This is a book that really gets you thinking about the rights culture we live in. It examines the US administrations approach to the Iraq war at home and abroad (I was especially intrigued by the look at the Patriot Act). I found myself thinking, how far are we willing to go for freedom? When you take security to unbelievable extremes can you really call it freedom? Is our society so consummed with a 'rights rehtoric' that we get lost in what we think we deserve? Once I started this book I couldn't put it down. It was a book that made you question what has become second nature in our society: a belief that we have an unlimited amount of rights and are entitled to these rights. But is it possible for some people to take the rights revolution to far? and will the price of freedom cost us our fundamental rights?I love a good book that actually gets you thinking, whether you agree with all of Wolf's conclusion or not. She focuses in on what threatens our freedom. It made me think about the balance that exists between too many rights and not enough, between freedom and suppression.

I heard Wolf speak at a local bookstore yesterday, as well as on Stephen Colbert a couple of weeks ago, and was thoroughly blown away. Then I bought the book (short, fast read) and spent most of the night reading it. Everyone should, as I did, put aside whatever they are doing, buy this book, read it, pass it on to a friend who promises to read it and pass it on. And then hit the streets.One of the things that Wolf talked about (in person, not in the book) is that once you are familiar with the system and examples from history everything becomes predictive since you know what the next step will be. And I predict that in a month or two, you won't be able to buy this book, so get it now.In The End of America Naomi Wolf tells the story about how American citizens are being set up to lose their freedom and liberty in 10 easy steps" that are common to all modern fascist shifts. She sheds light on a veritable businessplan or blueprint on how to hijack open democratic systems of government and turn them into closed systems through campaigns of disinformation, terror and brutality, based on examination of the Italy in the 20s, Russia and Germany in the 30s, and some examples from East Germany in the 50s-80s and Chile in the 70s. These 10 stepsare:1. Invoke a terrifying internal and external enemy2. Create a gulag3. Develop a thug caste4. Set up an internal surveillance system5. Harass citizens' groups6. Engage in arbitrary detention and release7. Target key individuals8. Control the press9. Dissent equals treason10. Suspend the rule of lawObviously this all sounds familiar if you pay even casual attention to the news.She also talks discusses how the framers of the Constitution were real worried about how this could happen here, which is why they created the system of checks and balances and the Bill of Rights, all of which are going rapidly down the tubes. I know that civil liberties seem kind of abstract and not all that relevant to our daily lives, but that is because most of us have always had them. When you lose them, life really changes, even for people who aren't political and generally keep their mouths shut and out of trouble.Most distressing are the new laws mean that any one of us can be named as an enemy combatant at the whim of the president with no evidence, detained indefinitely without trial and tortured. Also that the president can nationalize the state national guards (or use private militias such as Blackwater) as a domestic police force in response to a natural disaster, disease outbreak, terrorist attack or "other condition". These are recent laws, written by the Administration and passed by a Congress that is too cowed to stand up for our rights.Wolf sees the next few months at being critical at finalizing the closure of our society before the 2008 elections. She is trying to do a Tom Paine kind of thing with this book and it works pretty well. Its purpose is not to depress us but to wake us up and motivate us not to let it happen. Read it! Now!

Although, much like a textbook in presentation, and perhaps sounding a bit dated, now that we are all basking in the afterglow of a historic presidential election, I still think this is a very important book for all Americans to read. First off, it reminds us that the people who established are country lived under such tyrannical rule that they would lay down their life to fight for their liberty and rights. But, these same liberties and rights can be stripped away gradually and subtly if the people are not vigilant in their "civic life." This book clearly outlines the ten steps towards a fascist government takeover with chilling examples in historical regimes that we have looked on with disgust and disbelief, and how it has happened, and still is happening in our own country. I am hoping that the grass roots organizing that got many disenfranchised people out to vote, some for the first time in their lives, and showed that their involvement can make a difference, will also re-engage people into insisting that all branches of the government stick to the checks and balances to prevent our country from falling into fascist tendencies. Wolfe makes a very strong case that our current administration has spent a lot of time, in the name of security and the war on terrorism, to strip away these checks and balances to fulfill their objectives, which is profits for the many defense contractors that have made a lot of money in security and surveillance.Freedom is not to be taken for granted. It is a full time job for each citizen. Read this short little book and then insist on accountability from your government.

Sigh. Books like this are almost unreadable these days. I wish I had read this earlier, because I think I was woefully ignorant of the abuses and unconstitutional postures taken by the Bush administration until at least the beginning of my law school days, but the scope creep of the executive from Bush to Obama to Trump is almost too baleful to contemplate under the current administration. In highest dudgeon I've certainly lobbed my fair share of insults at the current president. I wonder if I'll be flagged as a subversive? A few things in particular stand out as prescient--particularly regarding "fake news"--after a grueling first week of the Trump presidency:"The great masses of the people will more easily fall victims of a big lie than a small one" Hitler wrote in Mein Kampf. Fascists rely on perception management: what the intelligence community calls "info ops" because their tactics won't stand scrutiny by a free press. So, in a fascist shift, as real reporters are being frozen out, smeared, or faced with unemployment, there is an increasing use of spectacle in conveying a message, and the spectacle is accompanied by the production of fake news and false documents. The messaging, combined with the spectacle, can be stunning in a fascist ascendancy. Fascist messaging has advantage that democratic communications and advocacy, even of the highest sophistication, just cannot demonstrate. You can use a monolithic, harmonized voice and vision, unimpeded by dissent, rather than trying to break through a clash of pluralistic arguments. This power of epic messaging--in combination with power of spectacle--is a well known aspect of the seduction of fascism.Dictatorships specialize in faking news and falsifying documents. Hitler wrote that "All effective propaganda must be limited to a very few points, and must harp on these in slogans until the last member of the public understands what you want him to understand." He argued that good propaganda speaks to feelings and not reason, and that it should never admit a glimmer of doubt in its own claims or concede the tiniest element of right in the claims of the other side.After a certain point in a fascist shift, it doesn't matter whether most people believe the faked news or not. Eventually, they simply don't have access to enough good information to assess what is real and what is not.Sending a current of lies into the information scene is part of classic psychological operations to generate a larger shift, a new reality in which the truth can no longer be ascertained and no longer counts. In this reality, citizens no longer feel empowered or able to establish the truth on either side, and therefore give up their agency. At this point, people can be manipulated into supporting almost any state action, for how can citizens know what is right? Truth itself has been cheapened, made subjective, and internal, not absolute and external.And this profoundly sad final note from the last part of the book reminds me of a joke a friend told me recently. He said that in the 1980s a Republican went over to a Democrat's house to play a game of checkers. They agreed on the rules, made a few moves, and then at some point the Republican got up, threw a bomb at the house, and began spraying kerosene everywhere. Meanwhile, inside, the Democrat is looking out for double-jumps and opportunities to get kinged.We in America are used to a democratic social contract in which there is agreement about the rules of the game. When Congress demands an answer, for instance, the President does not simply refuse to pick up the phone. So we keep being startled when the steps of the democratic interplay are ignored. "He can't do that!" It's time to notice that they are playing a different game altogether.It's long past time to wake up.

I used to read horror stories to get myself scared. Now all you have to read is recent history. If you are like me, you have the feeling that America has changed in recent years. Feels like the government is marching to a slightly different tune than what the people desire. You also probably felt some of the things being done were wrong: aggressive interrogation, jailing reporters, use of signing statements to over Congressional rule, Guantanomo, etc.......Naomi Wolf's book compares 2000's USA to Germany in the 1920's and the similarities are frightening and give cause for concern. Putting America in a perpetual state of emergency creates an opportunity for abuse. Government has systematically increased powers of the executive branch, while simultaneously removed/ignored citizens rights. 1920's Germany created a mythological enemy, funded creation of a paramilitary force, created a secret prison system, encouraged surveillance of citizens, practiced arbitrary detainment of citizens, harassed/infiltrated citizen's groups, targeted writers, entertainers and dissenters, recast dissent as treason and eventually ended the rule of law. Sound familiar?