The Ten Things You Can't Say in America

Rating:
Summary: Better Than Most Similar Titles
Review: I give Elder credit for not resorting to the blatant misrepresentations and outright fabrications frequently utilized by Coulter, D'Souza, and other popular conservative writers. However, he still fails to make his case, often citing questionable sources, making unsupported assertions, substituting anecdotes for evidence, and making huge leaps of logic that could be picked apart by any first-year philosophy student.

Rating:
Summary: Well Written... Every American should read this book!!!
Review: Larry Elder's Ten Things You Can't Say in America is probably the best book I've read in years. From the Opening Chapter on Blacks and Racism to the final discussion of the fallacy of Gun Control, Mr. Elder is on the offensive against every special interest from the Liberal Media to Femenists. His book is witty and insightful and Long Overdue.

Having said this I feel the reader must be made aware of the fact that the Sage from South Central backs his views up with facts. He uses quotes by people like Spike Lee (amongst others) to back up his argument that blacks are more racist than whites. He uses statistical figures to prove Gun Control does not work and will not solve the problem of violence in American Society. He uses independant figures to prove the media is not only biased but that this bias is destructive.

I have to say that by the end of this book I was certainly onboard with Mr. Elder and his ideas (i already agreed with most of them but not all). The best thing about Larry Elder is the fact that he not only points out a problem, but provides us with a soloution. If you read no other social commentary this year, read this one.

Rating:
Summary: An excellent primer on domestic American policies
Review: I read this book because while I know a lot about American foreign policy, I lack expertise in American domestic/economic policy. I have also been a fan of Larry Elder for several years. Elder takes his "Republitarian" theories and backs them up with both statistics and facts, illustrating to the reader the applicability of his ideas in a real world scenario.

While I'm not sold on all of Elder's ideas (yet) he accomplished a goal that perhaps is more important than winning me over. He made me think about a range of different subjects in a variety of new ways.

If you're looking for a domestic political primer that will challenge your outlook on issues such as: gun control, health care, the war on drugs, race relations, media bias and a host of others, "10 Things" is a worthwhile read.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent but not for anyone with a closed mind
Review: As a libertarian I was thrilled to find this book. Months ago I couldn't have even told you who Larry Elder is. The radio stations in my neck of the woods do not carry Elder's program so I didn't know anything about Elder when I bought this book. I read the blurb, thought it sounded interesting and read it with an open mind. I wasn't prepared to agree with 99 if not 100 percent of what I read but that's what happened. But as a caveat let me again reiterate that this book is NOT for anyone with a closed mind. If you are so entrenched in certain religious and/or political beliefs that you cannot read someone else's ideas without becoming enraged then do not even waste your money. For those of you with more maturity, this is a great buy.

Elder's 10 contentions are simple but loaded: Blacks are more racist than whites, white condescension is as bad as black racism, the media bias is real, widespread and destructive, the glass ceiling is full of holes, America's greatest problem is illegitimacy, there is no health-care crisis, America's welfare state is tyranny of the statist quo, there's maybe a dime's worth of difference between Republicans and Democrats, the war on drugs is a losing battle and gun control advocates are good guys with blood on their hands. I can just see many of you reading this and gasping with horror at those statements. But before you condemn Elder as someone who loathes himself, acts white, subscribes to radical political ideas and/or has no sense of practicality, look closer. How many times during, say, one week can you turn on your TV and see one of the "victicrats" Elder describes crying about some evil he/she faced and how the government *owes* it to everyone to write a law about said evil? How many news reports can you hear of celebrities with drug problems and the status of America's war on drugs? In response the media will talk to Republicans and Democrats about their reactions and, at the end of the day, there will be little difference in the answers they give. And if you turn on even one talk show during the day you will see paternity tests being administered on behalf of women who don't even know for sure who the fathers of their babies are! Yes, illegitimacy is a big problem in America but will you ever hear a politically correct talk show host say so? Of course not. They will blame promiscuity on low self-esteem and poverty instead of telling the truth-- people just don't want to take responsibility for themselves anymore. This extends to our failing war on drugs. People would rather believe that the government ought to fight the drug war because it's "right" or because they don't think crackheads will work at legitimate jobs to buy drugs or they think that drug use will reach epidemic levels if drugs are legalized or they think that the streets won't be safe. Reality check, folks-- drugs are illegal and we have problems with gang and street violence now. As Elder points out, alcohol consumption actually fell after Prohibition ended and, to quote Ben Franklin as Elder does, "They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."

Amen.

Rating:
Summary: Surefire itrritant for the Politcally Correct
Review: It's ironic that in this country, dedicated to liberty and rights, there are some things that must never be said in public. Far from the ideal that any and all political speech is protected by our Constitution, we now have a social landscape where certain points of view will be met with ad hominem attacks and scathing denunciation, rather than thoughtful rebuttal based upon facts. The sentiment, "I disagree with what you said, but I will fight to the death for your right to say it," has been completely eliminated from public discourse and replaced with hysterical accuasions of racism, sexism, homophobia, etc. Larry Elder here braves the inevitable rage of the Left to describe, in clear terms, several points of view that counter the Politically Correct popular wisdom.

I found that this book was fun to read, and others of a libertarian persuasion will find it so, as well. My main reason for giving it only 4 stars is that I do not believe that this particular book will convince any statist or collectivist of the error of his ways. (Although there's a valid argument to be made that NO book could convince a typical Liberal to change his mind.)

The reason I qualify my praise this way is a nagging feeling I have that Elder relied on secondary sources for much of his discussions. While he liberally and frequently quotes other pundits who have written about studies, I did not find that Elder wrote very much about the studies themselves. (It may be that, having recently finished some very academic books, I am reacting to Elder's more casual tone, but I'm not sure.)

One of the things that Elder has included that I found amusing is esentially a cookbook of all of the criticisms that will be used to denigrate him by people who are too Politically Correct to actually read the book. Every time one of his critics mouths off, there's a good likelihood that the critic will be underscoring Elder's point, and demonstrating how perceptive he is.

Rating:
Summary: My government book
Review: I read this book for my government class outside reading, because as soon as i saw it, i knew i would learn a lot from it. The title was catchy because it seemed like something so private was being let out as a secret. I had to read it and find out what the big controversies were all about. What i liked about his way of writting was that he said what he knew was true and proved his point. Mr. Elder talked about the ten main points that some are afraid to say or don't realize. He gives advice on how we can make America better and he lets us know his ideas on how we can all change to make our country be a better place. I decided to give this book a high rating because i understood a lot of his ideas and he knew how to explain himself, it made me think some situations as they truly are.

Rating:
Summary: A younger version of Thomas Sowell
Review: (and that IS a BIG compliment, if you have ever read anything by Mr Sowell)!

When I purchased this book, I had the plan of briefly thumbing through it, noting key points and adding it to my reference library in case I needed some of the arguments to defeat my Liberal friends. Two days later, I had read the book completely through and was ready to nominate Larry Elder for President!

All of his arguments state very clearly the facts, many of which are totally ignored in our schools, by black "leaders" (Jackson, Farrakhan, Sharpton, Mfume, and other betrayers of the dignity of over 15% of this country's population) and even by the media (no surprise there). Even in cases where I disagree with him (such as legalization of some "soft" drugs), I can understand his point, and could even be persuaded by his argument if the situation were different. (For instance, legalize soft drugs if the law were accompanied by reasonable prohibitions similar to we have for alcohol and cigarettes in order to protect the general public...) Furthermore, on most of the other points, he hits the nail squarely on the head - especially with regards to racism and the welfare state.

Hey Liberals - try reading Chapter 11 on the 2000 Election! Learn who REALLY tried to steal the elction! (I'll give you a hint - his name rhymes with Bore.)

Hey Larry, wanna be the Republican candidate in 2008?

Rating:
Summary: Concise and witty
Review: This is a great book. Using concise diction and wit, Larry Elder cuts through liberal dogmas like a steak knife through hot butter. Good primer for any novice libertarian, or disillusioned Democrat.

Rating:
Summary: Must-Read For Anyone
Review: Wow, all I can say is that this is one of the best books I have ever read. Mr. Elder's book is such an eye-opener. What makes this book so great is that it isn't "opinion-disguised-as-fact," it's just plain ol' numbers laid out there! Mr. Elder gives a perfectly logical explanation of just what those statistics mean for America, and for a lot of people they mean just what they have been thinking for such a long time about what America is really all about.

Rating:
Summary: Got to the points and points well taken
Review: Not a very well written book. However, the points Mr. Elder makes are worthy even if I don't agree 100 % with all of them. I especially liked the chapter on welfare. Hopefully this book will be part of a dialogue to solve problems in the United States... Keep on keepin on Mr. Elders.