I’ve never been much of a reader, but lately, current events have persuaded me to take some personal responsibility for knowing what is going on in our world.
Recently, two subjects have grabbed my attention:
1. The US economy. In an election year when neither mainstream candidate seems to align with my conservative values, I have a real concern for where the liberal (progressive, left-wing, socialist… take your pick) economic agenda will take our economy. One fascinating read for me was, “The Forgotten Man” by Amity Shlaes. It’s a sobering historical account of how the US entered the Great Depression, and how misguided policies by the president at the time (FDR) served to prolong the depression many years beyond what the rest of the world experienced. Unfortunately, our current political, social, and economic climate is eerily similar to that of 1929.
2. The progressive movement in our country. After reading “The Forgotten Man,” and learning about some disturbing political movements that were active at the time, I decided to dig a little deeper into the origins of the “progressive” movement that liberals are so eager to identify themselves with these days. This second book is called, “Liberal Fascism” by Jonah Goldberg. I know the title and picture on the cover evokes some powerful emotions in people, but I assure you that he isn’t equating modern liberals to nazis. The flavor of this read is more closely aligned to the notion that fascism comes in all kinds of shapes and sizes and Hitler / Mussolini were part of an extreme variety. The author argues that modern progressive ideas are generally mildly fascist in nature, however nowhere near the level of the bad guys mentioned above. He calls it “fascism with a smiley face.” (Which we should still run from as a people!) I’ve just started this one, but I’ll be sure to come back with my final verdict, however I can already tell that it will be a worthwhile read.
Fascism: "A philosophy or system of government that is marked by stringent social and economic control, a strong, centralized government usually headed by a dictator, and often a policy of belligerent nationalism." (From The American Heritage Dictionary)
Honestly, I didn’t know what the word meant (and this is just one definition,) but the idea is that the government is big and the people are small. This is exactly opposite of how our founding fathers designed this country to be, but listen to our candidates (including our current president) talk about the “programs” that they want to put in place that will essentially make our government bigger.
Because I’m in the car for an hour and a half each day, I normally listen to audio books, as I prefer to love on my family while I’m at home. So, the pictures above will take you to the iTunes store, or you can easily find the books at Amazon.com.
Perhaps I’m just getting calloused and cynical, but I have a mounting frustration with the guy that runs the Starbucks drive-thru. Every time I go there, he greets me with the following line: