About book Arguing With Idiots: How To Stop Small Minds And Big Government (2009)
I felt I needed to read this because when I hear him on the radio I'm shocked by much of what he says that doesn't ring true. Often it is his twist on the world. So, when I saw this on the shelf in the library, I thought, what the heck.Well it gets one star for content - I read 90% and just can't figure out who the audience is, it rambles and is very disjointed.The other star is for the presentation. Like going to a great restaurant, sometimes the food is hardly so-so, but it is really pretty. That is the way the book it - it is nice to look at, has pretty graphics and lots of color.Restroom reading just means to me, if I leave it in the restroom at home you can sit down, open it, read a section. Humorous short stories and other fiction end up there, too. Glenn Beck’s Arguing with Idiots is a satirical yet excitingly educational collection of commentary on some of the most popularly debated political topics. It contains 12 main chapters and takes about 8.5 hours to complete. If you can recall any of the debates you may have had with coworkers, friends, or strangers about any national issue such as gun control, then you can consider this book as 8.5 hours of that kind of talk. It doesn’t feel right to say that there’s a catch to this book but it is told from the side of a conservative. The only reason I say that it doesn’t feel right to mention conservatism is that most of the authors’ responses to some comments that a less than informed person (not necessarily democrat) may give to the discussed topics in this book are based on facts and not just opinions. There are some of those areas in the book, but regardless of your political affiliation, you are sure to come out with some increased bank of references for your next break time debate-a-thon with friends/coworkers.The variation in the authors’ tone of voice was difficult to get used to at the start. While listening to the book and driving, I realized that after 12 minutes of audio, that I didn’t pick up a thing that was said because I was so thrown off by the awkward style of speech and had to start over. Though, it was easy to follow along to the end after about the 30 minute mark. I will say that the majority of this book covers historical events that have happened in the past and present for all 12 chapters. In the eight hours of coverage, you can expect lots of information and may have to go back a couple minutes and replay to fully soak in everything said. It’s also good to take some notes if you hear a one liner or statistic that you want to hold on to as you go through the book. Here are the chapters covered and very brief description of them:Ch. 1: In Defense of Capitalism – Government involvement in businesses such as Amtrak, the USPS, Freddie Mac, and Fannie Mae.Ch. 2: The 2nd Amendment – Just that, interpretations of the 2nd Amendment and some outcomes of some gun control laws set in place in the U.S. and England. One note was how handgun injuries went up 340% over a 10 year span in England after the handgun ban was put into effect in 1997.Ch. 3: Education – Discussion of vouchers, public vs. private schooling, and value of home schooling. It also discusses how the no child left behind act may have contributed to the deterioration of educational quality. One note mentioned how the number of failing schools in Michigan in 2004 went from 1500 to about 216 just by lowering the passing score from 75 to 42.Ch. 4: America’s Energy Future – Chapter on oil vs. greener energy. Myths on reasons for oil price hikes are brought up. It also talked about how hybrids are an indicator of household wealth more than a doctorate’s degree. Café standards and what farmers did with their corn are also in this chapter.Ch. 5: Unions –How unions are formed and how they are run. Some other topics are teachers’ unions preventing the firing of bad teachers and political donations by unions.Ch. 6: Illegal Immigration: The Chapter America Just Won’t Right – Claims that illegal immigration isn’t enforced and brings up some supporting material. Their threats on lower paying jobs are also brought up.Ch. 7: The Nanny State: Saving You From Yourself – General theme of how others try to dictate how you live your life.Ch. 8: Owning a Home: Waking Up From the American Dream – Rent Vs. Buying and the idea of home ownershipCh. 9: Economics 101: Smaller Government, Bigger Wallet – Mostly about taxes and how the richest 50% pay 97% of the income tax (2006). Bailouts and national debts tooCh. 10: U.S. Presidents: A Steady Progression of Progressives – Mostly on progressivism and how they try to evolve the constitution. It goes over some U.S. presidential actions such as the 2nd Bill of Rights and possible socialist acts.Ch. 11: Universal Health Care – Government involvement in health care. Brings up examples with how the UK handles health care. A reference to healthcarebluebook.com is included which lets you blue book health procedures and allow you to negotiate prices.Ch. 12: The U.S. Constitution: Lost in Translation – Brings up the founders of the constitution. It goes over some amendments, some parts of the bill of rights, and some article sections of the constitution.It’s hard to stay current with politics and some of the information in this book was probably quote mined to support the authors’ point of view. But even with that, it did seem a little educational especially since you’re really limited on ways of finding reliable supporting material to some political topics. Also, It’s not like there’s some teacher most average people can go to who would go over all the information presented in this book in the short amount of time the authors here did. Decent reference book that actually entertains and keeps your interest while you follow along.
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It was exactly as I expected ... enough said.
—tavon
