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Summary: Give Me A Case of These Books: Everyone Should Have One
Review: In the same relaxed style that has made his Friday night 20/20 broadcasts "must see TV" for open-minded Americans, interested more in truth than partisan politics, ABC co-anchor John Stossel delivers a book every citizen should read. Far from partisan, Give Me A Break leaves no sacred political cows untipped as Democrats and Republicans alike are toppled to the ground in this truly remarkable breath of fresh air. In breezy, easy-to-read prose, Stossel recounts example after example of how a risk-phobic, nanny government threatens to strangle the very creativity and innovation that have made America the envy of the world. Here you'll read about the $300,000 outhouse you paid for, the victim industries that profit from the misery of others, why trial attorneys and their lawsuits are more than a nuissance, among other hot topics. Give Me A Break is somewhat predictable (but no less valuable) if you consider Stossel's libertarian bent. However, what is truly admirable -- not to mention, radically bullet-proof- about his writing is his willingness to not only admit to errors, but to recount them in detail. Instead of giving his detractors ammunition to blow up his arguments, Stossel freely admits to his short comings and past mistakes and explains forthrightly where his thinking went terribly wrong. While I am not completely convinced that trial lawyers are the devils of democracy, reading this book opened up the subject for me as none of the regular broadcast or cable journalists ever have. Give Me A Break is a highly recommended book by a heroic journalist. -- Regina McMenamin
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Summary: A tour de force of intellectual honesty
Review: John Stossel is one of the few reporters to emerge from the stupor of mindless media liberalism to rational observation. In many respects 'Give Me A Break' is a textbook on systems thinking. Stossel destroys a multitude of liberal and conservative paradigms by demonstrating the second and third order consequences of self-serving governmental, social and economic positions. Stossel understands, like few others in the media, that there are trade-offs, and often-unintended consequences, with every decision. Stossel's book is balanced, humorous and irreverent; it relentlessly unmasks the uncomfortable realities underlying the massive clouds blue smoke generated by special interest groups. If you are looking for a great read that will expand your understanding of contemporary social issues, then by all means purchase this book.
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Summary: stossel's journey and growth of ideas
Review: I've been a fan of John Stossel for more than 20 years.
I've always found his "give me a break" segments very entertaining. But what strikes me about the book is his growth of ideas from the "common" knowledge (lawyers are out to help you, the goverment is out to help you) to "leave me alone".
He ties in his views with his life. He's very much the
"accidental" media personality. While he's called a "right-winger" but some, he's really a libertarian. if you have an open mind, an watch his reports, you should definitely read this book.
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Summary: Even the Title/Subtitle Confused Me (and why no footnotes?)
Review: The Cover of the book is just as misleading as the rest of this mess. I, like many readers, find interest in Politics, media, liberty, and how all 3 interrelate. I figured Stossel could shed some light on just how much the Media safeguards its stories (and whether or not the media is as Conservative as logic would dictate, since it is run as a Corporation with Profit responsibility to shareholders). I guessed that Stossel, originally a watchdog for consumers, would recount how mad he had made advertisers (who, in turn, complained to ABC). After all, the Cover said "Give me a Break" right underneath where he says "Scourge of the liberal media". I misread the Book's cover language as sarcasm over the whole "liberal media" fiction.
Instead, Stossel sets out to explain that at some point he started reading Reason magazine and became a Libertarian. Wow...big deal...who cares? Republicans preach freedom & free trade, only to ignore personal freedoms like abortion, drug use, or -- as Stossel points out-- Midget tossing. Democrats are holier than thou & may allow personal freedom, but they seek to make government an answer for "fair" distribution of wealth. Both sides are inconsistent.
So, even if Libertarianism is a refreshing view that we are not allowed to hear very often, is it worth a whole book to document that John Stossel became a Libertarian?? I dont think so.
Perhaps most importantly, Stossel footnotes or documents nothing. He gets on his soapbox about veracity of information, but fails to show where he found the longwinded stories that he retells.
Stossel could have made a much better book if he had explained why the Media never even discusses how silly the Republicans and Democrats have become. Stossel misses a great opportunity to explain how the Media and 2 Major parties stifle 3rd party thought (and thoughts on Liberty in general).
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Summary: Great book!
Review: Give Me a Break is a great book.
I found it quite helpful.
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Summary: The bad rating is from his exporting ideas
Review: The negativity comes from his capitalism ideas. I just watched the 20/20 show on 1/28/05 and he says "not allowing exporting is un-American." Really? Sorry John but we are constantly told to "buy American". It was made Walmart. Now, Walmart cheats their employees and the American shopper and is the #1 importer. It took a state representative and an analysis to show me how Walmart and exporting jobs ruins the lower class and America. A company supplying Walmart with union workers will only save a few hundred thousand a year by outsourcing their manufacturing after paying taxes on the import merchandise. The jobs Walmart creates are lower paying jobs with late night or weekend work with poor benefits. That money the company saved by exporting can easily be recouped by reducing the CEO and executives salary. Oh, and simply make the CEO a 2 year contract. They don't get paid the $50,000 a year for both years if they don't fulfil the entire contract. Yes, many will take the experience and look for another job but 2 years for a CEO is not bad since they turnover that often anyway.
edworkforce.house.gov/democrats/WALMARTREPORT.pdf
From his book: Ben and Jerry's is the perfect example of limited capitalism. 5 or 7 times any employee is acceptable. Stossel says it didn't work because Ben and Jerry couldn't find an acceptable CEO candidate. Bull, a candidate who won't accept a $100,000 salary and possible $10,000 signing bonus? Fine, get someone with a $50,000 a year salary with $75,000 bonus. That is incentive. I know plenty of 30 year olds with an MBA and several years experience who will work for that. I know plenty of 40 year olds who would too. His example in the book was one CEO who made 30 million and said he didn't have to work another day in his life. Fine, let's increase the tax for those in the higher end bracket from 37% to 47% with no loop holes to reduce their tax bracket. They don't really create more jobs with that money just more money for themselves. That's all they are really doing. GM has always made money but executive greed keeps them importing the parts for Chevy and exporting jobs to Mexico keeps the prices competitive. But why can't GM executives just accept a $75,000 salary? That's plenty to live on in the Detroit area. The day someone shows me how they have "earned" $200,000 a year I will give them credit but no one has. I have worked with the Department of Defense and many private sector corporate executives. All of them that make that much are expendable and don't earn it. But how do we stop the greedy ones at the top when they make the rules? That's the problem right there. Unions may have their problems but they fight for the average worker. That is why Walmart got rid of their meat department, they formed a union and the greedy Sam Walton heirs didn't like it. Please email if you are worth more than $200,000 a year. I have got to hear how, md457@hotmail.com
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Summary: A Nice Change of Pace
Review: First I should mention that I have been a John Stossel fan, since I first saw one of his Give Me a Break segments on 20/20. Because of this, I was eager to finally have the opportunity to read this book, though, one might say I am a little bias in my review since I have already stated, I like the guy. However, sometimes, when you read a book written by somebody who you are use to seeing on TV, you tend to come away dissapointed. Well, I didn't and I was suprised at how much I actually enjoyed reading Stossel's book.
It is not a complicated book, which requires a PhD to read. The pace is smooth, quick and written pretty much in the same manner he presents his TV episodes. So, if you are looking for an indepth philosophical arguement by reading Give Me a Break, you found the wrong book. Not that John Stossel is some lightweight. He clearly demonstrates an unique understanding at how modern America works from his years of experience being a consumer reporter. Throughout the book, Stossel provides real life examples he himself has reported on, and which have been seen on TV. Because of this, you feel a sense of trust building as you move through the pages.
The other nice thing about Give Me a Break, is the light nature tone throughout the book. Sometimes, when an "insider" writes a book like this, you get a sort of vindictive feeling coming from them. The language can be harsh, brash and leaves no punches behind, which can be disappointing and undermines the authors argument. For example (Al Franken, Ann Coulter, Benard Goldberg, etc). Not that the books are bad, just they leave a bitter taste in your mouth. However, John Stossel avoids this unfortunate path and Give Me a Break remains light hearted, yet serious about its intent. He dosen't pull unfair punches and tries to provide an unbalanced look at each issue by actually stating the verbal or written responses of individuals who were part of the book.
Over all, the book is a good, easy to read, vision of modern America that pretty much stays in the middle of the issues. I tend to prefer heavier, more philosophical reads, but sometimes a book such as Give Me a Break comes along and you find yourself simply enjoying a unique experience without some of the anguish of thinking the world is coming to an end you get with others. If you are looking for a simple, yet informative book, the I highly recommend John Stossels, Give Me a Break.
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Summary: Food for Thought -- Comfort or Confrontation?
Review: "Give Me a Break" is an easy read, and potentially a very challenging one. Stossel compels us to think outside our boxes on a wide variety of issues. Depending on what cherished notions you hold dear, this can be very comforting or very confrontational. For instance, his investigative reporting style is very well suited to exposing consumer scams like breast enlargement through hypnosis, supposedly unique cosmetic formulas, envelope stuffing, and price-fixing on milk in New York City. Any reader can take these accounts at face value because the subjects were caught on lying tape. End of story.
I am much less comfortable with his style when it comes to scientific issues. He offers credible arguments on subjects like sodium intake, dioxin and breast implants, but not on issues like global warming, food safety, and genetically engineered organisms because he does not cite his sources, so there is no way to check his facts. Some of what he writes is not accurate according to published research, and these issues have much broader consequences that are not addressed at all. [Yes, I know organic produce is more expensive for marginally superior nutritional value. But related issues like economic devastation through crop contamination by increasingly pervasive GMOs should not be ignored.]
I applaud Stossel's effort and courage in taking on excessive regulation, ruinous legal practices and wasteful government. These sections really did more to clarify my understanding of Libertarian thought than any I'd read previously. In particular, his examples of welfare abuse by the wealthy, the tobacco settlement, and free market capitalism are a breath of fresh air.
The major disagreement I have with him is his clumsy use of the term *greed* with regard to profit, compensation and capitalism. Any business owner knows their business has to make a profit to continue to exist. No problem there. And I personally don't care how much profit Monsanto makes. The issue that many activists have with some corporations is *recklessness* -- the pursuit of profit without adequate regard for the consequences of those directly or even indirectly affected by their products or services.
I read this book to challenge my thinking and beliefs. It certainly did that. I've come away with a much stronger commitment to doing my own due diligence, and digging deeper for all the facts on matters that I care about most.
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Summary: I am NOT a libertarian but I liked this book.
Review: First, I am not a supporter Capitalism. That being said, I liked this book. It is absurd for people (people on the left) to criticize Stossel for certain things he has said here and there without respecting him for some of his ideals. I'll tell you. I'm not a conservative nor am I a libertarian. I wouldn't even lump myself in with the "liberals".
There are some things I agree with in this book, some I don't. I don't really agree with his free market theories but I can see where he's coming from.
John Stossel is a man who is not afraid to tell someone bluntly that they are a crook or a liar. He did something similar to Donald Trump. ANYONE who does THAT, gets some respect from me.
The ONLY criticism I have is that often times in the book, John Stossel does NOT give footnotes or any indication on where he got some of his information. In some places, he does... but most times he does not. This works against him. If he took lessons from someone like Noam Chomsky (who uses heavy footnotes) then the book would be much better. Which reminds me, I would love to see a debate between Chomsky and Stossel. Not because I think Stossel is even close to Chomsky intellectually but because Stossel is so in-your-face and Chomsky is pretty laid back.
Anyway, the book is good and if you are a leftist/activist and can't stand the thought of reading this book, then you are as close minded as the parents you're trying to rebel against.
Open your mind. Its okay to read a book and disagree with some things and agree with others.
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Summary: A Champion Of American Ideals
Review: Give Me A Break is just that...a clear and thoughtful dissection of societal myths clouded by politics, greed, self-victimization and stupidity. Stossel exposes the government, activist groups, corporate executives and even his own ilk in the news media. This is a no hold barred analysis of the corruption of truth by all aspects of the social fabric. If ye be rich or poor, civilian or politician, intellectual or layman, conservative or liberal, watch out your in his line of sight. Stossel's underlying theme is libertarian at its core; he espouses the wonders of democracy, individualism and capitalism to succeed in the improvement of mankind. All this scrutiny of fraud and promotion of free market democracy are touchingly conveyed through Stossel's personal and professional struggles which, he learns to overcome and contends with. This book is riveting, eye opening and hopeful. Although you may not agree with some of Stossel's points, his compelling stories and persuasive arguments will challenge your understanding of reality; he opens your mind and leaves you energized with hope. Stossel is truly a passionate champion of truth and American ideals.
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