Type of bind: Paperback
Format: Bargain Price
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 384
Printing Date: September 20, 2003
Sale Popularity Level: 350917
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Editor's Notes and Comments:
Brief Book Summary:
The Ten Things You Cant Say in America struck a chord with eager readers across the country, exposing truths others have been too afraid to address. In his new book, Elder is out to slay entrenched and enmeshed special interest groups, government agencies with the capacity to meddle in Amerians lives and businesses, lawmakers who continue a pattern of outrageous overtaxation, and those who would hamstring this country with good intentions. Showdown demonstrates how the nation would be better, stronger, and safer with less government intervention and how individuals would not only cope but thrive without the so-called social safety net. Showdown is a call to arms for a truly free society. Elder discusses: What a Republican-led government means for progress Where a responsible government would put its citizens tax dollars Why racial and sex discrimination are non-issues in the 21st century.Larry Elders straight talk and common-sense solutions spare no one and will inspire his passionate and growing audience.
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There are several deceptions to deconstruct in this book, I'll just focus on one of his talking points (one that other members of the "Republican Noise Machine" - such as Dennis Prager - like to repeat); that is, the argument that if taken as a whole, blacks in the U.S. are more prosperous than blacks in other parts of the world. What gets left out of this self-congratulatory bit of info is that they are being compared to blacks in Africa, a continent that has been assaulted and robbed by colonizers, proxy armies, transnational corporations and the CIA for generations. Blood Diamonds and the DVD Lumumba are among the many resources one could review to provide some perspective on the imposed poverty of blacks in Africa. Regarding the well-being of blacks in, for instance, European nations or Canada, they may have less income but they benefit from universal health care, more paid vacation, a less draconian drug war, and other advantages of living in societies that are less dominated by corporations and a corporate media. Here in the U.S., many of the African Americans that have some job security and are in the middle class are employees of the government. That is, they are employees of the sector of U.S. society that the right-wing is constantly attacking (except for the police and military, whose growth is another indicator of social breakdown). Amazingly, even segments of our prison and military industrial complexes are being privatized to ensure more of the public's tax dollars flow to the bank accounts of "private" enterprise.
Elder also leaves out that a sizable portion of the wealth of African Americans comes from the underground economy. It is no secret that cocaine boosted the economy of cities like Miami (see the DVD "Cocaine Cowboys"). It and other criminalized drugs are keeping communities and households afloat across the country. Marijuana, a more benign drug than tobacco and alcohol, is the biggest cash crop in many states. So, yes, African Americans may have more money than blacks in Canada; but many face years in a cage due to the market threat it poses to the corporate drug pushers. Some of those corporate drugs, like Ritalin, are being pushed on children in minority communities in an appalling manner The War Against Children of Color: Psychiatry Targets Inner-City Youth.
It is shameful for Elder to endeavor to paint such a rosey picture of the circumstance of African Americans when we are imprisoning blacks at a higher rate than South Africa did during apartheid Why Are So Many Black Men In Prison? A Comprehensive Account Of How And Why The Prison Industry Has Become A Predatory Entity In The Lives Of African-American Men; when the schools of many African Americans are neglected The Shame of the Nation: The Restoration of Apartheid Schooling in America; and when the neocon economy exacerbates divisions between the rich and the rest of us American Apartheid: Segregation and the Making of the Underclass.
Elder is rewarded by our racist and classist elite media for deflecting attention away from a variety of serious problems, not just in communities of color, but problems for the general public as a whole Screwed: The Undeclared War Against the Middle Class - And What We Can Do about It (BK Currents).
Thankfully, right-wing hosts like Elder are now being exposed by progressives like Thom Hartmann, Amy Goodman, and Jesse Jackson - who now has his own radio show to set the record straight. They don't serve power and privilege, so they aren't on as many stations; but more and more people are discovering these honest voices, as well as independent journals such as Colorlines.
It is time to confront bias, and the elite interests that divide America. Thus, Larry Elder has a lot to account for. He can begin to make amends by interviewing African American scholars such as Cornel West Never Forget: A Journey of Revelations and Angela Davis Abolition Democracy: Beyond Empire, Prisons, and Torture (Open Media).
"Where justice is denied, where poverty is enforced, where ignorance prevails, and where any one class is made to feel that society is an organized conspiracy to oppress, rob and degrade them, then neither persons nor property will be safe." - Frederick Douglass
(Google "Donald Rumsfeld and Mount Misery")
Rated by buyers 
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I'm a huge fan of Larry Elder and have listened to his program daily during my commute in Los Angeles for years. I actually listened to an audio version of this book a few years ago before reading it recently, and it's kind of like night and day.
The audio version is like listening to a radio program or a monologue, but when I actually read the book I was amazed with the extended passages and quotes from other authors and experts - sometimes a page or more. Regardless of the topic, gun control, ending the welfare state, criticizing Republican leadership or pointing out media bias, Elder tacks on his on thoughts to the end of these extended quotes instead of making his own case in his own words. There isn't enough Larry in this book for me!
My impression reading this book was that is was put together quickly. "The 10 Things..." felt very well thought out instead of rushed to the shelves. I'm not saying I disagree with the points Elder is trying to make, just that they could have been presented in a more compelling read than this one.
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It's not bad by any stretch, but it's not nearly as good as Elder's the 10 things you can't say in America.
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Larry Elder's book, Showdown, is an excellent look at the shortcomings of many policymakers, educators and journalists in America.
One particular chapter of Showdown that I enjoyed discusses the importance of having a father present in a son's life. He provides some great statistical data to back up his claims, but also points out that it's common sense: A boy's chances of succeeding in life are much higher when they have a father present in their life. So often, we hear about how racism or poverty cause young, inner-city grey men to commit crimes. However, Larry Elder points out the obvious and tells the truth.
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I find Larry's thoughts are honest whether you like them or not. I have a problem with his thoughts on Medicare and Social Security. I am thirty-eight and have epilepsy. I'm unable to work or drive due to the harm I could do to myself or others. Perhaps Mr. Elder will give me a job. I'll take it! Do you think he will send his limo to pick me up for and take me home from work?
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