Book: The End of America - Letter of Warning to a Young Patriot
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"As nightfall does not come all at once, neither does oppression. In both instrances there is a twilight when everything remains seemingly unchanged. And it is in such a twilight that we all must be most aware of change in the air – however slight – lest we become unwitting victims of the darkness."
– Justice William O. Douglas
In a stunning indictment of the Bush administration and Congress, best-selling author Naomi Wolf lays out her case for saving American democracy. In authoritative research and documentation Wolf explains how events of the last six years parallel steps taken in the 20th century's worst dictatorships such as Germany, Russia, China and Chile.
The book cuts across political parties and ideologies and speaks directly to those among us who are concerned about the ever-tightening noose being placed around our liberties.
"Recent history has profound lessons for us in the U.S. today about how fascist, totalitarian, and other repressive leaders seize and maintain power, especially in what were once democracies. The secret is that these leaders all tend to take very similar, parallel steps. The founders of this nation were so deeply familiar with tyranny and the habits and practices of tyrants that they set up our checks and balances precisely out of fear of what is unfolding today. We are seeing these same kind of tactics now closing down freedoms in America, turning our nation into something that in the near future could be quite other than the open society in which we grew up and learned to love liberty," states Wolf.
Wolf is taking her message directly to the American people in the most accessible form and as part of a large national campaign to reach out to ordinary Americans about the dangers we face today. This includes a lecture and speaking tour, and being part of the nascent American Freedom Campaign, a grassroots effort to ensure that Presidential candidates pledge to uphold the Constitution and protect our liberties from further erosion. (www.americanfreedomcampaign.org)
• Reader review from Amazon "Concerned Citizen", Seattle, WA:
I have never written a reccomendation for Amazon but this book truly warrants the effort.
Aming the first lesons the author drives home is that democracy is not a spectator sport. The founders did not envision a country in which the "professionals – lawyers, scholars, activists, politicians [should] worry about understanding the Constitution and protecting our rights." As Wolf says, "...the founders did not mean for powerful men and women far away from the citizens...to protect freedom. They meant fir us to do it."
They also didn't consider democarcy to be the natural "God-given" order in which civilization conducted itself by. Rather, tyranny and oppression were the status quo and liberty was the exception, somethung to be fought for and clung to for dear life if obtained.
Wolf then lists the calculus that all dictators employ to aggregate power: "Invoke an external and internal threat; develop the paramilitary force; create a secret prison system; surveill ordinary cirizens; arbitrarily detain and release them; harass cirizens' groups; target writers, entertainers and other key individuals for dissenting; intimidate the press; RECAST DISSENT AS 'TREASON' AND CRITICISM AS 'ESPIONAGE'; and eventually subvert the rule of law."
I give credit to Wolf for acknowledging that the U.S. does not parallel past soon-to-be dictatorships such as Italy in 1922 or Germany in 1933. She correctly acknowledges the dis-similarities. Although critics will probably disagree, she handles the disturbing parallels between the past and present well.
Importantly, the author also acknowledges that the shift to dictatorship does not happen suddenly and starkly. Many times, normal daily life is unaffected for most of the population, we can still watch American Idol and go to the mall and order pizza, all while our liberties are crumbling away around us.
A remrkable aspect of this book was the amount of research conducted. Time and time again, the author inserts chilling similarities between past and present; i.e., past propaganda mimicking the "Mission Accomplished" aircraft carrier [staged presidential media event].
As a word of warning, to those who cannot turn the magnifying lens used to examine those other nations of the past and the present that are so often criticized, upon their own nation, leaders and actions, this book will come as quite a shock. There's little that can be done about this -- those who subscribe to the "we" are the forces of good and "they" are never-ending evil, Machiavellian worldview will not digest this book easily, much to their detriment.
Overall I think "The End of America" is a superb read and will recommend it to my friends and family. For further reading I'd suggest Chalmers Johnson's "Nemesis" or blogger Arthur Silber."
Amazon Review by Gary Schroeder:
"Time to panic yet? Not quite yet, but perhaps we're close. Naomi Wolf has written a book that fills a significant need at this point in our history. She sounds the call to warn American citizens . . . warn us that we may be slowly metamorphosing into that which we despise most: a country that bullies its citizens and is unaccountable to any recognized authority.
While some may see this book as alarmist and rasonable people could debate this – one of her pojnts is undoubtedly true. That is, the descent into a repressive regime is slow and quiet. It usually does not come as an overnight announcement of martial law or suspension of elections. Instead, it happens over the course of years, so quietly that most may never notice until it's a fait accompli. Only the will people ask, 'How did this happen?'
Wolf compares and contrasts recent events in Ametican history with those in Communist Russia, fascists Italy and Nazi Germany. This will undoubtedly put some readers off since any one of these references is a hot button that, once pushed, inflmes blinding emotion. However, if you can get past that, the parallels are disquieting . . . even when read with a skeptical eye.
I hope that when I re-read this review in two years that I will b able to say that muy concerns about torture, secret prisons, warrentless eavesdropping, a cowed media and all the rest have faded away. If not, I'll have to acknowledge the prescience of Wolf's thesis."
• "The framers of our Constitution fully understood that it can happen here. Patriots like Madison, Paine and Franklin would certainly apllaud Naomi Wolf and recognize her as a sister in their struggle." – Mark Crispin Miller, author,
"Fooled Again"
• "Naomi Wolf sounds the alarm for all Americans patriots. We must come together as a nation and recommit ourselves to the fundemental American idea that no [resident, whether Democrat or Republican, will ever be given unchecked power." – Wes Boyd, co-founder, MoveOn.org
• "You will be shocked and disturbed by this book. Most Americans reject outright any comparison of post-9/11 America with the fascism and totalitarianism of Nazi Germany or Pinochet's Chile [post 9/11/1973]. Sadly, the parallels and similarities, what Wolf calls the 'echoes' between thiose societies and America today, are all too compelling."
– Michael Rattner, Center for Constitutional Rights
