy, security and human rights.”

What inspired you to write it?

Knowing Gulf coast people have been suffering from not only oil from the BP-wrecked Macondo well, but also from Corexit, shown in research to make crude 52 times more toxic, made my decision to write Vampire of Macondo challenging easy.

Knowing about the real suffering by thousands upon thousands of people without a voice in this Gulf crime because they, like the oil, have been covered up, made this project mandatory for me. Nobody else has written a book as comprehensive as mine, nor one detailing the human rights abuses in as much detail as I have.

Do you have an agent or are you looking for one?

Thus far, I have a virtual book tour agent, Dorothy Thompson with Pump Up Your Book. When Thompson, founding director of Pump Up Your Book, first read my application for her company to represent me, she quickly replied, “Whoa! What a book! I knew there was more to that Gulf disaster than we’ve been told!”

Soon after sending to Thompson one of my Gulf victim interviews that I conducted, and a video demonstrating voices from the shattered Gulf, she replied, “Those poor people.”

Thompson showed the innovative and compassionate response I needed in a company coordinating my virtual book tour. According to what I’ve gleaned about her work on the net, my experience with her is typical – superb.

It’s also been great to work with the Pump Up Your Book videographer who made my book trailer. Following my script, he was able to create a powerful video that motivates people to read Vampire of Macondo. It provides glimpses of the covered up human suffering by real victims, amazing reviews people like political commentator Jim Hightower, EPA advisor and whistle-blower Hugh Kaufman, and What Really Happened? editor and show host Michael Rivero; and, of course, how to purchase the book.

I would welcome another book agent to market my book to publishers and for movie rights if there is one who would demonstrate the same level of enthusiasm and professionalism as Thompson.

If you knew then, what you know now, is there anything you would have done differently?

I thought I knew what I was in for when I started this book over two years ago, but I didn’t! To complete it before the BP trial began took even more time, more endless nights, more attention to detail than I could have imagined. Just as well, too, because I might have had second thoughts about doing it, but probably not. This real story is a staggering crime against humanity needed to be told and nobody else was telling it in a book.

Where can readers purchase a copy of your book?

The two main places at this point are at vampireofmacondo.com and at the Amazon Kindle Store (http://www.amazon.com/Vampire-of-Macondo-ebook/dp/B00AOCUNEW)


Do you have a website and/or blog where readers can find out more?

The Vampire of Macodno website is one of the best places for readers to learn more about it. (http://vampireofmacondo.com/)

And then, there’s the Vampire of Macondo Facebook page that’s attracting attention.

Do you have a video trailer to promote your book? If yes, where can readers find it?

Thank you for asking about that! Yes, there is a powerful Vampire of Macondo book trailer that has even prompted film directors to speak to me about movie possibilities. The trailer is on the Pump Up Your Book website, YouTube, the Vampire of Macondo website and the Vampire of Macondo Facebook page.

It was great working with Pump Up Your Book's videographer who made it. By detailing exactly what I needed for that, he was able to create a moving video, with real victims telling snippets of their stories, giving people reason to know that Vampire of Macondo is one of the most important books available now. The trailer’s glimpses of the covered up human suffering by real victims plus it shows amazing reviews from people like political commentator Jim Hightower, EPA advisor and whistle-blower Hugh Kaufman, and What Really Happened? editor and show host Michael Rivero. It also highlights where to purchase the book.

What is the best investment you have made in promoting your book?

Pump Up Your Book has been my best investment. Its virtual book tour is creating a buzz I’d never expected. Dorothy Thompson at Pump Up You Book has arranged so many interviews, it’s been very impressive. At times, it’s felt like I’ve been in a whirlwind trying to accommodate all of those, plus radio and television interviews.

Of course, being a journalist who has written an average of two human rights news articles daily over the past three years has also given an advantage to me. Loyal subscribers and readers have been among my best customers ordering Vampire of Macondo.

There’s already a buzz about Vampire of Macondo, and the virtual tour is only starting. For example, a Google search of Vampire of Macondo already returns 82,300 results. There were fewer than a dozen week before last.

My present one-month coast-to-coast book tour in the award-winning all-electric Tesla Model S also contributes to the media buzz. It is a history-making advance into the new fossil fuel-free world that must come quickly if humans are to survive.

I could not see promoting my book on the crimes of Big Oil and our government while pumping gasoline into my vehicle. After a decade of driving on bio-fuels, I’ve been blessed with the car considered the best in the world.

I’m stopping to recharge every 250 miles or so, staying in touch with online social network friends, colleagues and readers of my human rights news articles while I promote Vampire of Macondo, especially along the Gulf Coast.

What is one piece of advice you would like to share with aspiring authors everywhere?

If writing is your passion, write! There is also, however, a word of caution:

If writing about matters related to human rights, however, develop a thick skin, because chances are that you will be viciously attacked from different directions, such as from Internet hijacking sources that operate professionally.

These hackers are paid to cause independent writers to self-censors, according to a plethora of journalists and citizen reporters. By hacking websites and emails to the point that a financial burden occurs and is too great to manage, a writer is more likely to go mainstream and write what corporations condone

What is up next for you?

Related to the BP-wrecked Macondo well still spewing oil and methane, despite the public being told it was capped long ago, is the monster oil and gas industry “sinkhole” in Bayou Corne, Louisiana, my beloved old stomping ground. I’ve been covering that salt dome collapse “sinkhole story” and plan to publish a book about that.

Is there anything you would like to add?

The American dream has been shattered. Courageous survivors described throughout Vampire of Macondo, however, manifest determination and hope, some of which is highlighted in Vampire of Macondo. Their messages might help make it possible to co-create a better world, one based on human rights rather than criminal neglect and cover ups for corporate greed. My hunch is that the Louisiana salt dome collapse “sinkhole” story could help do the same.

Thank you for this opportunity to contribute to a world based on human rights rather than glorified, petrochemical-militarized, corporate greed. Vampire of Macondo is available at http://vampireofmacondo.com/

Book Trailer Link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZuSx6pNQhZk&feature=share&list=UURa9ictYJZAITFKsxLOufCw

Vampire of Macondo Tour Page:

http://www.pumpupyourbook.com/2012/11/23/pump-up-your-book-presents-vampire-of-macondo-virtual-book-publicity-tour/

Enter for a chance to win a $100 Visa Gift Card.
Use the Rafflecopter form below or visit the book's tour page.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Interview with R. M. Smith, Author of Union Hypocrisy

R. M. Smith started with the Teamsters in the Convention Industry. In 2000, she went into the Southern Nevada Teamsters’ Training Trust as a trainer and then advanced to Executive Director. While an Executive Director, she sat on negotiating committees, arbitrated cases for apprentices. Smith developed, implemented, and directed a registered apprenticeship program as well as wrote the training manuals. Those manuals were approved by the Department of Labor and Nevada State Industrial Education Department. They were also copyrighted by the Teamsters Training Trust.

Smith had several articles written in trade magazines and the newspaper regarding this apprenticeship program as well as an Innovation award for designing a new trade training program. She was elected by representatives of 26 union trade organizations as secretary treasurer of the Western Apprenticeship Coordinators Association (WACA).

In 2006, she was asked to represent 26 trade unions in negotiating a contract with the Nevada State Secondary Education System. During her time with the Teamsters she was a speaker at several conferences and was the first and only union representative asked to sit on the Crystal Ball Panel for the hospitality industry. Smith has served as the union WACA representative on the selection committee for the new Business School President for Southern Nevada College.

In 2007, Smith started consulting in Labor Relations.

Her blog site unionhypocrisy.wordpress.com and she can be reached at
Unionhypocrisy631@gmail.com

Where did you grow up?

I grew up in Avon Lake, Ohio

When did you begin writing?

I have been writing things all my life including poetry. I have started many books, I just never completed them because I wasn’t happy with what I had done. This was the first one that made it to the finish line!

What is this book about?

Union Hypocrisy is divided into multiple sections, each providing a look inside the current union movement. Information includes how unions react when their own employees want union representation, unions that sell out their own employees, and the history of the ties between unions and the Democratic Party.

A major focus of Union Hypocrisy is how unions have transformed from a movement that fought for workers’ rights into an association that now puts other objectives in front of union workers. It also examines the relationship between organized labor and political parties.

"Nobody has written a book like this before. 'Union Hypocrisy' includes actual documents, along with an untold history that insiders usually do not talk about. It is in the nature of political authors Laura Ingraham and Michelle Malkin, Smith mixes political and business tones to give readers involved in labor unions, or interested in the labor movement, a creative outlook that is unique for a book of this subject matter."

What inspired you to write it?

My experience with the union, and I think the trigger point was when I had heard about some union organizers that were trying to organize their own union while working for one.

How is it similar to other books in its genre? How is it different?

I am not sure that this is similar to any book of its type. It concentrates mostly on how unions interact with their own staff and the political world. It also blends humorous sarcasm with fact, making it entertaining as wells as informative.

What is the most important thing readers can learn from your book?

I think the biggest take away from this book is that unions are corporations.  They are entities that are more concerned with their survival as a business and protecting their “executive board” than the membership they represent. It also takes a detour to what unions originally started as and how they ended up.

Where can readers purchase a copy?

Currently readers can purchase the book on Amazon.com. In about 8 weeks it will be available through bookstores by order.

What is up next for you?

I am exploring two book ideas. One is the the relationship between George Meaney of the AFL-CIO and the CIA post WWII or the events that took place in Las Vegas at Local 631 when the Chicago Teamsters tried to move in. That one involved the Internal Review Board which is the arm of the Department of Justice that has oversight in the International Brotherhood of Teamsters.
Both are very intriguing stories and I have already been doing the research.

Is there anything you would like to add?

I hope that people will give this book a read. It is not the dull dry reading that most readers attach to this type of genre. It is a good read and for those who are not familiar with unions or labor this is a great way to get acquainted!

Book Review: Chasing Glenn Beck by Michael Charney

Part social media experiment, part journey through modern-day politics, Chasing Glenn Beck: A Personal Experiment in Reclaiming Our Hijacked Political Conversation by Michael Charney is engaging and funny.

Charney begins a journey through the Twittersphere to prove that Glenn Beck is nothing more than an entertainer--a liberal in a conservative suit. Setting up his Twitter account "BeckIsALib," he begins tweeting to see who will become his followers and what their responses will be. As he becomes more obsessed with his Klout, he finds himself engaging tweeters on both sides of the political spectrum, discussing his point of view and learning things along the way.

As I mentioned in my First Chapter Review of this book, I feel it's important to start off with the Introduction, because one might be a bit lost otherwise. Though the first chapter speaks mostly about Twitter--how to use it, popular terms, etc., the book moves swiftly from that to Charney's experiment. If I had the chance to speak directly with the author, I might ask why he chose to save some of the funniest quips for his footnotes. People--myself included--are notoriously bad about reading them. I soon realized, however, I might miss good stuff if I didn't continue reading them throughout the book.

Honestly, until I got to the last few chapters I wasn't sure what my review would look like. For a while, I felt the author simply dropped Glenn Beck's name in there as a selling point, because references to Beck became fewer as the book continued. I don't want to reveal why that happened, but it is explained and Charney does a nice job of tying everything together.

From page 206 on, I found myself circling page numbers and underlining portions of text. The author makes several excellent points about society and politics. Chasing Glenn Beck by Michael Charney is definitely worth reading if you want to delve into the role social media plays in politics for the average person and how one man's experiment can evolve into something even he never expected.


Title: Chasing Glenn Beck: A Personal Experiment in Reclaiming Our Hijacked Political Conversation
Author: Michael Charney
Paperback: 260 pages
Publisher: Riddle Brook Publishing LLC (December 16, 2011)
ISBN-10: 0984792708
ISBN-13: 978-0984792702
SRP:  $14.95
Also available in a Kindle edition.

I received a free paperback copy of this book directly from the author in conjunction with his Pump Up Your Book virtual book tour. I received no monetary compensation of any kind to provide this review.
 
This is the tenth book I've read for the following challenge:
 

First Chapter Review: Chasing Glenn Beck by Michael Charney

While I hadn't planned to do this, I am doing it. What is that you might ask? I am writing a First Chapter Review on a book I know I plan to review next month. Why? Well, mostly because I love politics. For the most part I stay away from it on my blogs, at Facebook and Twitter because as an author I can't afford to tick people off because of my political views. Does that make me a wimp?

This is a book I am reviewing for a Pump Up Your Book tour, but I am not the coordinator promoting this particular book. It has been calling me since it arrived and my curiosity couldn't be tamed until I at least read the opening to see what it's all about.

TITLE:Chasing Glenn Beck: A Personal Experiment in Reclaiming Our Hijacked Political Conversation

AUTHOR:Michael Charney

BLURB: Is Glenn Beck a liberal?

Perhaps not, but when Michael Charney decides to plant that idea out in the “Twitterverse,” some interesting conversations begin. People shout at him (MORON!), block him (SCUMSUCKER!), and belittle him (WAKE UP, IDIOT!). Eventually, though, some people start to listen…

Today’s political dialogue has been stolen, hijacked from us by those with the loudest voices. Until we begin to take that conversation back for ourselves, we remain at the mercy of those with the most radical agendas, the most extreme visions for our country. The risk is great: a country run by a vociferous minority that just happens to scream louder than the rest of us is NOT what democracy is supposed to be about…

With discussions about politics, schools, national security, manifestos, the Pledge of Allegiance, the Flag Code–and the Senate’s Candy Desk–Charney cuts a wide swath through the issues facing our country, a country he claims has a serious case of “Electile Dysfunction.”

COVER: While the design is something a reader might expect from a book covering modern-day politics, I don't care for it. The sullen man with his arms crossed makes me bristle. I feel like I'm five years old again getting stared down by father who is angry over something I've done wrong.

FIRST CHAPTER: In a book of this nature, I felt it important to start with the Introduction. I'm glad I did, because I'm not certain I would have understood the scope of the book without it. One thing about the Introduction caught my eye. While one of the author's rules is that he won't invent quotes and attribute them to Beck, he did say he might, "twist a few of his quotes to suit my purpose..." This is being done in the interest of fun.

The first chapter is more a lesson in Twitter than anything else. It opens with the author's experiment in its first week and having gained his first follower. Now, he doesn't know if the user has automatically set up her account to follow anyone with the #GlennBeck hash tag in their post, but since she hasn't tweeted anything in a while, he figures it's likely.

Charney goes through explaining a bit how followers work, the importance of hashtags, the 140 character limit, and things like that, and how he went about setting up his own Twitter account to perform his experiment. Again, one thing stood out in this chapter--his bio, "Preserving conservatism by exposing the hypocrisy of the conservative media."

KEEP READING: Yes, and not only because I am supposed to review this book. The first chapter, while a bit dry because of the Twitter explanation, captured me with the Twitter bio. I immediately want to know what he means, and how he sees things. That doesn't mean I'll agree. I may end thinking he's totally off base. And though I didn't learn anything new about Twitter--since I use it every day--Charney adds some humor into it, like when he discovers his one follower (a Glenn Beck fan) unfollows him after he sends her a message of thanks for following him.


Look for my full review coming on February 24th.

I received a free copy of this book from the author through Pump Up Your Book in exchange for my honest opinions. I did not receive any monetary compensation for this first chapter review or the review that will follow.

Anathema! America's War on Medicine by Michael Pryce M.D. - Book Review

Health Care Reform is an issue that came to the forefront during the last national election. Nationalized health care, seriously pushed in the 1990's by then First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton, became a component of Presidential candidate, Barrack Obama's platform. People voted for his idea of "Together We Can" and the need for change in Washington. Only now it seems that Obama's idea of change might not be what they had in mind.

With tea parties taking place all over the country and heated debates in Congress, no one can deny that the health care system needs to be reformed. It's how to do it that remains a sticking point.

Anathema! America's War on Medicine: A Veteran Doctor Offers a Cure for What Ails America's Health Care System by Michael Pryce, M.D. could possibly hold some of the answers.

Pryce offers the idea of a universal health care plan not controlled by the government, funded without raising taxes, that uses what is already available in the private sector. In his three-step plan, health care in America would be restructured, liability rewritten, and a plan to manage risk formed.

This reader certainly learned a lot about America's health care system by reading Anathema! America's War on Medicine. Pryce speaks from his over three decades of experience as an orthopedic surgeon and medical expert. He also served on the Senatorial Inner Circle and Presidential Medical Roundtables during the Reagan and George H.W. Bush administrations.

The author takes the reader through the roots of the problem, which he says stem from "greedy hospital administrators, profit-hungry health-insurance executives, and government bureaucrats" who are more concerned with the bottom line than the welfare of the sick and injured.

Some of the interesting information discussed in Anathema! America's War on Medicine includes:

* The United States ranked 19th out of 19 nations in a British study that ranked leading industrialized nations on the rate of preventable deaths.

* "In 2005, the United States spent $6,697 per capita for health care--which is twice as much as five other industrialized nations."

* The United States health care system is primitive in its use of information technology.

* And here's something we've heard about lately, "many people suffer because they can't afford medical care."

Pryce indicates how having a common digital medical record will reduce cost. Right now, as Pryce explains, when a person switches doctors, the new doctor runs a whole new set of tests to determine a person's initial physical health when being taken on as a patient, because he doesn't have easy access to past medical history. His forms aren't the same as another doctor's forms and time is wasted regenerating information that should be easily accessible.

Within this discussion is the topic of "defensive medicine", which I have experienced on more than one occasion. Defensive medicine, as defined by Pryce, is "the practice doctors have developed whereby any and all diagnostic tests are ordered in an attempt to document the chart so that it cannot be used against them in a lawsuit."

He also brings up how liability coverage has skyrocketed, but he also mentions a hidden problem that speaks to issues outside of the medical field : fewer qualified candidates are applying to medical schools. Pryce goes on to state that while he hasn't seen signs of gross incompetence, the rising number of medical "mistakes" does seem cause for concern. And since attorneys make hefty fees when they win such cases against doctors (which is a small percentage of the time), the cost to obtain liability insurance stays at ridiculous levels.

One point Pryce also addresses is the amount of rules and complexities of regulations surrounding Medicare. Doctors and their staffs find themselves trying to comply with them and failing. And the rules change frequently, making it almost impossible to keep up with them all.

Overall, this reader believes Pryce makes excellent points and has a plan that is more sound than anything coming out of Congress. Where this reader sees issues with Pryce's ideas is that it can be hard to imagine anything of this nature could be taken on without the involvement of the federal government. Not that the government would be necessary to run the program, but that the government would insist upon being involved. Pryce is talking about taking the money that goes to premiums now and using that to fund this program. And how do health insurance companies not collapse under his plan seems a bit shaky to me. Pryce talks about insurance companies bidding for this business. What happens to the other guys in a realistic world?

The other challenge I have with this plan is that Pryce wants patients to pay for a portion of liability insurance, claiming that it is unfair for doctors to pay the full cost to protect themselves in case someone sues them. This opens up a whole can of worms for other industries to suddenly feel they shouldn't have to pay 100% of their own liability coverage either. I would prefer to see something proposed where if a patient brings a lawsuit against a doctor and loses, he has to pay all attorney fees for both sides.

I like the author's idea of having written standards of care, but why do doctors ever have a difference of opinion on how to treat patients if every diagnostic code should be standardized? Pryce says some doctors have developed their own style or approach to particular problems, but that leads to a lot of medical waste and raises health care costs. While I'm not prepared to argue that point, I still believe getting a second opinion can be important when dealing with certain medical issues, and can't, at this point, see how this portion of his plan would play out in the real world.

Anathema! America's War on Medicine is definitely a thought-provoking book. If you're at all interested in the current debate on Health Care Reform, and even if you're just looking to learn more about how America's health care system operates, it's definitely worth taking the time to read.


Title: Anathema! America's War on Medicine
Author: Michael Pryce, M.D.
Publisher: Trafford Publishing
ISBN-10: 1425185754
ISBN-13: 978-1425185756
SRP: $18.00

The American Medical Money Machine by James R. Goldberg

Health care today sits at the center of a ‘perfect’ storm whose effects are inescapable for every living person of every age from infancy to death: the tenure of politicians up to the highest levels of key governments, the trillion-dollar revenues and profits in every world currency and the life or death of us all, not just in the U.S. but worldwide.

The tangled world of healthcare seems like an undecipherable riddle. What’s wrong? Who’s responsible? The suspects are everywhere.

Following the death of my only child, who died under mysterious circumstances at a U.S. – accredited hospital in Bangkok, I began a three-and-a-half year intensive investigation to discover WHY?

The unimaginable paths I followed started in Bangkok but quickly led to discoveries of how vast and secreted corruption in the American medical industry have contributed to destroy, with self interested greed and unbridled power, the greatest healthcare system the world has ever known.

Buy The American Medical Money Machine: The Destruction of Health Care in America and the Rise of Medical Tourism at Amazon!



James R. Goldberg, has served as a senior level executive and CEO with deep experience in running early and mid-stage technologically complex businesses with a major focus in health care. He has been a Principal of one of the world’s leading technology/business consultancies, the PA Consulting Group, based in London, England.

The author has been primarily involved, as a biomedical engineer and technologist, in developing medical technologies for surgery, drug delivery and diagnostics.

He served as contracted Executive Director of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories health care initiative, a U.S. Defense Research Laboratory program aimed at converting military technology into medical technology, Jim has invented over 12 technologies that have received U.S. and International Patents.

Goldberg earned his advanced degrees. along with other post graduate degrees at Michigan State University, New York University, Stanford University and European study programs including the Sorbonne, France, The University of Mainz,The University of Jena, Germany and the University of Madrid, Spain.

To follow James during his virtual book tour, please visit http://virtualbooktours.wordpress.com/

Distant Thunder, Prophetic Fiction by Jimmy Root Jr.

In Distant Thunder: Book One of the Lightning Chronicles, the unthinkable has happened. Iranian terrorists are poised to strike the United States and Israel with tactical nuclear weapons. How will the world respond? More importantly, how will a sleepy suburban Church in America respond?

Ty Dempsey is a young American pastor who finds himself in a trial of grief after the loss of his younger brother to the war in Iraq. During his darkest hours, God brings to life a series of passages in the Bible that Ty had always considered allegorical in nature. They aren’t. With a strong sense of urgency that the message must be preached to his congregation, Ty dares to go beyond anything he has ever done before. Most of his people are intrigued, but others begin to stir trouble. The result is a church conflict that threatens to destroy his ministry. His only reprieve is found in a budding romance with talented and beautiful singer, Blake Sieler.

Meanwhile, Moshe Eldan is an Israeli F-16 “Lightning” pilot who is faithfully doing his duty to protect his increasingly beleaguered nation. But things have gotten more complicated than normal. Beyond the fact that Hizbollah fighters are administering their cyclical rocket attacks across the border of Lebanon, neighbor nations are beginning to act provocatively, even after a Palestinian State has been formed. Worse, his wife confronts him with a startling prophecy from the Bible that seems to be coming true ten thousand feet beneath his wings. Never one to be anything other than a secular Jew, Moshe is forced into a journey toward faith. Then, his Lightning jet is shot down by a Russian Mig 29, and things get suddenly complicated.

Strangely, these two men, from totally different backgrounds and cultures are connected in ways that can only be orchestrated by God. This fast plausible, paced thriller never stops moving, and the end will be shocking.

EXCERPT:

Tel-Abib, Babylon 568 B.C.

The old man kicked at a clump of dried grass, while he wiped away the sweat that was burning his eyes. Just standing in this heat weakened his spindly legs, and a scorching wind seared his lungs. It was the season when relentless summer winds sucked the life out of just about everything in this “Heart of Babylon,” greatest of all kingdoms, center of the universe.

“Bah,” spat Ezekiel, the crusty old prophet. “There is only one King who will lay claim, and it is not Nebuchadnezzar!”

He wasn’t concerned about his words falling on the ears of a stray Chaldean; he was already known by most as a lunatic. In reality, only a handful of his own people actually listened to him. Mostly, he was mocked as a babbling fool, and that only sharpened his frustration.

He was meandering along the eastern bank of the Chebar Canal, alone with his tortured thoughts and nagging regrets. So many hopes and dreams had been piled up like refuse in a trash heap, sometimes he wondered if there was any point in continuing what seemed to be a fruitless ministry. Worse, Ezekiel knew he was nearing his last breath. The reality that he would not see his beloved Jerusalem again weighed heavily upon him.

Stolen away from his homeland by the King of Babylon some thirty years earlier, the prophet had nearly forgotten the beauty and blessings of Judah. Only images remained. Some were pleasant ponderings; others were memories of shattered possibilities. But most glaring were the remembrances of a greater invasion of wickedness that had consumed his people.

He’d cried out fervently while still in Israel, trying to awaken the people to the abomination of it all. Few listened. Wretchedness had been unleashed upon the people, and it came from the iniquities of the people themselves. No matter how passionately he’d challenged the depravity, there seemed to be no power behind his words. None of his pronouncements carried the necessary weight to bring about change. His desire to call upon the conscience of his nation was simply not enough. So, with the heaviness that accompanied a sense of failure, Ezekiel had left prophetic utterance to the prophets, to the few who claimed to have the power.

It wasn’t until he’d settled in the hovel called Tel-abib, situated beside this dirty river, that he first began to feel an odd stirring in his belly. Strangely, it signaled the arrival of a power that would energize his words. It was also when his dreams began to turn dark. He was shown things he, to this day, could not comprehend.

His visions were so horrifyingly real that he’d developed a tremor in his hands, and a slight twitch had become noticeable under his eye. Whenever he shared the dreams and visions, the quaking and twitching became so prominent that people would either discount him as sick or denounce him as a fool. But the inner stirring only intensified until it became a raging storm.

He lifted his head and looked toward a setting sun smeared by distant dust-filled winds. Slowly, his thoughts turned to his once lovely Jerusalem, and it made him mourn. Worse, his wild visions concerned that once great city. Over the last few weeks his waking dreams had disturbed him so much that he’d hardly been able to stomach his food.

Whenever the trance fell, a huge valley would be stretched before him, a valley filled with nothing but dust, dry bones and armor. It was a place of defeat and death, where all flesh had been picked clean by vultures and jackals. Some great battle had been waged and an army had met complete annihilation.

With each repetition of the vision, the prophet would end up puzzled and confused. But the last few times, something different had happened. What seemed to have been a messenger from the Almighty had appeared beside him. The figure was beyond comprehension, yet exuding a sorrowful compassion for the lost people lying before him.

“What do you see, son of man? Describe it to me,” the bronze-hued, light shrouded being commanded.

Ezekiel’s knees were banging together like drums being played at a wedding feast. “I see bones, nothing but bones. Bones separated from one another and piled high. Swords, helms, bucklers, and shields,” Ezekiel answered weakly.

“Can these bones live again?” the being asked. “Can there be life in place of death?”

Ezekiel strained his eyes out over the valley looking for any sign of a survivor, any life at all. Not even a bird remained to pick at the bones. Everything was desolate. With a shrug and a sigh, he let the question stand for a moment. How does one give answer to such a majestic being, when words fall short of holiness and are shrouded in trepidation?

“You know, my Lord, you know,” was the prophet’s feeble reply.

“I tell you, son of man, these bones will live again.”

Suddenly, a swirling wind blew outward from the messenger and passed down the entire length of the valley. It was accompanied by bursts of lightning as it rolled forward in raw, creative power.

A clicking sound could be heard, something far beyond Ezekiel’s knocking knees. It was the sickly pop of bone reconnecting with bone. He looked toward the nearest pile of death and gasped as a soldier was swiftly reassembled, then another. He witnessed a torrent of bones flying as if they were looking for the correct skeleton to connect to. Then, sinew and tendon began to form in joints and spread rapidly over each body. Flesh appeared. Clothing followed it.

Armor flew into place on one lone soldier nearby. The new man took his place among the hundreds of companies who were being formed across the entire valley. Then, silence. The army was standing, living, breathing, and ready to march to war. Sweat poured down Ezekiel’s face as he turned to the messenger.



“I tell you, that which was dead will come to life. My wayward people were crushed under my discipline, but they shall be restored. Jacob shall live again, and my servant David shall be king. I will make a covenant of peace with them. I will be their God, and they will be my people. Then the whole world will see my sanctuary standing in their company forever.” Then the man was gone.

It was the same nearly every night for the last moon cycle. Ezekiel grunted as he thought of how he was getting to the point where he could repeat the words with each night’s visitation.

However, this last part of the vision needed a bit more consideration before he shared it. The people were already raising their eyebrows, no need to confirm his lunacy just yet.

Suddenly, the prophet felt himself driven to his knees by the weight of a massive hand. He was pushed mercilessly downward until his sunburned forehead touched the parched earth he’d been kicking moments before. Then a voice said,

“Son of man, set your face to the north, to Gog of the land of Magog, to the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him…”

You can listen to the Prologue and the first two chapters from Distant Thunder by visiting the author's website.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:


Jimmy Root Jr., has served as an ordained minister with the Assemblies of God since 1982, including service in Nebraska, Missouri, and a seven year term as a missionary in Colombia, South America. Jimmy is the lead Pastor of Family Worship Center of Smithville, a growing suburb of Kansas City, Missouri. Married to his wife Jean for twenty-nine years, the Roots have three grown children.

Root is a 1981 alumnus of Central Bible College of Springfield, Missouri where he majored in Biblical Studies and Pastoral Theology. He is also an alumnus of Southeastern University, Lakeland Florida, where he majored in Intercultural Studies.

A lifetime student of Biblical prophecy, Jimmy is also the Professor of Eschatology, The Study of End Times, for Berean University through the Northern Missouri District School of Ministry. He is a featured speaker at Churches and other venues, and is the host of “The Bible Uncensored” radio broadcast heard on radio stations around the country.

His writings, both in book form as well as his blog, are purposed to be a wake-up call to a sleepy American church that seems to be losing a truly Christian World View. Distant Thunder and its sequels, A Gathering Storm and Then Comes Lightning, will reveal to the adventure/thriller aficionado the reality of the coming fulfillment of Biblically prophesied events. You can visit his website at www.lightningchronicles.com or his blog at www.prophecyalert.blogspot.com. Connect with him on twitter at www.twitter.com/JimmyRootJr and Facebook at
www.facebook.com/jimmyrootjr.

Jamie Glazov and United in Hate

United in Hate crystallizes the danger that a Barack Obama administration, if tilted too far left, presents to American security and global freedom.

As history shows, leftist beliefs have spawned mass carnage and misery. Put into practice, they have caused the deaths of millions. Until now, it has been extremely difficult for rational people who value personal freedom to understand the motivations of those who live in comfort and yet embrace monstrous dictators, ideologies, and policies that leave only death and destruction in their wake.

In United in Hate, Dr. Jamie Glazov presents startling new insights into the toxic beliefs and torturously contorted thought processes of the leftists who lust to destroy the very freedoms that allow them to exist. Glazov explains the Left’s love for and deification of totalitarian ideologies, from Marxism to radical Islam, with clarity and candor.

In this groundbreaking examination, Dr. Glazov at last reveals the vile and morbid forces that impel so-called “progressives” to embrace not just murderous ideologies such as Marxism and radical Islam, but the systematic elimination of all those standing in the way of their new utopia.

Advance Praise for United in Hate by Jamie Glazov:

An ambitious, original and well-documented study that addresses some of the most interesting and important political-historical questions of our times.

Paul Hollander, author of “Political Pilgrims" and "The End of Commitment.”

A must-read for those who care about truth, the rule of law, and any hope of ultimate stability for humankind. The redefining work for twenty first century readers of an eternal message.

Robert C. McFarlane, National Security Advisor to President Reagan. Chairman and CEO of McFarlane Associates Inc.

In years to come, this book will become a classic, not just for conservatives but for all Americans interested in the truth and how to combat a perfidious alliance.

Steven Emerson, author of "American Jihad: The Terrorists Living Amongst Us" and producer of the documentary "Jihad in America."

Read and excerpt:

“The believer’s totalitarian journey begins with an acute sense of alienation from his own society—an alienation to which he is, himself, completely blind. In denial about the character flaws that prevent him from bonding with his own people, the believer has convinced himself that there is something profoundly wrong with his society—and that it can be fixed without any negative trade-offs. He fantasizes about building a perfect society where he will, finally, fit in…

A key ingredient of this paradigm is that the believer has failed to rise to the challenges of secular modernity; he has not established real and lasting interpersonal relationships or internalized any values that help him find meaning in life. Suffering from a spiritual emptiness, of which he himself is not cognizant, the believer forces non-spiritual solutions onto his spiritual problems. He exacerbates this dysfunction by trying to satisfy his every material need, which the great benefits of modernity and capitalism allow—but the more luxuries he manages to acquire, the more desperate he becomes. We saw this with the counterculture leftists of the sixties and seventies, and we see it with the radical leftists of today. Convinced that it is incumbent upon society, and not him, to imbue his life with purpose, the believer becomes indignant; he scapegoats his society—and ends up despising and rejecting it.

Just like religious folk, the believer espouses a faith, but his is a secular one. He too searches for personal redemption—but of an earthly variety. The progressive faith, therefore, is a secular religion. And this is why socialism’s dynamics constitute a mutated carbon copy of Judeo-Christian imagery. Socialism’s secular utopian vision includes a fall from an ideal collective brotherhood, followed by a journey through a valley of oppression and injustice, and then ultimately a road toward redemption.

In rejecting his own society, the believer spurns the values of democracy and individual freedom, which are anathema to him, since he has miserably failed to cope with both the challenges they pose and the possibilities they offer. Tortured by his personal alienation, which is accompanied by feelings of self-loathing, the believer craves a fairy-tale world where no individuality exists, and where human estrangement is thus impossible. The believer fantasizes about how his own individuality and self will be submerged within the collective whole…. As history has tragically recorded, this “holy cause” follows a road that leads not to an earthly paradise, but rather to an earthly hell in all of its manifestations. The political faith rejects the basic reality of the human condition—that human beings are flawed and driven by self-interest—and rests on the erroneous assumption that humanity is malleable and can be reshaped into a more perfect form. This premise spawned the nightmarish repressions and genocidal campaigns of Stalin, Mao, Pol Pot, and other communist dictators in the twentieth century. Under their rule, more than one hundred million human beings were sacrificed on the altar where a new man would ostensibly be created.”


About the author: Jamie Glazov holds a Ph.D. in history with specialties in U.S., Russian, and Canadian foreign policy. He is the managing editor of Frontpagemag.com.