Daniel

If there is a Fourth Reich, Marrs is a tool of it. I got the book hoping for a coherent, interesting, well researched but overly dramatic conspiracy theory. Instead it was incoherent and offered nothing interesting or researched. At one point in the book he calls the Brookings Institute part of the fascists in the American system then at another point he cites the Brookings Institute attacking Bush to support his argument that Bush is a fascist. He argues that Bush is a fascist because the people that worked for him believed in what they were doing. He also argues that Bush was a power monger because he didn't veto bills passed by Congress. In other words, Bush didn't block the laws Congress passed so he was undermining Congressional authority, Marrs argues. This entire book is a pathetic version of the fallacy of the appeal to authority. His "research" is allegations without any facts, only innuendo and quotes of the opinions of other people he calls authorities on subjects. He properly decries the loss of basic logic skills education but then shows he didn't learn basic logic by his repeated use of fallacies in reasoning. At one point he quotes someone as an authority on a Presidential signing statements, but the only source of authority is that she graduated from a law school. No advance law degree or experience in this area of the law needed, he cites her as an authority. Let me spoil the ending, as with all conspiracy theories, if you listen long enough it comes to a hissed whisper "the Jews!" Marrs concludes that everything that is wrong with the world is that we support Israel and the secretive "international financiers" or "international bankers" which is the more politically correct version of Hitler's attacks on "sneaky Jewish Bankers and shyster lawyers." How can Marrs decry fascism yet mimic Hitler's attacks on Jews, banks, capitalism, etc.? To answer that question you should use your credits/money on Ann Coulter's new book Demonic.

Ameritopia, like Levin's other books, condenses several years of deep reading and contemplation into an easily understood narrative. Ameritopia provides an outline of thought and philosophy since the ancient Greeks. Ameritopia covers Plato's Republic, More's Utopia, Hobbes's Leviathan and Marx's Communist Manifesto and explains why the utopian fantasy of the left has never and can never be achieved, leading usually to horrible tyranny. Levin then covers the influences of Locke and Montesquieu on the founders of the United States and the observations of Alexis de Tocqueville on his visit to the U.S. in the early 19th century. Levin provides an overview of the left's attempt to circumvent the Constitution and attempt to create their "Ameritopia." Levin further explains why this attempt at utopia has already made us less free. Another great book from Levin that makes deep thought available to everyone.

I have to agree with other reviewers that the narrator wasn't the best but she was adequate and the book is magnificent. Ann Coulter is often praised or attacked for her acerbic wit, which she certainly has and it appears in this book, but more than that this book provided an essential piece to my understanding of modern politics and its ideological background. To over simplify it the two primary political philosophies at work today, as they really have been throughout U.S. history and western thought since about the time of the founding of the U.S. are 1. the English school with the writings of John Locke, Edmund Burke and Adam Smith who believed in individual rights and are now usually called, in the U.S., Conservatives or Libertarians and 2. the French school with the writing of Rousseau and Robespierre, who believed in collective rights and are now usually called in the U.S., Liberals or Progressives. Most people, even those interested in or active in politics know very little about either ideological roots but the knowledge and understanding of French school is even harder to come-by. This book is about the French school: the basic philosophy, a historical tale of how they came to power in France, how adherents of this school of thought use the same techniques today to get and maintain power in the U.S. and on a broader scale how people, even more or less decent people, can be devolved to take part in horrible acts against others while shouting contradictory chants about the common good. In writing this book Ann Coulter did not assume the reader/listener has any background in the subjects covered and thoroughly explained the concepts for anyone to understand but she still was able to provide substantial new information to the reader/listener like myself who has studied, read and listened extensively about history, politics, philosophy and economics. This book is truly great and is well worth the credit/money.